yooper
New member
Not much to do here during the winter time.... except drink, ice-fish, and play cards.
I live on the St. Mary's River system between the U.S. and Canada. Anyways, each winter I set tip-ups baited for pike in front of the house. This way we can sit inside, watch the satellite (or type on the forums), and drink beer.
I use 20# braided dacron line with a #6 treble hook and I impale a dead smelt through the center. Then I set this right on the bottom with about 1' of slack line before the flag trips. I'm fishing - believe it or not - in only 18" of water in a mudline that runs paralell to the shoreline.
It goes against convemtional wisdom setting the bait right on the bottom, but here's why I emply this method: Pike and Muskie locate a school of baitfish and then violently slash through the pod. Often some of the baitfish will become stunned and temporarily drift to the bottom. Then the Pike and Muskie will swim around picking up these stunned baitfish.
We catch a fair share of pike each winter using this method, and most are usually around 5-6 lbs.; the biggest to date has been a 10 lber... not a monster, but damn fine eating.
Twice so far this winter I've set tip-ups and had the line snag and break-off. Today we went out and my boy pulled-up a pike with some of our broken-off line wrapped around the northern. He pulled that up, and I'll be damned if it didn't have a burbot on the other end!
And for anyone who thinks this is a mere fish story, I've got it all on videotape!
Here's the fish:
Guess what we're having for dinner tonight?
------------------
VEGETARIAN: Indian word meaning 'Bad Hunter'
I live on the St. Mary's River system between the U.S. and Canada. Anyways, each winter I set tip-ups baited for pike in front of the house. This way we can sit inside, watch the satellite (or type on the forums), and drink beer.
I use 20# braided dacron line with a #6 treble hook and I impale a dead smelt through the center. Then I set this right on the bottom with about 1' of slack line before the flag trips. I'm fishing - believe it or not - in only 18" of water in a mudline that runs paralell to the shoreline.
It goes against convemtional wisdom setting the bait right on the bottom, but here's why I emply this method: Pike and Muskie locate a school of baitfish and then violently slash through the pod. Often some of the baitfish will become stunned and temporarily drift to the bottom. Then the Pike and Muskie will swim around picking up these stunned baitfish.
We catch a fair share of pike each winter using this method, and most are usually around 5-6 lbs.; the biggest to date has been a 10 lber... not a monster, but damn fine eating.
Twice so far this winter I've set tip-ups and had the line snag and break-off. Today we went out and my boy pulled-up a pike with some of our broken-off line wrapped around the northern. He pulled that up, and I'll be damned if it didn't have a burbot on the other end!
And for anyone who thinks this is a mere fish story, I've got it all on videotape!
Here's the fish:
Guess what we're having for dinner tonight?
------------------
VEGETARIAN: Indian word meaning 'Bad Hunter'
