Tip-up Question

I have a question regarding the tip-up setup in the latest episode of IDO on Castle Rock Lake, WI. James shows the setup, which includes a 1/4oz egg sinker above the leader. My question is, is there any worry that a lethargic cold front walleye will be spooked when he takes the bait and just sits there and chews on it? The egg sinker will drop 18 inches to the bottom and might even land on its head. This setup does look great in a river fishing setting and I intend to give it a go since I’ve already rigged my tip ups like this, but I’m wondering about the egg sinker having a spook factor on a lake with no current where the walleye bite might not be so aggressive.

I kind of thought the same thing, why the big sinker. I try to go as light as possible.

The only thing I can think of is to keep the minnow from being able to move very far. The egg sinker would allow it to take line if needed without detecting anything. Would like to hear what other’s think.

What do you mean? If the sinker is heavy enough to free – fall then the tip-up would trigger by itself anyway. The only time the spool should spin is when a fish (or bait) is pulling on it. Why would a fish chomping on the bait (which would probably take weight off the line) make the weight pull the line out?

I usually use 3/16 or 1/4 ounce rubber insert sinker myself. If you use too light of weight it would allow the larger minnows to swim to the top or into the weeds if you are on a breakline.

The weight is so the shiner doesn’t swim up away from the fish, he can only swim 18″. Once the walleye trips the flag, the weight will free fall while pulling line from the tip-up. Being an egg sinker, it will pull line and slip as it falls, it won’t pull the line from the fish’s mouth. The fish will feel a little resistance at first, but he’ll be way too concerned with eating the shiner to notice.

1/4oz of weight is nothing to a walleye..

I clip the tails on shinners and use small split shot sinkers along with the weight of the tip-up line works very well….lighter is better.

Should of added the swivel is added weight also.

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I clip the tails on shinners and use small split shot sinkers along with the weight of the tip-up line works very well….lighter is better.

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X2 here I thought I was the only tail clipper…

First thing is that Castle Rock is part of the Wisconsin River and Yellow River flowage systems, so most parts of it has current.

Second you have to adjust your weights accordingly to the conditions and bait you are using.

Third the chances of your sinkers dropping on a fish are pretty slim. You would have to have no current and the fish would have to drop straight down when it grabbed the bait instead of swimming to the side of where it picked up your bait.

As what was said on the show you have to try different things like they did with the hooks. There is no set rule on how you have to set up a tip up.

I get the whole egg sinker concept and allowing line to run through it when the fish takes it, but its purpose isn’t to avoid the shiner from swimming up and away. They still use 2 split shot 6″ above the hook. I live in ND and am not familiar with Castle Rock Lake, so I was not aware if there was any current in it.

My concern was a lazy 16-18″ fish swimming up to it and just barely tripping the tip-up. While it is attempting to feed, a 1/4oz egg sinker plops in the silt and mud and causes a stir and spooks the fish. That’s where I’m coming from.

If you were about to eat a burger at a restaurant and right as you take the first bite something drops from the ceiling onto your table, is it going to surprise you? Or are you going to pause for a minute and possibly put the burger down?

Idk about you, but if that burger has bacon on it…. I’m not even going to pause…

I do see your argument though! depends on the bottom conditions and a whole other bundle of variables. Only real way to answer it is to give it a shot!!

I use a small clip on bobber on the line set just under the ice to offset the weight and also serves as a marker for the depth I’m fishing. Makes for fast re-sets.

-J.

the burger joint analogy is pretty good I’ve always pondered a similar thought, so you’re at MacDons and the guy in front of you gets his order, upon grabbing the tray he is ripped through the ceiling, do you A) wait for your order and hope you do not suffer the same fate or B) run for the hills or at least Hardees, thus goes the life of the fish

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I have a question regarding the tip-up setup in the latest episode of IDO on Castle Rock Lake, WI. James shows the setup, which includes a 1/4oz egg sinker above the leader. My question is, is there any worry that a lethargic cold front walleye will be spooked when he takes the bait and just sits there and chews on it? The egg sinker will drop 18 inches to the bottom and might even land on its head. This setup does look great in a river fishing setting and I intend to give it a go since I’ve already rigged my tip ups like this, but I’m wondering about the egg sinker having a spook factor on a lake with no current where the walleye bite might not be so aggressive.

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I spend a lot of time fishing tip-ups specifically for walleyes and the answer is actually both yes and no…. The reason being that you’ve always got to be ready to adjust your presention based on existing conditions. I have several tip ups set up with slightly different rigging and will use each mostly dependent on the type of bait that fish are keying in on. The set up that James & Joel were using is actually something that I’ve been using on Mille Lacs for years called “Pinning the minnow” where you use a large sinker and quick strike rig to basically hold the minnow in place which presents an easy target for fish looking for an easy meal. It’s actually counterintuitive to what most of us grew up thinking about walleyes but for larger minnows this approach will usually outfish a more finnese approach which allows a minnow too much freedom to swim away from fish and they lose interest.

When I rig up my tip-ups I thread on a small button to use as a depth marker for quicker resets.