tip up rig?

[icefishingct98]

What is a suggested tip up rig for pike?

[pfscott]

I generally use a 30 lb steel leader, and a #4 trebel, but I'm sure you will get many other answers.

[JBO112394]

I use a 5/0 Gamakatsu octopus kook with a 30 lb steel leader.

[Boydric]

I use 15"  30# Flouro Leader material with #8 VMC trebble hook with a swivel.  I also add a few beads and a small blade to make it pretty.

[jimyoumook]

had great success with 1/0 circle hooks this past year

[pikeaddict]

1/0 Gamakatsu Inline Straight Eye Circle Hook w/2.5-3FT 40lb Seaguar Blue Label or Premier Leader tied to a Ball Bearing Swivel.

[northernnyice]

It only takes losing one big fish on fluoro leaders to be sorry. Pike arnt line shy!! I use a steel leader and a #6 treble.

[saxmatt]

Pike aren't line shy? That's a myth. It depends on water clarity and fishing pressure. I use 50-80lb floro and a single hook. I've caught plenty of big fish on floro and I use a single octopus hook, if you gut hook a fish using treble hooks it can kill them.

[Boydric]

It only takes losing one big fish on fluoro leaders to be sorry. Pike arnt line shy!! I use a steel leader and a #6 treble.

I run flouro carbon because it has increased the number of bass that I catch when I am fishing for northern. More flags more fun.

[northernnyice]

Pike aren't line shy? That's a myth. It depends on water clarity and fishing pressure. I use 50-80lb floro and a single hook. I've caught plenty of big fish on floro and I use a single octopus hook, if you gut hook a fish using treble hooks it can kill them.

I rarely if ever gut hook pike. I fish the st. Lawrence river which is gin clear and has a lot more people fishing it then any place you fish.. And big pike still eat steel. How many 20 pound pike have you caught?

You make everything out to be this exact science in all your posts that I read. Like your some kind of pro.... Simple truth here. Pike are NOT that smart, and tip up fishing for pike is NOT that hard.. Even with steel leaders.

[northernnyice]

I run flouro carbon because it has increased the number of bass that I catch when I am fishing for northern. More flags more fun.

Well there you go then, good deal. I'm just saying if your targeting big pike, some day it will backfire.

[pikeaddict]

Pike aren't line shy? That's a myth. It depends on water clarity and fishing pressure. I use 50-80lb floro and a single hook. I've caught plenty of big fish on floro and I use a single octopus hook, if you gut hook a fish using treble hooks it can kill them.

+1

Here on Lake Champlain we are allowed 15 lines per person.  Some bays can end up completely covered with tipups.  With fishing pressure like that, I would find it easy to believe that pike could become leader shy.   Everyone has their beliefs and methods.  I say stick with what you think works best for you.

[northernnyice]

In unrelated debate, what do you guys use for augers? Matt and Pikeaddict? Pikeaddict you must drill a lot of holes on Champlain. It's good to hear from people who target mostly pike.

[pikeaddict]

I have an 8" Jiffy 3HP.  I am a dark to dark fisherman, so I get there well before sunrise and cut all the holes.  Any additional holes I drill during the day, I tend to use a hand auger.  I like to keep things quiet when I am all setup, and try to stay away from the crowd.     

[northernnyice]

Yep I hear you! I fish dark to dark too. Never have trouble getting pike started up an 8" hole with thick ice? I'd like to get the new strikemaster Honda 4 stroke I'm just worried that 8" isn't enough. On a real cold day with some freeze in its more like a 7" hole anyway.

[pikeaddict]

8" should be fine.  Sometimes I take the hand auger and clean up the hole when I am checking the lines, if it starts becoming too small of a hole.  Sometimes it takes a few attempts to get their head up into the hole when the ice is real thick, but they come with a little patience and finesse.
I've always been a little fearful going to the 10" b/c that is a size I could potentially put my boot in.  Late season they grow big enough by the end of the day my foot could definitely go in, along with my polar tipups.

[saxmatt]

I rarely if ever gut hook pike. I fish the st. Lawrence river which is gin clear and has a lot more people fishing it then any place you fish.. And big pike still eat steel. How many 20 pound pike have you caught?

You make everything out to be this exact science in all your posts that I read. Like your some kind of pro.... Simple truth here. Pike are NOT that smart, and tip up fishing for pike is NOT that hard.. Even with steel leaders.

I have also fished the St. Lawrence and it is a gigantic body of water with lots of pike and plenty of places for them to hide. I'm sure a lot of those fish haven't even seen a hook. You're right, they are easy to catch up there. I live in New Jersey, one of the most heavily populated states in the US and I fish small bodies of water where the fish are very pressured. If you don't believe they are line shy come down here and get skunked. I've caught a handful of 40"+ fish in these pressured waters and all but 1 was on floro. If you want something stronger than floro use one of the titanium lines. They are thinner, stronger, and stretch. Steel is junk in my opinion.

[pikeaddict]

I am going to get my hands on some of that Knot2Kinky titanium wire.  I tend to jig for northerns along with tipups.  I think that stuff just might be the ticket for leader material on my rods.  Might have to try it for tipup leader on water that doesn't see much pressure or is stained.

