Walking by tipups and they go off..

[deadsmelthead]

Maybe it is just a coincidence but I cannot tell you how many times this has happend.. I'll be jigging or sucking on a beer and decide to get up and check the tip ups and when doing so at least 1 time every 2-3 trips I will be walking up to a tip up and it goes off, or sometimes just walking by one and it get triggered.. It just seems odd to me its like walking on the ice drums the fish up or makes them take your bait..Obviously it doesn't work all the time or ice fisherman would be the thinest people in the world because we would all be running around in circles on the ice all day.. Anybody else experience anything like this.

[Cook078]

Well I have had them hit walking AWAY from a tip-up, just my luck, flag when I get back to the shanty...LOL...But maybe it is kinda like they sense you and figure its lunch now or I'm outta here...and if their hungry.....

Mike

[Out4Trout]

Let the force be with you deadsmeltheadwalker

[billditrite]

Let the force be with you deadsmeltheadwalker

LMAO

[Dihardfisher]

I got a flag before I could even get up off of the ice after putting the tip-up in the water.  It was cool because at first the minnow was hardly taking the line down and then it starting going in real fast.  I thought it was just a strong swimmer. LOL... it was really a northern swimming away!

[dogfish]

Yes the walk up to the tip up and it go's off thing has happened to me many times.  A fishing buddy of mine from Vt. and me decided it was fish that would come up and watch the bait minnow.  This fish would maybe know somwthing was wrong and was wondering if it should eat the minnow (bare with me here, we are giving the reasing ability of the fish some room).  When said fish hears (or sences) you moving to him/her, the natural instinc to grab the food and run takes over.
Anyways this became our theory and because of it when things would get slow we would shuffel through the tip ups every know and then "trolling" for a bite?

[missfishylicious]

I agree with dog fish for all those guys who get peed at snowmobiles and augers makeing noise I think it gets the fish moveing in this way just my 2 cents well I'm off to oneida lake if I can fit the sled in my car cause the trucks broke down needs a fuel pump last week it was the brakes and the week before it was the oil lines guess it's time to look for a new one 

[fishmann]

Naaahhhhhh missfishylicious, you've just about got all the stuff replaced!! Why would you want to get everything working, then sell it so the next guy gets all those good new parts?? Besides, like I tell my customers, you can spend a couple hundred on your vehicle every couple months when something breaks, or you can just buy a different one and know for sure you're going to spend several hundred every month, plus increased insurance costs, possible higher license costs, etc. etc. etc.

Oh, and good luck out on Oneida Lake today, wherever that is. 

[Little Brown Dog]

Yep, happened to me before.  Sat for a while and there was no action at all.  Along comes a warden and as he walks up to me the flags start going off!  Caught a couple while he waited.  I asked if he could stick around a while because it was the only fish all day, but he had to move on!!

[Chuckles]

Little Brown Dog.....The warden just put on a drive for you.   LOL  I've seen guys walk up to their tip-ups and stomp on the ice. They say it causes the minnie to swim faster making any near by fish hit.

P.S.  It's called the "Walleye Stomp"

[iceintheveins]

For walleyes, i've noticed that a snowmobiler makes it slow, or even the sound of my power auger.

[BOOB]

Mine usually go off in the pack basket.

[mooseslayer]

WHEN IM FISHING FOR TROUT IN SHALLOW WATER AND THE BITE IS SLOW I TAKE A TRIP AROUND THE TIPUPS WITH MY SNOWMOBILE. 9 TIMES OUT OF 10 I WILL GET AT LEAST 1 FLAG. HAVE ALSO SEEN IT WORK AS YOU WALK UP BUT NOT AS FREQUENTLY.

[missfishylicious]

ANOTHER THEORY yestarday I had one go off as i was walking up to it ....it was a little walleye ..when we left I was takeing up that tip up and there was a good sized walleye on it and it hadn't been tripped ....I think the tip up may have been set in spot where the fish just naturally lay and they would just lay there with the bait in there mouth until you walked over and spooked them..like i said just another theory 

[FishDaddy09]

I've had mine go up as I walked up to it,as I walked away  from it, and as soon as i put it down ( hit them in the head)! Any way you slice it "flag up" is a good thing!  I also lift my tip-up up off the ice 4-5 ft and let minnow fall back down when I check my tip-ups.

[zoom]

MY THEROY is your movement gets the minnow swiming alot more when he hears /feels you walking and any fish undecided watching your bait cant resist i also believe it makes the fish make a decision to hit or run with the increased movement and the sounds your surely putting off !!!zoom

[FingerLakesBen]

you guys might be on to something as far as noise causing the fish to grab the bait.  mine always go when natures calls.  that thump on the ice always send a flag up, ooohhh thats cold!!   

[oneshot]

Please do not take a dump on the ice.

[FingerLakesBen]

no dumpage here       8) 

[deadsmelthead]

Now that I see some of you have had simaler experiences I wil not feel too akward starting a fish catching dance the next time I am out .. LOL

[bushman-wi]

i caught a pike watching the minnow get to the bottom of the ice one time. just as it got there, he came thru and grabbed the minnow ,not 2 feet from my face. bushman

[Mudbug]

when you drive under street lights, do they go out?

[fishguts.]

i agree with the ones that say a noise will get them to hit sometimes,,, espically pike. ive seen it may times, last week was slow and i did a little plowing around the shanty and sure enough two tipups clos to the shanty weent up. ive also seen my frend last year catch a pike rebait and as he was lowering the tipup in the hole wamm another bite and the flag wiped him in the kisser!! that made my day

[ICE_HOOK]

Read this the other day and tried it today and whether it was coincidence or not I started to check the tip-ups and bam!!!!!!!!!! the flag went up and caught the biggest perch so far , a nice 13 inch beauty!!!!!!!!

[Van_Cleaver]

Was out with my brother on Thurs., and he wasn't getting any flags. Already having a couple of nice perch on the ice, I decided to check his depth with the FL-18. Looked like he was too deep, so raised the minnow a few in. and said,"there's a fish under your rig''. Moved the transducer a bit for a better look and nudged the tip-up which went off. My bro came over and stated to lift it to reset, when I mentioned his line was going sideways. He set the hook on a 13'' plus perch, his biggest ever. Lucky I walked by his tip-up, eh?

[Lottie]

Last year when ice fishing with a friend we were checking our tipups, we got to the last one and were standing next to it warming our hands before getting them wet again. the flag went up and the tipup started dancing on the ice as the reel was zing out the line. My partner played the fish for about 15 min. before getting it to the hole then he had to roll up his sleeve to turn the fish so it would come up. low and behold it was a 27" 7lb Brown Trout. From that day forward I believe in fish drives.       

[Mudbug]

does this occurance occur only with tip ups?

[WVBoy]

Yea, same things happen to me. It is strange at times because it even seems like certain phrases that you say like "Im going to sit and jig", and as you sit your butt down . Also, when things are slow I drive around my tipups. I agree that it stirs up the minnows a little.

[hard_waterer]

Superstion is bad luck! My Flags never go up when I'm looking at them, I just glance at my buddies and the go up. So I spend my day looking at my feet untill someone tells me I havve a flag. I think I'm getting a foot fetish.

[sam001]

When its slow we will drive our truck around the outside edge of our tip-ups, we normally get a flag within 15 minutes!