Tip-up “setting the hook”

I have been tip-up fishing for northern for years. Taught to me originally by my father… but perfected by an “old-timer” out on a lake that I frequent. Everyone knows that a good presentation on a line will attract the fish. But time after time, I sit out on the lake watching other people’s flags, I see them over-anxiously pulling up the tip-up and setting the hook… only to be fooled by that elusive Pike.

I, too, used to run to my flag as quick as I could. One fortunate day, I ran to a flag, pulled up the set, and pulled as quick as I could on the line. I could have sworn I heard laughter… but a few minutes later, that old-timer came up to me to teach me a much needed lesson in such a simple task.

As was taught to me, one of the keys to a proper hook set is a little patience and a little knowledge. Once a flag goes up, you can get to your flag as fast or as slow as you like. Watch the spindle… If it is turning at any rate of speed… DON’T TOUCH IT. Wait until the spindle is still for at least 15 seconds… without turning at all. As was told to me, Pike sometimes will not get a good “grasp” of the bait… and will sometimes run off with it (to avoid other predators in the area), spit it out, and retake it. The minnow instictively goes dormant upon the first strike… so the Pike do not have any isssues of spitting it out and repositioning for a better digestive angle. This happens quite often and many of hook sets are pull at this exact time… as the Northern spits it out, we pull the bait away. Northern will also sometimes spit out the bait if they feel tension in the line. For these reasons, it is best to care for your tip-up with cautions and careful hands when the flag is up.

Again, Wait for the spool to stop spinning for at least 15 seconds. Many times, you will see it stop and think now is the time. After reading this and taking my advice… you will also see that, after this repositioning, the spool will go wild again. And again, wait for it to stop.

Once the spool has stopped, and you are comfortable that the fish has either stopped running or turned back around, carefully lift your tipup in such an angle that allows the line to unspool easily. I use my right hand to lift. As soon as I can get my hand under the spool, I quickly grab the line and pull down towards the hole to give me as much slack as possible. DO NOT PULL TOO HARD. Doing so will sometimes cause a “yo-yo” effect and will have the line respooling itself rather quickly. Pulling the line down, I give myself enough to be able to safely set down the tip-up, and have an extra couple feet of line to work with. Now that there is slack, I slowly start to pull the line… You and I know that a minnow does not have much weight… so you will quickly know when the tension is gone whether there is a fish on the line. As SOON as you feel the tension… Set That Hook!

Now, I am not a marine biologist… so that which was taught to me is only hearsay. I do not know if things such as above actually happen under the ice. What I DO know, however, is this… I have NOT missed a single northern since that day. That was 3 years ago. I have not had a flag up yet in which I did not pull in a northern. My last outing 2 weeks ago, I had 2 Flags. I pulled in both Northern. But on the same hand, I watched others out on the ice using the same techniques I USED to use… and I didn’t see a single fish pulled in.

All Questions and Comments welcome.

Good Luck Fishing!

Good info Dave! Thanks.

Great post . I do things a little different though, i will take my time getting to a tip up. when i get there i will make sure that the spool is spinning, if it is not i will put the flag back down right away. If there is a fish there he will make another run and the spool will begin spinning again. i then like to pull the tip up out of the hole as it is spinning while grabbing the line and pulling upward on the line, setting the hook. this has worked out pretty well for the most part i end up with a hook lodged deep or in a solid part of the lip. just my observations there was some solid information in the post that i will have to try the next time i get the tip-ups out.

Thanks,thats good advice

Now that is what this site is all about, good job and good advice

BassKing,

The best knowledge is experience. If what you are doing works, that is great! That is what it is all about. finding something that works. How I USED to pull my tipups is very similar to you… (I would grap the top of the spool and lift… setting the hook). But I guess I can’t go back considering the scoreboard on what I am doing now. Good Fishing!

Dave, Thanks for the advice. Pike are my favorite fish to ice and it’s the only time of year I fish them. I’ve tried a few different techniques but could never say one was better than the other. I’ll be trying your approach in a few weeks on Sakakawea where you never want to loose a fish cause he could be the “one”. Thanks again, I hope this ups my odds.

Good Luck Coppertop! Hope you ice “the one”!

