Frigid Flaggin

Hey flaggers, just wanted to say if you do some tip-up fishing during some of these crazy cold days please be prepared! The extra cold takes its toll real quick and can be especially hard on the fish…and hands. A few things to keep in mind:

-limit time fish are out of water, eyes and fins frost over quickly. I usually just grab the pike behind the head as its coming out,quickly remove hook and get it back…make sure to limit pictures as well.
-have release tools ready and on hand to get em back quick
-keep spool in water as much as possible. Even the few seconds while hooking minnows or grabbing stuff can mean a frozen spool and missed fish
-clean holes often… having to kick in the hole to get the flag out can easily spook the fish if its nearby
-If possible have an alternate flag ready and warm from the truck or shack ready to go between fish.
-get there quick… flags too far apart or fish running too long means more line out and increases the chance of the spool locking up a bit and a dropped minnow, plus colder hands!

Hope that was at least a little helpful! -Chico

Great post!!

Hey Chico, did you ever get a response for your “y-rig” from the MN DNR at all, curious to what their response was?

Great post and great reminder!! It doesn’t take long at all to freeze fish in these super cold conditions.

Recent Uncut Angling video suggests putting the pike back down the hole with only the head exposed while unhooking. This could prove problematic if the fish struggles more while in the water however it would prevent the fish from freezing. Anyone tried this to protect large fish from the elements?

That’s exactly what I was referring to in the post. Like the picture shows, right as the head comes out I swiftly grab them behind the head and remove the hook while the rest of the body is still down the hole. I’ve done this with all kinds of fish and sizes, even the big ones might just wiggle a bit then sit there and allow you to take the hook out and get them back.

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Hey Chico, did you ever get a response for your “y-rig” from the MN DNR at all, curious to what their response was?

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I did not actually! I e-mailed Pat probably 6-10 pics. of different rig configurations but have not gotten a response yet so I will have to follow up with a call.

But… I did come up with an entirely new rig configuration which allows me to use a long piece of fluorocarbon and still have two trebles, be quite stealthy, and is completely “compliant”… been calling it the “MN Double” or the “Dos ‘sota rig” . Got a nice one on it before I finished cleaning out my other hole while testing it so looks like its good to go.