I really like to watch what seems to be rookies try to catch pike on tip ups! what are your best methods? I like to have patients let the fish have some time to swallow my minnow, a slight pause to turn it and make a good run setting the hook by just stopping the fish! hand over hand is a blast!!
Ifish pro is better, see the flag pop and fight it on rod and reel
Setting the hook or waiting longer on a tipup hindsight is always 20/20. Lot of fun when the flag goes up. My system is to wait for spinning to slow, feed a couple feet of line,slowly bring it in and set the hook once you feel some weight then hand over hand.
Tip ups are so much fun. I love watching people do the tip up shuffle.
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Here is my method!! It’s a blast watching fish behavior below the ice.
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sheez……don’t mean to kill this thread!!!!!!:???::???: 
I straightened the hook on a “big something” this morning at 6am…. rattle reels are fun too and you don’t have to mess with running across the ice !
i like the I fish pro but time will tell how much! kinda old school on hand over hand but do have the I fish pro out and think it needs some time for me to get use to it!
I love that there are wireless alert tip-ups now. Starts beeping on your reciever to let you know a fish is on. Complete with heat to keep your hole from freezing up. What a time to be alive 
First, I walk to the tipup. Never run. If I have to run I’m too far away to begin with. I let it spin and by the time I get to it, it’s either stopped or on it’s second run. So, it’s spin/stop/spin. On the second run when it starts to slow down, I’ll bring the tipup out if the water just enough to grab the line. While holding the line at the hole, I’ll pull the tipup away (dispensing a few feet of line in the process) and set it aside. Swiftly and gently, I’ll start retrieving line hand over hand until I feel resistance. Then….. FISH ON!
For set lines, nothing beats hand over hand for me. It’s a skill not many seem to have but a skill none the less.
The only way I’d use an iFish or JawJacker would be if I was deliberately targeting trophy pike/musky/lake trout and that’s mostly due to portability. I’m a minimalist angler and those tools are just too bulky for me to transport unless, like I said, I’m solely targeting large fish that day and don’t need other gear. A big stout rod loaded with braid is also hard to beat.
Now a days it all comes down to style of angling and personal preference. I prefer tipups any day.
I used to be a huge tipup fan, but kind of left them at the wayside the last couple years. Living in Southern MN, there would be days that 2 guys would get 50 or so pike a trip on tipups. My fishing has progressed and my preferences have changed. I still occasionally use them, but not that often. I got a 14″ perch on one two weeks ago on URL, that was cool.
I almost always wait for the fish to stop completely before pulling in line to set the hook. Once the spool stops moving, pull it up and remove a couple feet of line, set it on the ice and wait for tension on the line. I love watching novice tipup users set into the fish like they’re trying to start a weed whip…short, gentle tug is really all that’s needed.
Guess Im in the minority. I’m using a kahle hook and the shiners are usually between 4-6 inches. I set pressure instanly if the tip up is spinning. Works for me well over 90% of the time. I’m not looking to kill them usually and have the hooks down to their gills. Suppose for the guys using 8-12 inch suckers you do need to wait for them to get the bait turned.
Quick-strike rigs, run, set right away at the hole, have fun!!!
Mark
Dead bait on tip-ups. I use flagel rigs. Pike will take dead bait head first and due to the way that these rigs are designed the hook is at the head of the bait. Because of this there’s no waiting around. Flag goes up, you respond to it, you grab the line and pull until the fish pops out of the hole. No waiting for a 2nd run, no giving it line, no giving that fish a chance to do anything dumb. It’s just brute force against the fish. This type of rig sets the hook once you start pulling.
I work my dead bait hard. No leaving it sit for extended periods of time. Every 10 minutes or so I walk through and lift them up about 6 inches or more. I want to turn those “lookers” into eaters. Pike will stare a bait down for a long time. Doing the lift alters their perception and often causes a reaction strike which is either a “feeding” strike or a “I don’t want that tasty morsel to get away” reaction type of strike.
I will also jig for pike. If you get into a pile of them jigging for pike will be the most fun you could ever have with a jig pole. Jigging is now my preferred method for pike and I’ll run tip-ups for pan fish instead. Still do the dead bait thing a fair amount but having a camera pointed at a large rattle bait with pike swarming around it is as fun as it gets.
I will also jig for pike. If you get into a pile of them jigging for pike will be the most fun you could ever have with a jig pole. Jigging is now my preferred method for pike and I’ll run tip-ups for pan fish instead. Still do the dead bait thing a fair amount but having a camera pointed at a large rattle bait with pike swarming around it is as fun as it gets.
What do you use when you jig for pike? I’ve given it a shot trying to re-create summer fishing. Didn’t have confidence to wait long enough for a bite.
Tom what do yopu use for dead bait?
I have had a wireless strike sensor for about 25 years does anyone use them? probably a front runner for the wireless devices
For jigging i don’t mess around. I want to have the upper hand….so I’m basically running the same type of setup as I have on my muskie rods. 100# powerpro, 100# flouro leaders, large rattle baits, fuzzy duzzits, bondys, etc. I view pike as a “water goat.” They’ll eat anything and do not hesitate to take something large. Those larger baits will keep smaller fish from biting unless they are super aggressive.
For years I used smelt as dead bait. Then when WI was hit with VHS and instituted special dead bait regs smelt prices shot up and a lot of bait shops stopped carrying them and the ones you could find were small. Paying 10 bucks for three small smelt sucked. I used to pay 10 bucks for an overflowing soda flat for big ones. That’s when I started getting my dead bait at Asian grocery stores and preserving my own. Mackerel is my mainstay and I believe they are better than smelt. Anything you can get whole will work…sand gobies, scads, octopus, etc.
Hadn’t done it in years, then when I went to a buddy’s cabin early this winter I decided to set a few tip ups out. Caught around a half a dozen pike each day, and sort of piqued my interest back into it. I have to say the best moment was after resetting a troublesome flag three times in a row (I’d set it, walk five-ten feet away, and it would trip itself), I reset it for the fourth time, got about ten feet away and heard it trip. I said a few choice four letter words and turned around to reset it, and saw the spindle spinning like crazy from the pike that decided to hit it!
Sight-fishing for pike is as good as it gets. Hunted this 5 lber for literally a week before I was able to get the hooks to stick on the Size 5 Perch Jig Rap. Caught two weeks ago. No idea why its flipped since it comes up as normal in my photos lol
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