Deadsticks vs. Tip-ups

What’s your poison between the two and why? I’ve long been a fan of the tip-up but the problem as I see it is with tip-ups is that they are one of the three things that I believe anchor an angler to a spot. In the past, and while I would describe myself as an active hunter, I don’t feel I crossed the line into a full on hole hopper. Some times this was a result of how I was fishing (using attractors for coho and herring) and some times it was a result of simply wanting to relax on the ice. This year I’m going to try to be a bit more aggressive in my approach and am debating whether to use tip-ups less often and do more deadsticking. Part of this will obviously depend upon the species I’m after and where I’m fishing. I’m having some concern that Lake Superior won’t freeze again in the local bay and that I may need to concentrate a bit more on walleye. The main body I’ll be fishing is an inland lake that connects to Lake Superior. Any thoughts on the use of deadsticks vs. tip-ups for walleye and why in these circumstances?

I havent used a tip up in years. And i use a deadstick about every time i go out! why??

Because i like a minnow presentation on a float within 4 feet of my jigging stick. I have had a walleye dart in to check out my jig and then turn away and hit my deadstick far to many times to ever think about putting out a tip up. Jigging spoons catch fish AND attract fish. It pays to have a deadstick nearby.

Chris:

What ever you feel most comfortable moving the fastest would be my answer. Some might feel more comfortable moving tip up rather than a dead stick.

Moving like the guys do on Mile Lacs searching for fish, you might want to leave the deadstick/tipup alone until you find fish.

We have much smaller bodies of water here and we typically drill a pile of holes shallow and deep and then concentrate on putting the tip ups in shallow water jigging the deeper stuff. Why??? Its easier to reset tip ups that are shallower, thus using the jigging techniques to find fish in the deeper water, while waiting for them to come shallow.

Mark

Grant hit it on the head, but i will add a couple other reasons i prefer the dead stick.
1. You can give it alittle jig frequently to keep your minnow alive and moving around
2. I think its easy to see if you are getting bites on a float then a flag
3. I would rather fight a fish with a rod then hand over hand with a tip up.

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Grant hit it on the head, but i will add a couple other reasons i prefer the dead stick.
1. You can give it alittle jig frequently to keep your minnow alive and moving around
2. I think its easy to see if you are getting bites on a float then a flag
3. I would rather fight a fish with a rod then hand over hand with a tip up.

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aaaaaand you hit in on the head again, especially with number 3!!

Deadsticks all the way!

What do you guys prefer for a dead stick rod?

I personally like to go with a little longer rod and something with a soft tip. The soft tip allows me to fish a deadstick rod without a float, which can be a huge advantage on some days. It also telegraphs a bite nicely in the event you find yourself concentrationg on your flasher too much and not paying attention to your float.

I had a 32″ TUC deadstick rod built last year for this specific application and it’s performed great!

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Grant hit it on the head, but i will add a couple other reasons i prefer the dead stick.
1. You can give it alittle jig frequently to keep your minnow alive and moving around
2. I think its easy to see if you are getting bites on a float then a flag
3. I would rather fight a fish with a rod then hand over hand with a tip up.

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aaaaaand you hit in on the head again, especially with number 3!!

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There you go And YESSSSSS #3 pulling a 28″er on the pole is a blast!!!

Get a Clam Arctic Warrior tip down. They make “tip up” fishing a ton faster since you get to reel them up and fight them using your standard rod and reel. I used them all winter last year and will never give them up. I caught alot of fish on them.

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I havent used a tip up in years. And i use a deadstick about every time i go out! why??

Because i like a minnow presentation on a float within 4 feet of my jigging stick. I have had a walleye dart in to check out my jig and then turn away and hit my deadstick far to many times to ever think about putting out a tip up. Jigging spoons catch fish AND attract fish. It pays to have a deadstick nearby.

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I’ve seen this work many times as well. The nice thing I like about using my Clam Arctic Warrior is that the tip up lets me test different depths when I’m scouting an area. I’m not much of a sit in one spot person. I like to set up a tip up and then hole hop around it.

Dead stick all the way also and for all same reasons.

When you are on the move you have to use a deadstick. Tip Ups just take too long to set up. But I still love tip up fishing. Theres no better feeling then seeing a flag go up and hand pulling a walleye in!

