How do I know how much line to let out on tipups?

[Freezeout]

When setting my tipup in the hole, how far do I lower my bait down in the hole and how much line should I let out? I don't have any idea how deep of water I am in so how do I guage it?

Any suggestions.

P.S. I am going to be fishing on Houghton Lake and using tip ups for pike with probably 5" chubs.

[tc34]

use a sounder

[Freezeout]

use a sounder

I have no clue what that is. It sounds expensive though. How much can I get one for?

[fisher50]

For Pike I go half way to the botom.  I'm usually fishing in less than 15 feet of water on our lake.

[swantucky]

Less than a dollar.  A sounder/depthfinder is a sinker with an alligator clip that you attach to your jig,hook, or whatever and lower it down to the bottom.   I usually put a small split shot on the tip-up line at that point so you can drop you bait to the right depth without  checking it everytime you check you bait or get a flag.  In clear water for pike I would set my bait depending on the depth 3'-4' from the bottom.  That depth may be where you want to place your split-shot then adjust up or down if you are not getting any action.  Hopefully I explained this so you could understand???

[icejunky]

Swantucky...has got it dead on....Im no Pike expert this is my first season fishing for gators..but I do exactly that. Except I use a camera and vex to chose my depth...I look that the weed line and usually hang the bait just above it...I use a spilt also to mark on the line how deep I was fishing...

[PeRcHsLaYeR]

1 foot off bottom or 1 foot above weeds...

[reelbigfish]

Freezeout,
  On pike tipups I also like to setup halfway between the top and bottom in depths up to 15'.  Use a depthfinder (lead weight) on a jigging pole to determine depth. Most pikeguys use a small button on their mainline that can easily slide up and down to set depth.  I keep mine just below the reel to prevent freezeups.  This way I can reset tipups to the same depth after a flag flies.  A lot of guys use dead bait just off
the bottom.  You might squish a smelt and try this method as well.  Good luck.




Ted

[FishDaddy09]

I will set my tip-up anywhere in the water column if the depth is 15' or less, if the depth is greater I will set it at 1-3 ft off the bottom.

[Freezeout]

Thanks to all of you who responded to this! Good Information!

[Snoman]

Ditto to reelbigfish.  Eyes of pike are more to the top of their head (seeing more above them), so I try to keep the bait above them.  In a lot of years of shanty fishing, I don't think I have ever seen a fish swim in above a bait and dive down at it....they always come in directly at the same height or below it.  Thats my $.02.

I do the button too.  Last weekend I screwed up and wasn't paying attention and was fishing shallower than normally (different lake) and didn't adjust the button.  The flag went up, saw the spindle spin on my polar and then stop.  When we pulled the tip-up out the hole, the button was resting against the line gider/bait keeper by the spool.   UGH!!!   I yanked it right out of the fish's mouth.  Rats.