Tipups for bass

[bassin140]

Finally looking like we will be on ice in southern ice belt. Like I said on the southern ice belt so no pikes in our lakes. However they are loaded with bass. I wanna throw some tipups out for fun while we panfish. What’s your bass setup look like on a tipup? I was thinking same tipup line that I have on from northern pike trips but throw in a barrel swivel attached to. 8 foot leader of 10 lb flourocarbon. Also what hook for best chance of survival?  Don’t plan on keeping any of them just wanna have a little fun.

[bigvfb]

 if fishing 10 feet deep run your minnow at different depths starting 2 feet off bottom then 4 then 6 . ive found that with bass they can see upward very well but not downward. so keeping the bait above them works best
in deeper water ive had great luck with jigging rapallas with very light jigging maybe 1/2 in up and down then slowly raising it to different depths . also dead sticking 1 rod with a nice tail hooked shiner works great .
best of luck and be safe

[bigvfb]

also i like the misquito and octopus hooks in 6size 6 or 8

[Ramp 23]

I use 5 ft long 6-8 lb trilene clear to a 1/0 circle hook , sometimes a little smaller, barrel swivel to 36 lb Dacron tip up line . 4” shinners with a few split shot to control bait.
Have caught a lot of bass jigging a silver 3/8 oz kastmaster with white tail. All my biggest bass have been thru the ice

[Zeker259]

I use 3' or 4' of 8# mono off a barrel swivel with #6 hook and small split shot using 3" shiner a couple feet off the bottom. But bass are never my target fish.
 


   

[thomasthepikehunter]

In my experience, smaller is better with largemouth in the winter. The biggest bait I can remember ever getting a bass on was a shiner, maybe 2" or 3" long. I almost never use bait that small on tip ups if I can help it, and I can't recall a single bass I ever got on a bait bigger than that. Even in lakes that are good in the early summer, are usually dead ice fishing. I get bass from time to time, but it's always on small panfish jigs. They don't seem to like to chase much either, I don't know that I've ever got one on a jigging rap.

My opinion, I would not waste my time with tip ups for bass, but if bass is mainly what you have, try it. I would go pretty light, maybe a 4# leader. I would rather use a rod holding tip up like a finicky fooler, rather than a more typical tip up. I would do that both for fighting the fish with lighter line, and for a more sensitive flag trip. Bass are very timid in the winter. I don't even know what a good bait would be. I've got more bass on tungsten jigs with wax worms than I have on crappie minnows, but I'm not sure a tungsten jig with no jigging would be very good.

We get mostly smallmouth here in SD, and they act a little different. They tend to go much deeper. I don't have any experience getting smallmouths in the winter.

[missoulafish]

Single hook and pinch the barbs since they will likely be hooked deeply.

[Scranton Joe]

I used to target bass many decades ago using tip ups.  I use 4lb leader, 18 to 24 inches, a split shot and a medium shiner fished two to three feet off the bottom.

They're easy to catch, but I don't target them due to deep hook sets.  I'd much rather catch jumbo perch.

You can use larger baits such as 4 or 5 inch perch if you so inclined.

[phishmonger]

In my experience, smaller is better with largemouth in the winter. The biggest bait I can remember ever getting a bass on was a shiner, maybe 2" or 3" long. I almost never use bait that small on tip ups if I can help it, and I can't recall a single bass I ever got on a bait bigger than that. Even in lakes that are good in the early summer, are usually dead ice fishing. I get bass from time to time, but it's always on small panfish jigs. They don't seem to like to chase much either, I don't know that I've ever got one on a jigging rap.

My opinion, I would not waste my time with tip ups for bass, but if bass is mainly what you have, try it. I would go pretty light, maybe a 4# leader. I would rather use a rod holding tip up like a finicky fooler, rather than a more typical tip up. I would do that both for fighting the fish with lighter line, and for a more sensitive flag trip. Bass are very timid in the winter. I don't even know what a good bait would be. I've got more bass on tungsten jigs with wax worms than I have on crappie minnows, but I'm not sure a tungsten jig with no jigging would be very good.

We get mostly smallmouth here in SD, and they act a little different. They tend to go much deeper. I don't have any experience getting smallmouths in the winter.

That's interesting, my bass here in SE Nebraska are generally aggressive when they hit. Never tried tip ups for them, but I agree with your finicky fooler suggestion.

[thomasthepikehunter]

That's interesting, my bass here in SE Nebraska are generally aggressive when they hit. Never tried tip ups for them, but I agree with your finicky fooler suggestion.

Are you talking largemouth or smallmouth? I know very little about ice fishing smallmouth. Largemouth under the ice are just a half step above hibernation.

[gutshot_again]

I've never targeted Bass, but have picked up a few on tip-ups rigged for Walleyes or Northerns.  Used minnows on a treble hook with a small split shot 12" to 18" above the minnow (12" steel leader if for pike, plain mono if after walleye).  When they hit, they don't wait around.  They hightail and don't slow down until they've run out of line.  So be ready and don't waste any time getting to a flag.  Oh - it's a blast when you do get a few.