Tip Ups, Rods, Both?

[lil maggot]

I usually jig because I mainly target panfish. Only thing I use tipups for are bass and pike. Occasionally trout too, but trout are so much fun on a jiggy rod! I could jig trout all day long!

With tipups, you have more deep hooks because you can't always get to it quickly, so you either end up killing that fish whether you're trying to keep it or not. Not a major problem, especially if you're fishing for dinner, but as someone who typically does catch and release, I find jiggy rods a lot more manageable.

[Peccavi18]

Depends on the day. I have 2 tip downs hooked on the poles inside my 2 man, 1 in my 1man, that I like to use. I always have a few jigging rods with me. I also have 5 Jawjackers and rods in 1 bucket, 5 HT Polar Therms in a different bucket and an old Beaver Damn I throw in for something different. I grab gear based on target species and body of water I'm on. I like to travel lite so usually less than half of it goes unless I'm taking newbies or kids along, then I load up so there is lots of action to keep them excited.

[nindo24]

I've been ice fishing for 25yrs, and up until 2-3 years ago only used tip-ups. I've owned jigging rods but had never used them. Not sure really why. Either way, it depends on the day. There are days when the flags are nonstop, other days where there isn't a flag to be seen. It depends on the day, the fish, and what you want to do. Fish the way you can catch them.

[P-Wo]

I知 a tip up guy. Every once in a while I値l take my rods with me too but I always start out with the 5 tip ups and just don稚 have the confidence to pull one and start jigging. I watch others jigging and wish I could catch half as many as they do.

[Mr. Charlie]

Different circumstances ask for different approaches. I LOVE to jog suspended fish so a few different jigging setups are always in the arsenal. I also love to string tip ups out as long as I知 not trolling. Jigging has always been a favorite of mine but the Vex made jigging a whole new kind of fun.

[Seamonkey84]

I知 a tip up guy. Every once in a while I値l take my rods with me too but I always start out with the 5 tip ups and just don稚 have the confidence to pull one and start jigging. I watch others jigging and wish I could catch half as many as they do.

Get yourself a sonar/flasher and punch some extra holes in the area of your setup. It痴 much more entertaining, believe me! When your not finding fish on your sonar around your traps, you値l know to move to a different spot. Then after a while, you値l start thinking of those traps as anchors and a chore to keep tending to and you値l be more mobile and concentrated if you didn稚 set them all. Only time I set out traps is if I知 fishing for trout, pickerel/pike, or when I知 with friends that just want to camp out.

[Spider1]

sometimes I only set one or 2 traps if I know I'm just gonna be chasing pickerel around buuuut... sometimes I set 5 traps if I'm in an area with big pickerel and I'm after big pickerel!!!

[RuttNutt]

Especially the ones that have all your lures/jigs! 

[geothefisher]

I like to run with 2 tip ups,  2 dead stick rods and my vex and jigging rod.  We can have 5 devices in the water, but I will have 4 or 5 jigging rods set up ahead of time with different jigs on them to save time, instead of constantly changing jigs.  I even have the rod holders on my vex to keep 2 rods on standby!

[Seamonkey84]

sometimes I only set one or 2 traps if I know I'm just gonna be chasing pickerel around buuuut... sometimes I set 5 traps if I'm in an area with big pickerel and I'm after big pickerel!!!

Even when I知 after big pickerel, I値l still only set out 4 at most, I壇 rather catch them on a jig rod. I usually punch some holes close to the traps, and move around jigging those. Something flashy or rattles to get some attention to the area of the bait.

[theTUGistheDRUG]

I jig with one rod, deadstick a second, and will run 1-2 IFP's.  I like to fight fish on a rod on the set lines.