tip ups for walleye

[mroy44]

When you walk up on a tip up when your walleye fishing, Ive heard that you should sit there and let the fish nibble and eat the bait then he will take his run, and thats when you set the hook.  But then ive heard that you should set the hook when I get there, and some people say youll rip it out of there mouths.  WHen I fish for them I do a little of both.  Which one is the correct method??

[MattR]

IMO I think the reason most sit and wait for them to take a run is to reduce the chance of the fish noticing that you are pulling the tipup up in order to grab the line. I do sit and wait for a few minutes. If nothing happens I do release some more line from the spool before lifting the tipup. Then I use my fingers to "feel" if there is still a fish on. If there is, I set the hook. Now if they take a run before you can do all that, it makes it lots easier, just lift, grab the line, and set the hook. I have landed plenty of 8lb class walleyes that way.

That is my style when fishing for walleye. I use beaver dam tip ups, braided line (30lb), and a 18 inch mono (8lb) leader with a treble hook.

Matt