Tipup Pike

[TIPUPMILITIA]

HEY GUYS. I NEED A LITTLE ADVICE. I HAVE A CABIN UP IN NRTHWSTRN WIS. I USUALLY TIPUP FISH WITH SUCKERS AND SHINERS AND THE PIKE USUALLY HIT THEM ALL DAY LONG. I SET EM' UP ON THE TOP OF AN 8 FT DEEP WEEDLINE. THIS YEAR IM HAVING TROUBLE ENTICING THEIR BITE. ANY SUGGESTIONS???

THANKS ALOT,
TIPUPMILITIA

[TIPUPMILITIA]

plz respond!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bob_D]

Does this help?

http://fishingvermont.net/northern_pike_through_the_ice.htm

[grumpymoe]

i was going to post this on general chit chat but i'll pass this along here. this weekend was alot slower than any previous days out so far. we fish for walleye, northern and perch on the lake where are shanty is setup this year. SLOW SLOW SLOW. we were using live 4 inch chubs on #2 mustad hooks on rods only. NO BITES i started snapping my rod tip down about 6 inches and WHAM  it must have produced at least a dozen fish that were obviously there but were not actively taking the bait.it was almost the only way we could get hits. we'll see what happens after the holidays and i will udpate if this continues to produce.

[TIPUPMILITIA]

thanks esox that helped a lot!

[Bob_D]

No problem. Let me know if you need more details. I wrote that article as a basic outline.

Bob

[TIPUPMILITIA]

iS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL i SHOULD DO BOB FOR THESE EARLY ICE PIKE? MY CABIN HAS SUFFICIENT ICE RIGHT NOW.

[Bob_D]

It's really hard to say. The biggest thing you can do is get off the PC and go fishing. How deep id the break line? Have you tried setting a tip-up or 2 at the bottom of the break? How drity is the water? Murky water make it harder for the pike to see the bait. Some folks add a small spinner blade (flicker blade) on a clevis to the line so when the bait swims the blade will cause some flash. Have you tried goldens/arkansas shad? I like the large shinny surface area you get with them.

Keep an eye on what is working for you and try and understand why it's working. It will give you ideas on how to setup to catch fish when conditions are different.

[Barleydog]

I have fished early season Wisconsin, Colorado, Alaska, Minnesota and Upper Michigan Pike, and like many other states, the one thing that always produced numbers was fishing them in the shallows.  I have iced early season pike in extremely shallow water, (2-4 ft. of water.)  Seems SOMETIMES, (note I did not say all the time!!), thier transition to the deeper water didn't occur until in or around early January.  It couldn't hurt placing a couple tip-ups in the shallows and visually setting your bait 1 ft. above the weed line.  One thing you must do is fill your hole in with snow!!! or at least a piece of cardboard etc... keeping the light down to a minimum.  Bob's tip on using a "flicker blade" dosen't hurt either!  Anyhow, 8 ft. "may" be to deep?  Try shallowing up.  -Barleydog

[TIPUPMILITIA]

Bob,
my lake is extremely clear. Thanks for the shallow tip. ill try that this weekend!

[northernnyice]

Be mobile, try some new spots! Move around and try to find where the pike are at, if youve got that kind of time

[7 plus larry]

No problem. Let me know if you need more details. I wrote that article as a basic outline.

Bob

Bob im heading up to carry bay do you have any info on the fishing?

[lethalconnection]

Set your bait high up. Pike's eye's are on the top of their head so they are looking up for food.  Set it about 1-2 ft below the ice and u will get more bites. I had mine set last year about 1ft off bottom and i had a horrible year only caught a few fish over 35" this year im settin them 1-2ft below ice and ive already caught 4 fish over 40" and 2 over 36" and im in shallow only about 10-12 fow on a weedline.