Hole hopping?

[hrlevi1]

Hey everyone - -

Just thought I'd ask a rather basic question; how long to you wait before moving a tip up from one spot (hole) to another location?  How long to you give it to produce? 

How often to you check your bait?  Constantly bringing bait up and down will unduely cause stress forsure. 

I have tried various methods for fishing 1) put a bait down and let it be until there is a bite or I need to go home 2) put a bait down and leave it for about 30-45 minutes then move out or in depending on location, and 3) put a bait down and left it only about 20 minutes then moved locations all together meaning moved all tipups to a completely different location. 

This is something I think has a lot to do with personal preference however I'd like your thoughts...

David
 

[elcapitanmas]

I'll usually give it at least an hour.  It really depends on what im fishing for though.  If I know for instance that im sitting on a weedline for pike, the tipups will sit until its time to go home or I move to a completly different area with all my traps.  For perch however its a half an hour at the most before i move traps around.  for eyes, I wait at least an hour and continue down the lake shore until Ive found them, moving one trap at a time.  Ive always found rather than pull the bait all the way up, I do a shake and bake, pull the line a little bit, see if you feel the bait.  IF you do put it back down and reset the flag. 2 times out of ten that flag will go back up in a short while.  Hope this helps.

E

[RLWagner]

Depends on what the Pike flavor for the day is. Each water surface seems to have different needs. Dead bait one way, live bait another, and live bait in current even another approach. Windlass traps offer a benefit in jigging the bait slightly in even the most modest of breezes.
Wish I could hit the easy button on this one for you, but you nailed it when you stated its up to each ones own preferences.
I do like to check the traps every 45 min or so to insure I'm not hung up in the weeds, or the trap is not froze in. I also like to inspect the bait for tooth marks or liveliness too. Just my pref.

[hrlevi1]

Thanks for the info and it sounds like you guys fish in much the same ways as me.  I have been getting a little impatient with the lack of action and thought I'd ask to find out if I was the rare person who waited as long as I do. 

If you guys get repeated flags from one hole do you move the flags that are farthest away closer to the hot hole?  Thoughts?

Thanks, in advance, for the replies!

[RLWagner]

Thanks for the info and it sounds like you guys fish in much the same ways as me.  I have been getting a little impatient with the lack of action and thought I'd ask to find out if I was the rare person who waited as long as I do. 

If you guys get repeated flags from one hole do you move the flags that are farthest away closer to the hot hole?  Thoughts?

Thanks, in advance, for the replies!

If the trap with enhanced flags is on a weed line, drop-off  or specific depth as oppossed to the others, then I will move SOME of the others to similar locations, but not really CLOSE. The Golden Shiner can handle a good sized territory. I do not like to limit turf covered if I don't have to.

[fish_finder]

 I usually give it an hour or so, im usually with somemone so we'll set the max number of tip ups and any that dont get hit at all within and hour or so we move to a new location. Will also drill many extra holes around different spots and walk around with a jigging rod, then move inactive tip ups to holes where we got fish or hits.

[pizalm]

If i'm fishing tip ups I give them an hour and try to cover a wide range of depths to see which is producing that day. I might move them once or twice in a spot before moving to a completely different spot on the lake. Although I don't consider that hole hopping.

If I'm jigging I'll drill a ton of holes then jig each hole for 5 or 10 minutes until I find fish.

[Mr.Vexilar]

i never move tip ups at all, usually cuz im busy catchin the pannies, but if im not busy with the pannies i'll move tip ups after about 1 hour, but i do like to let em sit there the whole time also, new lake, i move them around, lake im used to i let em sit

[marcus]

I am a spaz on the ice  I move tip-ups hourly , If one hole heats up I will move most to that same general area or similar water I check my traps almost non stop   seems to work   I have had some lazier days where I would do just as well though basically it all depends on what you feel like doing...  this is my pike technique   trout I am more patient as I think the activity on the ice will turn them off   not sure if this is the best method but it works for me

[bud]

if at a new lake I try to pick 2 decent areas for traps and if fishing for 4 hrs I will split it up.  I also jig and search for fish this way and do it at a much more active pace.
Drilling 10-15 holes in a good structured area looking to hook up.  My jigging is a lot like trolling in a boat1

[azz7772]

if you are trying to cover some water on an unfamiliar area invite a bunch of buddies and cover the area with tip ups its a blast to see all the flags poping and everyone running and screaming and whooping  lol

[Zorros shack]

When I first saw the post I thought it said mole hopping.

[killitandgrillit]

I'm not nearly so generous. I will drill 10-20 holes at my first spot...each hole gets about 10 mins for something to show on the Vex. If that does not happen, I move entirely once I've gone through the holes. If your not on fish, you need to find fish...as Big Red would say...gotta keep on searchin' till you find 'em.

[Lobes]

Pike patrol their areas on a 30 - 60 minute cycle. If they're active you'll know in an hour. They do change their patrol routes slightly through the day, so I usually don't move too far when I do make a move if I know I'm in the right general area. On new waters I'll use the "hop scotch" method of moving along until I find them.