Ice-fishing Friday: Your complete guide to catching big northern pike with tip-ups

BAIT OPTIONS

Typically, the best tip-up baits for pike are three- to 10-inch-long prey fish such as ciscoes, smelts or suckers. In many jurisdictions, including my home province of Saskatchewan, anglers are only allowed to use dead baitfish. In some areas, however, you can use live minnows, but always check your local regs first before heading out.

During ice-fishing season, bigger baits often attract bigger pike, but that’s not always the case on every outing. If the fish have seen a lot of pressure, or if you’re fishing after a cold front, smaller sized baits may well produce better .

Another beauty of tip-up fishing is that in most jurisdictions, anglers can set out multiple tip-ups at the same time. In Saskatchewan, for example, each angler can use two tip-ups, allowing you to experiment and try different baits simultaneously. And when you have a group of anglers fishing together with tip-ups, not only is it a fun social event, but you can also try even more combinations of baits and depths to figure out the best presentation for the day.

If you purchase frozen baitfish, thaw them out the night before you go fishing so they’re easier to attach to the hooks. Thawed baits also sink better than frozen ones. Another tip to help sink your baits is to poke a small hole or two in the belly area to puncture the swim bladder, which also helps disperse more scent. You may also need to add some splitshot to your rig to help the hooked bait sink quickly.

To ensure your bait gets to the precise depth you want it hanging in the water column, follow its descent down through the hole on your flasher. If you don’t have access to a sonar unit, you can gauge the depth by dropping down a heavy weight attached to the end of your tip-up line. When you feel the weight hit bottom, pull it up by hand and you’ll know how much line to let out when you drop down your bait. Once my dead baits are at the desired depth, I prefer to suspend them horizontally. But if the action is slow, I’ll experiment with nose-down and nose-up presentations to try to trigger strikes.