Anchor-down or Let-em Swim

[IceRover]

When tip-up fishing, what do you guys get more action on? A minnow, shiner whatever, anchored by using a jig or weight etc. which keeps them from swimming, or applying your spilt-shot or other weight above the hook say six inches or however large a circle you want them to make?  I know it depends on the aggression of the fish that day and also the species, but that said, what do you find yourself using the most, and why?

[Tommyboy18769]

On the Tip up I normally put a splitshot about 10" above...i havent fished with minnows/shiners from my rod yet...

[Home Wood]

I put a split shot on at about the 2-3 feet mark on the leader and my leaders are about 4 feet long. I like my shiner to swim around as free and natural as possible.

[spoonfed]

splitshot three feet up.  let em swim around.

[slimechaser]

splitshot three feet up.  let em swim around.

Ditto the above except if I'm fishing deep, say 25 fow or more, I'll shorten the leash to about 18". Reason being, I don't use a lot of weight to start with, and with that much line out, the minnow can get pretty far from the hole.

[tip-uptwo]

3 feet up  ...How can you keep your bait in the strikezone when it's swiming all over the place..When fishing for pike with Golden shiners I will usually place the weight about 15'' inches up my main line..no more. Walleye 10''...

[RUGERGUNZ]

Call me crazy but I have my own system and it seems to work well for me.


I run 35# Icefishing line to a stainless swivel and connect that to a 3 foot piece of spiderline 30#  and then use a very small gamaktsu colored hook direct tied to the spiderline.   I dont use any weight and usually put the swivel at the bottom edge of the ice but up a few inches.   This gives the minnow or smelt about 3 ft of play and keeps him from getting above the swivel.  He can swim however he wants and appears very natural.

Using this setup I have outfished everyone in my fishing party.  They stick with thier long leaders and weights however.

[Home Wood]

3 feet up  ...How can you keep your bait in the strikezone when it's swiming all over the place..When fishing for pike with Golden shiners I will usually place the weight about 15'' inches up my main line..no more. Walleye 10''...

What do you mean by strike zone? I consider everywhere under the ice a strike zone. I used to use no weight at all, but it took 5 minutes of sitting there setting up the trap.

[IceRover]

My apologies to the first seven posters. I changed the subject title to anchor-down instead of anchor-up. According to what I'm reading there seems to be a clear difference of opinion on a basic way to do this. This is exactly what I want to determine by this subject. What is actually being used the most out there and which way is more successful, and why. I realize some are hesitant to share this expertise and fully understand that. Lets face it, some of this stuff is in the trade secrets dept. Anyway, if the activity level is low, maybe a short leash is more appealing than a large one. I do not own a camera, but folks on the ice with them have told me that sometimes the fish just will not chase, but will take a chub anchored there just finning for his life.  Thanks for the input.

[esox slayer]

What do you mean by strike zone? I consider everywhere under the ice a strike zone. I used to use no weight at all, but it took 5 minutes of sitting there setting up the trap.

I'm confused on this "strike zone" comment myself when using tip ups.  I want my bait moving around, not too much but I want it with some action.

I fish 4 feet off bottom for pike, or just above the weeds if the weeds are taller.

I clip on a split shot about 18 inches above my steel 12 inch leader, so the answer to your question would be I have a weight about 2 1/2 feet above my bait, giving the bait a 5 foot diameter swim area.  Makes for plenty enough action, but I wouldn't want it restricted any more than that.....Esox

[ifishhi]

i use a split shot too on my 10' leader about 18"up from the hook kepps the bait swimming  just enough with out going all over the place if the bait is real big i will cut of part of the tail to keep it from going all over the place 

[Hollywood703]

I only use a maximum 18" leader and clip a very smallteardrop weight on the swivel where the swivel at the leader, this gives the minnow 18" of roaming circles, yetkeeps my line right where i set it.....directly under the hole. I put the minnow about 24" from the edge of a huge weedline one the drop off side....




 (placement )I place 2-4 tip ups (if someones with me) right in a staggered line along the weed bed. I have never had a bait get into the weeds this way, but he can swim to just the edge of the weeds. I have had very good luck doing this. I fish this same line in the summer and have it on GPS so i can go right there...

[pirkaus]

I use a small shot about 15" up on the leader
Natural swimming with 30" of freedom
Haven't tried using a jig to hold them in place is this effective

[icejunky]

I dont use wieght, just a decent sized spoon, then have about 3-5 inch dropper on the end of the spoon, allows the minoow to struggle and add flsh without getting into trouble

[beeverfishing]

I have used a jig w/ minnow under a tip-up.  Seems to work well for trout and bass.  I also place a small splitshot about 10 to 18" up on others, giving the minnow a bit of freedom to move around.  Both seem to work and I really can't say that one way works better than the other.  I figure the fish can decide on which one they prefer, .....I offer them both.  (In Pa we are permitted up to 5 devices, I normally use 4 tip-ups and one jigging rod).

[pikemaster789]

I do the spitshot about a foot up. This allows the fish to swim freely, but when it becomes tired, it sinks to the depth I want it. It also allows the minnow to swim when a predator comes, but no so the predator wont grab it. It really is dangling a panicing fish right infront of the predators mouth.

[fishingonly2002]

I will frequently fish without wiehgts, and when I do I crimp a few splitshots a foot or two about the hook. I want my minnow to be siezuring, spazzing out and having a heart attack all at the same time down there and swim around as much as it wants.

~Neal