tightlining

I’m just wondering if many people are tight lining. It seems like from what I’ve read concerning panfishing you have rods that are fiberglass noodle rods for visual bite detection, and you have graphite rods for feeling bites. The noodle rods seem to be a lot more popular from what I’ve read and talking to the people I know who spend a lot of time ice fishing. Tight lining seems to be a technique using short rods and a plastic schooley reel where you look down the hole to watch your line for strike indication. Any comments on this?

Yes I still prefer to tightline. My tightline setup is a 24″UL rod(fairly stiff tipped) and a spinning reel with 2lb Stren hi-vis gold line. 99% of my strike detection with this setup is watching for subtle changes in how the line moves. I rarely see younger people tightline(I’m 25) but it is the way my dad taught me to fish for pannies.

I’m gonna assume tightlining is just regular jig spoon or lure fishing. And non tightlining is bobber fishing. Guess Ive never heard of the term. Anyway when it comes to noodle rods, if you buy a cheap one likely you will need to watch the tip for a bite indicator. If you buy a good one like a thorne bros or tucr you can feel the bites just fine and you have a soft tip to indicate the bite.
I find its best to use light line and a heavy enough jig to keep you line tight. If your line isn’t tight and you have slack in it I don’t see how you’d be able to tell if you have a bite on any kind of rod

because when the fish bites it will change how the line makes the bend over tip top of the rod. With a light jig, and a bit heavier line, the line makes a curve at the tip. When a fish bites, this curve will straighten out, and a up bite, the like will curve more.

Gold stren works great for this. I have 2lb gold stren on a 20″ 13 Wicked SUL, and 4lb orange suffix on a 26″ custom UL.

I will use these with Tungsten Ice flies that I tie, or any small jig that is working.

I think the term is pretty generic and could include any method of fishing where a float is not used, including the spring bobbers. Basically the weight of the lure and bait is relied upon to take any slack or coiling out of the line so hits can be seen at the spring or by movement of the line, be it a sudden lift or slackening or a sideways shift. For the most part the line would have to be fairly taut to see or recognize any of the mentioned hits, hence the tightline.

Open water brings about what I refer to as “freelining”, or fishing without a float of any kind on the line. Regional terms Are pretty much self defining and those like tightlining and freelining have broad interpretations.

here’s my 2 cents worth. I’m in Michigan and there a large number of guys that watch their lines to see if they “jump”. A hi-vis line is necessary for this technique. Many times they DO NOT want a tight line. They fish much smaller and lighter jigs. “Tight lining” to me is what we use when either watching a spring, a rod tip, or when feeling a bite. We want that quick, immediate response to a bite to be able to see or feel. On a side note, leaning over the hole, watching your line, is a very effective method, but you will get a sore back from it. Sometimes it is necessary, but if I can catch them with a tight line, it makes for a more pleasant day. Good luck all.

Joe if your line wasn’t tight meaning you have slack in the line. I don’t see how you could see the bend in the rod change.
Now if your line is tight meaning no slack wich I guess is how I assume most people fished a jig then yes the difference in the bend in the rod is how you tell when a fish bites.

i’ve been using this method for about 8years, i use a ht ice blue 24″rod i cut the orange part off at the guide. schooly reel hi vis yellow line, i like 3 pd. vicious i can’t find stren in ice line, they make a crappie line in yellow, not sure if it would hold up in cold weather. i watch my line as far down the hole as possible as i’m jigging i watch for a difference in my line as to what i make the line do, when i see a difference i drop my rod tip, if there is slack i have a fish on and set the hook. this way of fishing has been taught by Dave Young a Michigan pro from the NAIFC circuit he was on the ice men TV show years ago, a great guy that will teach that method to anyone that would like to learn it. there are people in the Pan Fish leagues that fish this way, some of them will show you how it works.

I’m a tightliner and have been using 2 lb. hi-vis crappie stren for the last couple of ice seasons. See no difference between this and former ice stren. Durability is good and is easy to detect bites under water.

Doug Swanson wrote:

i’ve been using this method for about 8years, i use a ht ice blue 24″rod i cut the orange part off at the guide. schooly reel hi vis yellow line, i like 3 pd. vicious i can’t find stren in ice line, they make a crappie line in yellow, not sure if it would hold up in cold weather. i watch my line as far down the hole as possible as i’m jigging i watch for a difference in my line as to what i make the line do, when i see a difference i drop my rod tip, if there is slack i have a fish on and set the hook. this way of fishing has been taught by Dave Young a Michigan pro from the NAIFC circuit he was on the ice men TV show years ago, a great guy that will teach that method to anyone that would like to learn it. there are people in the Pan Fish leagues that fish this way, some of them will show you how it works.

This is the specific method I was referring to, thank you.