Tip Ups

I have many tip ups. None of them are circular and cover the whole hole. Last year my buddy has a few of those frabill round thermal tip ups and we were pike fishing. His tip ups were beating mine 4:1 and I am wondering if it’s because of the light coming through the whole. I think I can make foam hole covers for the tip ups easy enough. They will cover the hole and keep ice from forming in my hole. I’m wondering what your experiences are with catch rates of round thermal vs. regular tip ups.

Cut a piece of carpet that is a little bigger than the hole. Cut a slit on one side to the center of the carpet. Place this over you hole when you put your tip up in. On warms days I just push slush into the hole to help keep light out. Shawn

Was he using different line, hook size, or minnows?

I have and love jack traps… I own some beaver dams too. It always seems like there is a “hot hole” or two. Rigging is pretty critical. Fluoro leaders, down size your hook and mix it up. Some bottom, some in the middle of the water column. Look for “fishy areas” drop offs, weed bed edges, and humps. I think the round is only to keep the hole from freezing. If something starts working then change the others. Tip ups are not “set it and forget it”. Keep trying and you will get better results. FWIW I have no success with wires and giant trebles.

I always put hole covers on mine whether it is 35 degrees or if it’s -25 degrees. I think the light shining down the hole does make a difference. I look at it this way….that hole where your bait is hanging from is like a spotlight shining down from above and looks unnatural underwater. Cover them up and you have a more natural appearance.

I agree that rigging makes a bigger difference than the type of tip-up. That fish doesn’t swim around thinking; “I’m gonna bite this thing because there’s a $50 piece of hardware attached to it.”

We were using quick strike rigs with 50 lb flouro and #4 hook I believe with dead shiners. I think it might be a ‘Hot hole’ kind of thing

You also have to take into account how well the line flows off the spool. Tip up maintenance is actually a big part of success, especially for walleye. Learn how to dismantle the tube and grease it up using a grease that will NOT stiffen at sub zero temps. Buy a few brands and put the tubes/bottles in the freezer and see which ones are true winter lube.

I used hot sauce with great success in the beaver dams. This is one of the reasons that I prefer the jack traps. The best tip up I have is an Indian hill trap, but he didn’t build any this year. Truly a class “A” tip up. As stated above, the tip up has little to do with the success. It really comes down to details. I put small blades and beads on the rigs. I keep the spare tails that come with Swedish pimples and tie those in. mack’s smile blades are a favorite too.