Hooking fish on tip ups

[Fishinut]

how do u set the hook when using a tipup. A soft jerk and a hard pull? ive lost many fish doing both. What do i do???

[Mark Barlow]

Hi fishinut , When I get a flag I pull my tip up out of the hole and gently lay it on the ice near the hole while the fish is still spooling off line,I lightly grab the line and pull it in lightly until I feel the weight of the fish and give a light tug and I'm very carefull not to give the fish any slack in the line or I will lose it.Hope to be of help to you...Tight lines  

[Bob_D]

I do the same as Mark. When to set the hook is just as important. That depends on what type of fish you are targeting, size of bait and type of rig (hooks).

[blazen36]

All depends on the species of fish on the other end of line.If the line is spooling off fast it is usually a northern and i set the hook hard right away. If it is a walleye which you can usually tell by a slow steady take out of line. I take it easy like Mark, don't be to anxious, give it a minute or two to get the minnow and hook situated. You go to soon and all you may pull back  is hook. Also before I take the tipup out of the water I spin some line off so there is slack when I pick it up and lay it on the ice.

[dragon_flag]

Me again, couldent modify the above. oh well, one posting closer to turin' "PRO". here's a trick from the dragonmyster - its no secret that shiners are hot for pike & walleye, to name a few, an oldtimer told me to "hookem' upside down & through the as- - -" I'd beter use the term "vent" for the sake of this posting, N-E way, you get the drift. hook through the vent and out the bottom of minnow twards the tail, if the barb dont come through, no big deal. - unnatural presentation you say ? indeed it is, so much so that the shiner is allways trying to "right" its self. (this is a "live"-bait gig I should point out.) I got away from steel leaders years ago, mono all the way to the hook, yep, even when targeting gators (pike), it makes them shy away, contraversy? of course! on given times/waters, I'll admit that a northern might take a minnow off a coat-hanger. i do well without leaders, i use - starting with the hook & go'in up as follows - - - hook, (sise to bait) 10"-14" mono, barrel swivel, bullet sinker (line through). after EVERY catch (note capitols) i re-tie, cuting the line 10"-14" tward the reel/tip-up end of line, leaving the swivel tied -tie hook to that "fresh" end and re-tie swivel to main line. use that method my fellow fishermen & women, along with the above mentioned "upside down & through the as - - -" method and you"ll put fish on the ice.   ENJOY!   D.

[gerryskid]

i also unravel some line before taking them out of the hole.holding the line, i hand tipup to my buddy (buddy reels line on tipup,cause if you lay it on the ice it will get tangled on a quick run). i  LIGHTLY pull back line till i feel the weight of the fish,and give a tug and then another quick tug just in case he had his mouth closed tight on the first one.i seem to do well with this.i like the hat idea for missed fish,will have to look for the goofiest thing i can find.