Deadbait, Thanks for the advice! I've never used bait clips before, but I'll look into them. I just recently purchased a "heavy-duty" tip-up so I was going to set it up for big fish. I will probably use perch, bluegill, or bass for bait. My tip-up has a drag, but I thought that if I have it set too tight, the flag won't fly when a fish strikes...wasn't sure what you meant about the death sentence comment? I figured with a drag that's too loose, the large bait will continually set off the flag.