Looking to try dead bait for tip ups this winter. Does anyone have success with dead bait if so what kind do you use and where can you find dead bait. Never seem to carry anything but dead suckers at my local bait store. Does size matter on this one as well bigger bait bigger fish? Thanks
Aint got no intel on pike, but regarding dead bait if you speak with some of the local shops and offer to buy some of the dead stuff from them, some cases even throw them some $$ up front, they’ll save whatever you want.
Hotdogs cheaper and work better. If you want you can open the stomach and get it back and use it the next day. Out fished frozen bait many days.
Hotdogs cheaper and work better. If you want you can open the stomach and get it back and use it the next day. Out fished frozen bait many days.
When my nephew was 5 we took him fishing for the first time. Chunks of hot dogs for bait and did very well on sunnies. He’s four years older now and readily give me fishing advice. The most common? Uncle Pat you should use hot dogs!
Now I see it on IDO, maybe the little dude from Indiana is on to something for ice fishing up in the north country 
In Saskatchewan you are not allowed to use live or fresh fish as bait (all intact fish being used as bait must be frozen first) and people pull world class pike through the ice all winter, all over the province on dead bait.
Different types of bait seem to work better on different lakes but ciscoes, smelts and herring are probably the most popular and certainly the most common fish you find in the bait shops. Some guys like oily saltwater fish from the supermarket like small mackerel and I have had some success with those as well, but I prefer a more natural bait like ciscoe or smelt usually. Size wise, I try to get the biggest I can find, big enough that we often have to thread the baits down the hole.
Last spring I was running low on pike bait and none is available here in town, so I bought some frozen cod strips and they outfished the smaller smelts I had out at the same time. I suggest experimenting with type and size of bait and see what works best for you, as it will vary from lake to lake and depending on conditions and time of year.
Sorry to digress from the topic, but you mentioned hotdogs…
About 10 years ago when my boys were young I took them each year to the NW Sportshow. A couple years in a row we were suckered into buying tickets for the big pool of water with trout stocked in it. Have never seen anyone even get a bite there.
So the third year we ate at the concession stand before going to the trout pond. I kept part of my hot dog and put it on the hooks for each boy as they cast into the water. It looked like a National Geographic documentary of the salmon going up the falls to get to the upper river. Must have been 100 fish swarming my kids poles, lady next to us screaming, my boys with grins from ear to ear. The guy running the pond exhibit came up to me and said “What the Hell do you think you’re doing!”
Works every time 
The refuge lakes we fish in NW Nebraska are off limits to ALL baitfish, live or dead, other than Smelt. So a trip to the grocery store, buy the biggest smelt you can find WITH the head.
We were able to find some monstrous smelt last year, upwards of 14″. They were’t cheap but they produced some big pike, and a nice musky in SD on tip ups.
For trips where other bait is allowed, I catch the stocked trout (10″-14″) they put in the city lakes for put-and-take fishing, and freeze them whole in vacuum seal bags. For smaller bait (4″-10″) I fish the local creeks and streams for creek chubs, and freeze them in the same way.
I have had the most success with frozen sucker slabs. when the sucker are running net up a bunch filet and freeze. Works great on pike, Lake trout and walleye will hit it too. Sucker meat is hard to get hook through if you leave the scales on. We powered wash the scales off once, what a mess! We leave scales on now.
Of course now I am going to have to try hot dogs 
I’ve used frozen smelt for decades with great results. In Minnesota, keep in mind that smelt has to be certified as coming from VHS free waters.
You should take a quick look at the regulations because it covers other frozen baits as well.
Haven’t used them in years but worked great for Pike and L_trout. Try frozen smelts yes the oily fish is better. They can small them.
I used frozen smelt with great success until hs rules made them almost impossible le to find and use.
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