Jigging or Tipups?????

[igloolou]

OK, so what is your preferred way of ice fishing?

For me it has been setting out my tipups and then jigging when I become bored or the tipups are slow.  Last year I gave jigging more of a try and did pretty well.  Usually there is a group of us and we stand around shooting the bull and cooking food so it's more like a group thing. 
I very rarely icefish by myself, but I was thinking maybe I'll do more jigging and make some solo journeys this year.

Also for jigging do you prefer live bait or lures?

Thanks all

[Byron/PA]

First of all, it was good to meet and talk with you today.

On your question........do both

Pick the area you are going to fish, drill a dozen or so holes, set out 3 or 4 tipups and jig the rest, moving from hole to hole.

Try using both lures and bait, together. A small jig, tipped with a waxie or a small Swedish pimple/castmaster/buckshot tipped with a minnow head.
Or a small jig/waxie with a dropper rig, running a small minnow on the dropper hook.
Move till you find fish........

[Van_Cleaver]

Good advice! Or maybe I just like it because that's how I usually fish. The last line is probably the most important: move until you find fish. Often for me that means leaving dink gills in pursuit of bigger prey. I've watched guys set out five tip-ups and never move, even though they got no action at all. Don't be a slave to your tip-ups! It is much more fun to hook and fight fish on a jigging pole IMO, but despite that I often land my biggest fish on a tip-up or a  dead stick rig, tipped with a minnow. Still, you can cover a lot of area with your jigging rods and yet be close enough to cover your flags or still rigs. You can learn a lot by experimenting with different combinations.

[jiggin617]

I agree with Byron and Van_Cleaver. Move until you find fish.. Mobility is key.

I focus more on jigging but I'll also put out 2-3 tipups in the area I'm fishing. For live baits I like waxies, mousies, and minnows. I'll use them on genz worms, genz bugs, marmooskas, ratfinkees, buckshots and sweedish pimples with and without dropper hooks. Sometimes I’ll run a rig with a genz worm or marmooska and then tie on a wet fly(no bait) about a foot up the line.  I’ll give each hole about 5 minutes before I move on.