And no one can make you keep looking out your portable window with the joke “your tip up is down”.

while i agree that the dead stick is a valuable tool i feel that tip ups or tip downs or what ever type of set line you may use are really underutilized. i love to tip up fish as well as hole hop. you cannot cover the amount of water as effectively if you just hop holes and bring a dead stick along with you you cover each hole or holes as you get there i like to make a zig zag line and put my tip ups along the way and when i have covered each set of holes a few times i move the hole process onward. dead sticking is great if you are in a high concentration of fish but if you are truly hole hoping trying to find fish put out tip tip ups in a large area as you move along with the sonar jigging.once you find the fish set up shop and dead stick and jig away. don’t hate on tip-ups because some people are not mobile with them and as for keeping your bait alive you shouldn’t keep you tip ups in the water long enough for them to die if you are truly being a mobile tip up fisherman. Now that i’m done ranting i love to sit in the ice house on a pile of fish and deadstick ’em too

for mobility dont use tip ups but you cant beat having a bunch of guys out with a whole spread of tip ups out fishing for pike or walleyes and chasing flags all day. its especially fun when u get a big pike on trying to get his head turned up the hole. it might also help in wisconsin we can use 3 tip ups at one time to cover more water

For me each has its own situational importance, if your in a house with a bunch of lines i want a tipup to get away from the commotion especialy early ice. Limited amount of holes in a house, i want a tip up. Hole hoping on below freezing days i want a tip up.
If im in my house alone ill dead stick every next to my jig. If its above freezing i will run a dead stick while hole hoping. I like using a dead stcik while hole hopin on them holes that got a lil bugger that wont commit.

What are you guys using to secure your dead sticks while hole hoping? I would like to use my noodle rod for this but I’ve lost a few rods hole hopping with a dead stick and would hate to loose my DH custom rod.

I prefer to have the second line right next to me in the house.

Just for Pete’s sake say you are set up on some structure that is 100 yards square. You have your house on a “side” of it and that is it. With all the factors that go into having fish hold in a location, or having them pass through, hopefully you chose the spot because you felt it was best for your needs.

Now outside of your area there are all kinds of things going on. If you are not attempting to fish the other locations, it will take you down a certain path. That path is directly below your house and that is it. May take longer to catch a meal but you stay nice and toasty in the process.

With walleyes in particular they sweep up and down, in and out on as they please. So with being setup on the top of the hump at 3:00 pm, we can pretty much expect the bite to pick up when the sun starts to set. If you utilize tip-ups in the proper spots it is almost like a turkey shoot. These spots can be different depths, around weed cover, or even positioned near known fish trails. Having a tip-up far enough away from your house is literally like having the enemy wave a red flag as they come marching in. The very first flag that goes off, gives you indication of where the some fish currently are.

Also having holes drilled strategically between your house and the tip-up is key. Picking some good spots, maybe deeper than your tip-up or along the break is helpful as well. After the first flag, two guys can put a hurting on the fish using those holes between point A and point B.

With this instance you can bet the top of the hump will be the most active at the latest. So when it is time you can go back into the house and dead stick your way to limit if you have not already done so outside.

This is just one approach when a tip-up is just as valuable as a second rod right next to you in the house.

I’ll use whatever is working that day. I’d prefer to catch em on spoons, but if they want the dead stick or a big sucker on a tip up I certainly won’t shy away from either one. If I’m in WI, I’ll do all 3 at once!

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What are you guys using to secure your dead sticks while hole hoping? I would like to use my noodle rod for this but I’ve lost a few rods hole hopping with a dead stick and would hate to loose my DH custom rod.

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rod holder with your bail open would work fine. But if you are a ways from your rod you should probably use a tip up so you can see if you have a bite.

Get an “i fish pro”, best of both worlds.

http://www.ifishpro.com/

Thanks for the input folks sorry for the delayed response…I’ve been traveling a bit. I think I’m going to switch up my approach for the time being and do more dead sticking that tip-upping for walleye. For you guys that are running dedicated rods with dead stick actions, what’s the reasoning if you’re also running with a slip bobber rig? I can understand if you’re going without the bobber but with has me wondering.

I to like to use a dead stick at times. Some days my dead stick is a Jaw Jacker or an automatic fisherman.