Tip-Up leaders

[ice sled]

Wondering if any one has ever tried flourocarbon leader on there tip ups, if so how did it work. If not what is your opinion? Thanks

[bigfish57]

 No matter what knot I use I couldn't seem to get it to perform well at all, so after 30-40 tries I gave up. I lubed it before cinching the knot and it didn't matter.

[Out4Trout]

All my tip ups have a flourocarbon leader on them. I have a swivel between the braided line and the flourocarbon. I use a fishermans knot to tie each line to the swivel and tie my hooks to the leader with the same knot. I place a sinker near the swivel so the bait has more freedom to swim around. My leaders are about 5 to 6 ft long and anywhere from 8 to 20 lb test. Hope this helps.

[PAcatchreleaseman]

i was under the impression that flouro gets brittle in extreme cold.  im probbaly misinformed as usual

i will say this however.  when fishing for pike out of state the locals told us that flouro/single hook was the only way to get the toothy gators. however,  we used 15 lb mono with 18" steel leaders/treble hooks and did just as well if not better on some days.  so, whatever thats worth......

-pa-

[iceintheveins]

I use the P line Fluorocarbon leader. It seems tougher than heck actually, especially since I use 12 pound test. I connect my vinyl tip up line and fluorocarbon with a barrel swivel. I have great performance on it. Never had a fish break off. You just have to use the fluorocarbon leader, not the soft fluorocarbon used as a main line. It is more brittle. Berkely Vanish line seems to be extremely brittle to me.

Tyler

[bigfish57]

Berkely Vanish line seems to be extremely brittle to me.

Tyler

That’s the brand I used, probably why it had poor knot strength.

[dogfish]

I use Floro for all my tip up leaders.  I have a large assortment from 4 lb, 6lb, 8lb, 10lb and 25lb.  I have leader holders in my sled with all my leaders with me all the time.  I have a large snap-swivel at the end of my dacron and can instantly change out a worn or knoted leader for quick reset. 
Dont use Vanish it is cheap line and you get what you pay for.  There are some high quality florocarbon lines out there that hold up great for ice fishing, you just have to pay the price.
Dogfish

[richstick]

dogfish, what brand of fluoro do you use?  I have some seaguar carbon ice that I like really well for my walleye leaders - 8lb. 

[Icenutter]

I spool all my tip-ups with either braided fireline or spider wire.  I mainly use my tip-ups for pike and bass, but if I ever need to use them for smaller fish like perch I just tie on a 2 or 4 lb leader.  This way I don't have to change the whole spool of line when I want to fish for different species.  It works ver well.

[Mugz]

I agree...I use heavy dacron ice line to fill my spool. Then I place a sliding egg sinker (just enough to get the bait down) then tie a barrel swivel and use 30 lb test Fireline leader about 4 or 5 ft. It's like 8lb test diameter........works like a charm and you really never have to worry about break offs. Check your knots though becasue you don't get as much stretch in your line as mono. Don't cut the extra string from the knot too short, leave an 1/4" or so, you'll have less knot breaks. I actually learned this the hard way, saltwater fishing with Braid. Knots would come undone with a big fish if I left the extra pigtail too short.

[Augerdogger]

I've used Seaguar Carbon Ice (flurocarbon) as leader material for the past two years on all my tipups.  Never had a problem with fish breaking off or knots slipping.  I use a 4-5' leader attached to the Dacron main line with a swivel.  I'll put a split shot about 12-18" above the hook.  More often than not, I'll add a few colored beads and a mall spinner blade above the split shot.

AugerD

[oakorchardfishking]

i have caught many fish on tip-ups big and small! i also use the seaguar carbon ice! never had a problem!
however, i have never done this bead and spinner technique that augerdogger speaks of... does this increase catch, as some kind of attractant? what kind/color beads and spinner? how big or small?

[Bean]

i have caught many fish on tip-ups big and small! i also use the seaguar carbon ice! never had a problem!
however, i have never done this bead and spinner technique that augerdogger speaks of... does this increase catch, as some kind of attractant? what kind/color beads and spinner? how big or small?

Oakorchardfishking, The bead and spinner blades on tip-ups has been brought up a few times before. Here's a few links for you to view:    http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=3494.0
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=3502.0

You can find more information by doing a search in just the tip-up forum. Hope this helps!

[richstick]

on northern pike, I have probably tripled the number of flags I get since I started adding spinners and beads to my rigs.  I usually just let them sit down right by the hook/minnow, but I might start using a bobber stop or similar to hold the beads/blades up above the bait a few inches.  I have played around a bit with beads/blades for walleye, plan to do more - esp. with glow in the dark beads.  For beads I like red, blades, silver, chartreuse, gold. 

[Augerdogger]

Oakorchardfishking:

Bean is right.  There is a lot of good info on using spinner blades and beads on tipup leaders in the threads he listed.  I can vouch for their effectiveness.  I've used them since I was a kid (many many years ago).  My father got the idea from a friend and we started experimenting.  When we used tipups with spinners and without spinners on the same lake, we seemed to catch more on the tipups with spinners about 80% of the time.  Ever since, I've always used them.  I use either silver (nickel) or gold blades (Colorado) with small beads - flourescent red, pink, clear red, chartreuse, or orange.  I can't tell if the bead color really makes any difference.  Give them a try.

Good luck and tight lines.

AugerD

[Hard_H2O]

Thanks for the links to those threads. I have been thinking about doing this for years. I have all the stuff from tying my walleye spinner rigs.

Looks like it would be easy to experiment with.

We use Carbon Ice Flourocarbon leaders for lake trout. They work great. We have had zero problems with brittleness or knots.

[oakorchardfishking]

thanks for the tips... i will give it a shot! i have plenty of beads and blades as i tie harnesses for commercial sale! what size colorado do you suggest!

[LoneWolf]

I found this article that tested abrason resistance of mono and flourocarbon fishing lines. The results were surprising (keep in mind this is an older article). 
              The link I entered isn't working - try www.sportfishingmag.co m  ...under article search type "20-line test" and under 8/28/2001 is the article.