Rainbow Trout

[NEPA]

I am trying to improve the number of flags and hook ups I get using tip ups for rainbow trout. I fish small ponds in north-eastern Pennsylvania that are heavily stocked with trout. I do well jigging but would like to improve my action with the tip ups. I currently use a 3 foot, 4# mono leader. I tie on a #10 Eagle Claw bait holder hook adding a wax worm or two. I fish shallow flats and set the depth to about 3 feet below the ice. I also vary the depth of the bait or move a few tip ups to deeper water throughout the day. I only get a few flags a day and in most cases the bait is dropped before I get to the tip up. I have also varied the bait using shrimp and even used small live bait. Any ideas?

[jiml]

I'd change the leader length to at least 6 feet and go with florocarbon......it's completely invisible! pin head shiners work well for rainbows on the tip ups!

[skybuster20ga]

i highly doubt its your leader length. if you only a few feet below the ice a 6 footer wont make a bit of dif. i quicker think you may possibly make a little too much noise on the ice. w/ rainbows seems like you have to get there fast and set the hook or they will drop it. i would try a chunk of worm/crawler. jim111 got me usin them for rainbows and it does work. try some egg sacks too maybe. what do the ones your jiggin up have in their bellies?

[NEPA]

I will follow all of the recommendations. I did buy some fluorocarbon leader so I will tie up some 6’ lengths. I usually set up 4 tip-ups and then use my jigging rod. I try to drill all of the holes in an area at one time. The tip-ups are spaced about 15 yards apart. I check the bait and holes about every 30 minutes.

Checking the bellies is so basic I should have considered this. I will also try a chunk of nightwalker. I never used pin heads before. How should a rig them?

Thanks

[jiml]

Pin head shiners is just a slang word for very small shiners. Use them live and hook them through the lips if you plan to fish shallow.....the angle forces the bait to try to swim up. If you plan to fish a little deaper hook them just under the dorsal and they will tend to swim down. Caught many rainbows this way in 5 to 10 foot depths near inlets and outlets.

[winteroriole]

If you are having trouble losing trout that you have hooked on your tip-up, make sure that you use a tip-up set up that allows the rainbow to run with the bait. Where I fish, I have found that the rainbows are very sensitive to any tension on the line, so I set my tip-ups to "freespool". This allows me time to get to the tip-up, and ensures that the hookset will be deep into the gill plates, rather than just lip hooked. Also use small hooks (#6 max) on 4 to 6# test line. I also set my tip-ups very lightly, so that the slightest nudge from mr. rainbow will cause my rig to bob up and down. This set up has improved my hooking percentage significantly from using tip-ups with fixed lines.

[NEPA]

I use Jacks Traps for bass and pickerel. I have Polar tip-ups I use for trout. There does not seem to be much resistance on the reels and I use the smooth setting for the flag.

I guess I should drop down to a #12 hook for the pinheads. What about weight? I am inclined to use a very small split shot but now worry about the resistance once the flag trips.

[winteroriole]

What I don't like about the flag style tip-ups is that they don't indicate the presence of a fish when it is just playing with the bait. My homemade tipups are a "teeter-totter" style that bob up and down with the slightest extra action below the surface. (My rigs are set so light that I sometimes have to block the wind with my body to make sure it a fish and not the wind causing the tip up to bob.) I prefer this to not knowing whats going on down there! When the fish actually takes my minnow and starts swimming away with it, the tip-up arm swings down and stays down, and I know the rainbow is on. At this point I don't need to rush to the tip-up because I want the fish to have time to swallow the bait right down, before I set the hook by hand. Sometimes I am pulling in 40 to 50 feet of line, even though I was initlally only fishing with 4 to 8 feet of line below the ice.

[winteroriole]

...Sorry, forgot to respond about sinkers. I do the same as you I think, ie. the smallest split shot I have, placed about 14-18" above the minnow. I like to use the black ice fishing line on my spools (about 15-20#test for abrasions resistance, while the fish is running, but I always tie on a 4 or 6# fluorocarbon leader for the last 6 to 8' before the hook.

[NEPA]

I also use 20# black ice fishing line. I’ve only used the flag style tip-ups. I will look around for an alternative and give them a try. Thanks.