[northernnyice]

I've used titanium it's kinky and junk in my opinion. A titanium leader is usually good for one fish then it looks like a pretzel. My brother uses 50lb fluoro(he did anyway).. I saw him get bit off on a 14-15lb fish (rough guess). He never outfished me. Your right the st Lawrence is big and expansive but some areas look literally like small cities, number of anglers in derbies climb to the thousands at one single event. These fish are hardened and have seen plenty of hooks. I think they may even notice the steel sometimes but it is just instinct they have to eat. I will put fluoro on 1 tip up this year and see the results, if it works better I will let you know and give it a try. What do you recommend?

[saxmatt]

That stuff is pretty good. Try crimping it instead on usin knots.

Trebles: I don't like them because I gut hooked a 39" female that was full of eggs and felt bad that I had to leave the hook in. Hopefully she made it but I'm sure the hook caused a lot of problems when she tried to eat. I've also noticed I get more flags with a single hook because they can't see it as well. It doesn't matter as much open water because most people fish moving baits and they don't have as much time to see what it is and make a decision.

[saxmatt]

I've used titanium it's kinky and junk in my opinion. A titanium leader is usually good for one fish then it looks like a pretzel. My brother uses 50lb fluoro(he did anyway).. I saw him get bit off on a 14-15lb fish (rough guess). He never outfished me. Your right the st Lawrence is big and expansive but some areas look literally like small cities, number of anglers in derbies climb to the thousands at one single event. These fish are hardened and have seen plenty of hooks. I think they may even notice the steel sometimes but it is just instinct they have to eat. I will put fluoro on 1 tip up this year and see the results, if it works better I will let you know and give it a try. What do you recommend?

Try half and half. I like 3' of pink yo-zuri 60lb, less if I'm fishing shallow, with a single 1/0 gama octopus. You'll get some bite offs but I think the increase of flags is worth it.

[pikeaddict]

With the Fluoro make sure you get 100% Fluoro LEADER material, and thoroughly check the leader after you play or land a fish.  If it gets nicked up cut the bad section out, and re-tie.  I run a 3ft leader and will cut out sections and re-tie until it gets down to about 18".  Gets shorter than that, I will put on a whole new leader.

[northernnyice]

What about all these bite offs with fish swimming around with hooks in there mouth/throat??

[saxmatt]

What about all these bite offs with fish swimming around with hooks in there mouth/throat??

I think I've only had 2 bite offs. I've lost a lot more fish on snags and in that case the leader doesn't matter. Usually fish can get rid of a single hook pretty easily, and even if it ends up in the throat they can still get food down. Most of the time the single hook ends up in the corner of the mouth which saves a lot of time during the unhooking process. I've found treble hooks cause more damage to the gills and inside of the mouth and usually take longer to get out, which means there's a greater chance of their eyeballs and fins freezing.

[northernnyice]

I hook fish in the corner of the mouth, top of mouth or in the back soft part of the mouth nearly every time. I never struggle to get hooks out of a fish. It would seem to me that a small single hook would get swallowed far more often before you can even set the hook. (my #6 trebles art very big anyway)

[saxmatt]

I've gut hooked fish with singles and trebles but it doesn't happen that often because I don't give them a chance to swallow the bait. Sometimes with bigger fish there is nothing you can do because the fish has the bait down its throat by the time you get to the flag. The nice thing about single hooks is you can easily remove them when gut hooked with no damage to the fish if you know what you're doing.

[northernnyice]

just saw a youtube video that made me think of this thread.... So a guy is ice fishing for pike, he gets bit off on a nice pike with fluoro... So he puts a steel leader on, same pike comes back (his fluoro and his hook in its mouth) and eats the steel leader set up.. lands it. Real nice pike, too!

[esox_xtm]

I'd comment on removing swallowed hooks. Had a pretty good discussion earlier this year.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=210538.20

I chimed in @ Reply #26. There's links to a video and an article on this technique for removing hooks from the "Netherworld"...... I use it with amazing success when those rare instances occur. Went walleye fishing with some guys once and one wouldn't use anything larger than a #16 treble. Lots of gut hooked fish that he pretty much disemboweled just to retrieve his rig. Sad part was nearly all were below the minimum and simply became turtle food. I showed him the "trick" and I'd say that after that a very large share swam away not too much worse for the wear.

Now to the point....Mostly steel for me; uncoated tie-wrapped connections in 18-20# test. Stuff is dirt cheap and thinner than 10# mono. I've played with circles and had mixed results. I think that the presence of teeth impact on whether or not the hook rotates properly and lands in the corner. I am playing with some fluoro this year BUT it's 60#, a bare minimum I consider is necessary to prevent bite-offs. I used some 25# years ago with circles; had one nice fish and then three bite-offs in a row. The last one I'd barely even felt and it was cut. That experiment ended immediately. My take is that thicker fluoro is much stiffer than appropriate sized wire and weight-wise it's nearly a tossup.

I can't recommend titanium. It's got it's place but because it does stretch (even a 12 " piece) it will fatigue and give no outward appearance of weakening before it gives way. It's also kinda stiff for live bait presentation. If you're going to use the "tieable" stuff, may as well use steel. It's cheaper.

I know there are some fans but braid has no use as a leader for toothy critters like pike or muskies. It's just cuts way too easy; super tough in other ways but if you take a razor blade to it you'll see what I mean.

My hooks run pretty small. #10's on most live bait and #6's for deads. If the bait is large enough I may cover it with a quick strike rig. Hooks are short shank, 4x strong, round bends; never straightened one out on a fish. Had a 44" through the hole on the #10's......... 

Just my opinions based on my experiences..........u ser mileage may vary.

/m