Fishing Lakers with Tip ups???? HELP!!

[icefisherman]

I am recently new to fishing for trout through the ice, I started last year and have had good luck with putting my tip ups in shallow water with the minnow right below the ice for rainbows, browns, and brookies. Then i go out in the deeper water with my Jig Rod and fish for lakers. I am curious to know if anyone sets up tip ups to target lakers specifically and if so, how do you do it? Do you go in Deep water and fish on the bottom or below the ice? Any insight would be great, Thank you

[gogetthegaff]

I am recently new to fishing for trout through the ice, I started last year and have had good luck with putting my tip ups in shallow water with the minnow right below the ice for rainbows, browns, and brookies. Then i go out in the deeper water with my Jig Rod and fish for lakers. I am curious to know if anyone sets up tip ups to target lakers specifically and if so, how do you do it? Do you go in Deep water and fish on the bottom or below the ice? Any insight would be great, Thank you

I generally target lakers in 30-60 FOW. I've had my best luck with dead smelt right on bottom, but have also had good luck with live smelt on bottom and 5' to 20' below the ice. The only place I have caught lakers on shiners is Champlain. In my experience, on  the smaller inland lakes the lakers seem to have a strong preference for smelt; dead or alive.

[Hottuna5150]

Like gogetthegaff I’ve had my best trap success with smelt. I usually hang live smelt 6-8 feet off bottom. I find a particular depth matters less than structure. Steep banks, underwater points, or steps (my personal favorite) adjacent to deep water have produced well for me. As the season progresses I tend to start setting shallower.

[keithm87]

Dead smelt right on bottom. Day or night that setup will catch lakers. I like to let the smelt get a little funky before putting them on a hook, smeltrite can add funk if time is limited.

[woodyvt]

Dead smelt right on bottom. Day or night that setup will catch lakers. I like to let the smelt get a little funky before putting them on a hook, smeltrite can add funk if time is limited.

Used to throw them on the dash with the defroster on during the ride.......that got them funky! Always caught lakers that way and depth didnt seem to matter 6'-90'

Good luck

[Light liner]

Dead perch on half my tip ups. Some days its all they'll hit.

[Crayfish2]

I usually have success with shiners ... everywhere but Willoughby, for some reason.  Some days on Caspian we've been downright busy running nothing but shiners.  I run ~5' 8-10lb test leaders with #2 octopus hooks.  Set the shiners anywhere from right on bottom to about 4' off bottom.  Depth anywhere from 2' to 50', usually.  Sometimes I will also take a dead shiner and step on it slightly (mainly to make sure it sinks, but also to get max smell) and lay them right on bottom.  This has worked a couple of times in the past.

Opening day was slow for us, but we did catch one legal laker on a tip-up.  It swallowed the hook bad so we kept it.  I was surprised to see 2 shiners in it's belly ... I'm assuming one was ours but the other looked identical to it.  Not sure if he stole the bait from someone else or if there are shiners in Caspian? 

[TRT]

Lakers be set up before any sign of day break. Caspian, Willy, Seymour can be a desert out there
once it gets to be 8-9am.

[flagup!]

Only caught a few, don't have the lakes around here, but the few I did catch, some were on the bottom some were suspended. Fishing drop off from 30ft to 70 ft.  I did learn that they can peel off a lot of line in a hurry. 

[gogetthegaff]

I usually have success with shiners ... everywhere but Willoughby, for some reason.  Some days on Caspian we've been downright busy running nothing but shiners.  I run ~5' 8-10lb test leaders with #2 octopus hooks.  Set the shiners anywhere from right on bottom to about 4' off bottom.  Depth anywhere from 2' to 50', usually.  Sometimes I will also take a dead shiner and step on it slightly (mainly to make sure it sinks, but also to get max smell) and lay them right on bottom.  This has worked a couple of times in the past.

Opening day was slow for us, but we did catch one legal laker on a tip-up.  It swallowed the hook bad so we kept it.  I was surprised to see 2 shiners in it's belly ... I'm assuming one was ours but the other looked identical to it.  Not sure if he stole the bait from someone else or if there are shiners in Caspian?

That's good to know. What size shiners do you usually run? Heavy mediums?

[Crayfish2]

Usually a mix of mediums and heavy mediums. 

[gogetthegaff]

Usually a mix of mediums and heavy mediums.

Huh. I've tried that unsuccessfully. I guess I need to keep at it. Thanks.

[koissu]

Lakers be set up before any sign of day break. Caspian, Willy, Seymour can be a desert out there
once it gets to be 8-9am.

Funny, I stopped going to Caspian at 6am as all my action is from 9 to 11ish. or late afternoon before sunset

[TRT]

Sat was slow at Willy as we were set up hours before daylight. We picked away and had a good bite from 2-4pm right
before the snow storm arrived. We caught 3 of 7 fish in the last 2 hours in a very long day. That being said if I could fish
"only"  two hours it would be hour before and an hour after sunrise. 

[fishingidjit]

Find the depth the smelt are at and you will find the lakers. I've caught lakers 3 feet,10 ft,20ft,30ft,40ft under the ice and on the bottom.Usually set up in 70-90 ft of water,drop-offs or humps work well.

[JMailbox8]

Funny, I stopped going to Caspian at 6am as all my action is from 9 to 11ish. or late afternoon before sunset

Wise words right there.

[bootstrap]

just jig.

[JMailbox8]

Nice one bootstrap!