IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Tipups => Topic started by: italianice77 on Dec 28, 2016, 07:47 AM
-
I was thinking of running some tip-downs for crappie, is it strickly live bait or does anybody use dead minnows or any other bait??? any info on this would be great... thanks
-
Maybe you could rig up something like the windlass tipup, with something to catch the wind and move the rod tip slightly to jig the dead minnow.
While im sure you would get bites with a dead minnow, I personally wouldnt even waste my time with a traditional tipdown and dead minnows.
-
I was thinking of running some tip-downs for crappie, is it strickly live bait or does anybody use dead minnows or any other bait??? any info on this would be great... thanks
I mostly use the tip downs for perch but I mix it up. This past weekend I was fishing a live minnow on a single bait hook with small jig as a dropper hook. Fished one live and one dead and caught fish on both. I also use a single hook rig and fish just the head of a minnow with great success as well. I think the bite really determines what I am putting on the hook(s)! Last time out the water was a little cloudy so the action of a live minnow I think was helping out. Just my 2 cents! Good Luck! :tipup:
-
It's caveman easy. Slide the line in a book match cover. A gentle breath of wind will rotate and/or move the line creating movement of the lure/bait on any dead-stick .
You're welcome. ;)2
Tom
-
I have had luck with dead minnows over live ones on some days and other days live ones seem to work best. Just have to try each and see what they want. I sometimes take the dead minnows and pinch them in half and use them on a jigging pole.
-
Thanks for the info. guys
-
Live baitfish are prohibited on my closest ice fishing pond so I use dead bait when fishing tip-ups or tip-downs. I also use live bait on other ponds. While I prefer live bait I really haven't noticed any difference in how many fish I catch. What does make a big difference is the quality of the dead bait.
I put live shiners and dace in a brine with pickling salt, baking soda and ice cubes and leave them for 20 minutes. Then I pat the bait dry with paper towels and coat both sides with more salt. Next I vacuum seal them and freeze them. The salt draws excess moisture from the fish which keeps them firm. The baking soda preserves the color. I do the same thing with smelt for open water trolling.