Yeah i am always up for trying out new techniques i may have to try that this weekend. I know that one of my buddies actually sticks his hand down the hole so he can feel the line, he claims that he can feel the fish turn and go, he always does very good with the technique he seems to set the hook just before they are about to take off.

are you using a quick strike rig, or just a single hook/jig? I swtched to a quick strike rig, and have been told to set the hook during the first run so they don’t get deep hooked.

No, I do not use a quick-strike rig. I use a basic setup. The pike on the lake I fish (coon) can get pretty big. So I use 20-30 lb test line. I usually have a steel leader on as well. Plain gold or red #2 hook, and hook a shiner or sucker just behind the dorsal fin. Like I said, they can get pretty big on this lake. It is not uncommon for a few 15-20lb Northern to be pulled out each season.

Great post! Same subject, different species (walleyes)…

Do you generally find the timing sequence to be the same as described above? Size of bait certainly seems like it would come into play (say a fathead vs. large goldie).

Regarding the hookset itself…I’ve seen guys go with a “quick snap” (lifting a foot or so very sharply) and guys who go with more of a sweeping hookset (full arms length). Personal preference or do you guys have some insight?

That said, I’d like to hear some thoughts circle hooks for this application. Seems like they might be helpful for when you have little ones along who might be experiencing tip up fishing for the first time (where they may not have the coordination and/or arm strength to drive a hook home).

Thanks!

Jim

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As far as walleyes go, I have not had the experiences that would tell me that walleyes will also spit the bait out. So when I am specifically targeting walleyes, I will wait for the spool to stop spinning… and follow all of the same above guidelines. I may not wait quite as long as I will for northern… (again, I have seen time and time again where the spool will stop for a good 10 seconds, and then run again).

I am not sure if it is as much the size of the bait as it is the attack mode. My experience has been that northern will take a bait at just about any angle. Some could correct me on this next part, but I beleive that walleye will generally position themselves for a greater benefit… targeting the “eye” of the bait so that it goes down head first. This might not be the case at all times… but this is what I have been told. Hence, if a walleye takes the bait head first, there is no reason to spit out and retake.

For the hookset, I do not believe in short quick snaps. My reasoning is that, if your short 1 foot quick snaps is off by an inch… a fish could have the perfect amount of slack to be able to feel the tension, and still have the opportunity to release the bait. For this reason, I slowly and steadily retrieve the line until I feel even the slightest bit of tension… in which case, I set the hook as quickly as possible.

I do not use circle hooks… so others may want to chime in here.

With this technique, is the hook usually deep down in its throat or all already into the stomach? I usually just fish them CPR and wouldn’t want to try this if I’m going to be killing them. I usually take it on the run and hook 80-90% of the fish depending on the day, but the fish are not hooked deep and I can release them unharmed.

With the fish I have iced, I have only had one that got to the stomach. But I will say that I normally fish Tip-Ups for dinner. I guess I wouldn’t suggest tip-up fishing for catch and release. I think there is too much chance that there will be a gut-hook when fishing with an “un-attended” line. Just my opinion, though.

That’s why when I am tip-up fishing I am “one of the guys that runs to a flag” we are just out to catch fish and have a good time. We will set the hook right when the tip-up starts spinning (resulting in not hooking the fish deep)Granted I’m only at a 80-90% success rate because of doing this.

I switched over to circle hooks and think they work just fine. I use # 4/0 hooks for pike with 17# mono leader and #4 with 6# vanish for walleye. Was just up on Winnie 2 weeks ago and we picked up some nice eater pike. And released the big and little ones. Everyone was hooked in the corner of the mouth. Yes I did have some drops and a few bite offs on the 6# but to me the gut hooks of the other styles just aren’t worth it. I thought I’d miss using trebles and the fake spinner/bead to make it legal but it hasn’t happened. I’ll stick with the circle hooks.

Yes the circle hooks seem to be the ticket, I don’t keep many pike myself, as a matter of fact, I quit bringing tip ups to many of the lakes, but I would like to try the circle hook thing, good discussion.

there is a post in I belive the general ice conditions forum that talks about tip-up rigs and hooks, I don’t know how to add a link to it but I shall try to find it and bring it near the top of the list, then hopefully someone can help me out
here is the link off my browser to it
http://www.in-depthangling.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=472242&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&fpart=1&vc=1