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!