Not using tip-ups? Shame on you.

[saugeyemarc]

Do I always take tip-ups with me when ice fishing?  No I'm guilty of being in a rush or too tired to drill the extra holes or leave earlier to get them set up.  But I'm trying to give up the habit of leaving a good part of my arsenal behind.  It's like bow hunting and only taking one arrow.  Tip-ups allow us to cover more areas, keep more lines in the water and can be a good way expiriment with new lures. 
     Ohio allows 6 tip ups per angler along with 2 rods.  I purchased a jawjacker this year and though not a tip-up is fantastic to use as a second rod holder.  I sure I'll have it converted to a tip up soon and will see tip up flag options from jawjacker down the road. 
     I fish primarily for walleye/saugeye plus a splattering of crappie and perch.  My typical setup is spoon/minnow tailhooked inches off bottom.  Spoon vary in size from 1/4 inch to 3 inches in length.  I try to use 3  different colors on six tip ups till one outproduces the others.  I also use Smile Blades above the bait if I think extra attraction is needed.  If I can manage big chub minnows up to 6 inches I make sure to have a few of them out there also.  By late morning I downsize from walleye to perch size baits and go for panfish till mid afternnoon when the eye bite starts again.  On my windlass I have used everything from jigging raps to VIBE's. tipped with maggots.  Spoons and raps tend to work best in a light breeze where bladebait shine with hard winds.  Check these often as they tend to foul.  Also always drill a second hole within a few feet of the tip up hole.  if your fishing with a buddy as you should for safety he can drop in the second hole and score from the same school of fish. 
   A thought on drilling holes.  Always clean a wide birth around holes for tip ups of they will lie flat with the ice.  The chain stores sell big black foam circles with slots and a hole in the middle.  They are great for keeping holed from refreezing.  I'll put them down and move drilled ice to form a barrier on one sde for the tip up to sit on.  I'm sure I've missed a few things so guys resond to this with your rigs and set ups so maybe will start seeing more out there. 

[TURKEY09]

ODNR considers the jaw jacker a tip up. There is a sticky under the jawjacker section on this site.

[slabslayer]

I'm too lazy for tip-ups, so I use something called a rigger.  ODNR considers it a tip-up as well.  You drill your holes and they sit there like a tip-up.  You use a regular ice fishing pole, set the release, and when you get a bite it sets the hook itself.

[Minnowhead]

I can't get bit on the two in my hands much less the six tip ups strung out across the tundra! 

[HardWater Junkie]

I dont always use my tip ups but when I do its mainly for crappie. I will run my 4 standerd tip ups and 2 jawjackers. On my 4 tip ups i normally run a custom splitter rigs that I make. Its a 3 hook rig that separates the hooks about 18-24 inchs. I start with a 1 oz. cannonball sinker on the bottom then my first bait 3-6 inchs off the bottom then spread the rest out going up. I really like have the sinker on the bottom. That lets me know for sure that my bottom bait is excatly where i want it. Its just like a tightline rig for catfish only I custom bend my wire arms to be 12 to 16 inchs long. That way my minnows or chubs dont get tangled in my main line. The line coming off the wire arm is only 8 to 12 inchs long to the hook. With the line going to the bait being that short it allows the bait to swim but keeps it from being able to swim to far. I have found that by shortening up the line I get more bites because the fish dosnt have to chase the bait to much. I normally will have one of the hooks being a jigging rap with a live minnow on it, then another with a slender spoon, swedish pimple or some type of spoon for added flash with live minnows then the other hook being a roundball jig with a live minnow hook thru the tail so it  trys to swim. I use small snap clips to hook the line to the bait. That way I can change my lures quickly to adjust to what the fish want. If I am fishing an area that has no or few crappies I will change up the rig to have more smaller baits like genz worms, diamond jigs and other horizontal jigs tipped with maggots and waxworms to catch gills. I think im going to pick up a few of the new frabill digital tipups. I like that they tell you how deep you are set at, how long your flag has been up and how much line the fish has taken out. I dont always run my tipups this way but I do for the most part. It has proven to do very well for me.

[fishintechnician]

I dont always use my tip ups but when I do its mainly for crappie. I will run my 4 standerd tip ups and 2 jawjackers. On my 4 tip ups i normally run a custom splitter rigs that I make. Its a 3 hook rig that separates the hooks about 18-24 inchs. I start with a 1 oz. cannonball sinker on the bottom then my first bait 3-6 inchs off the bottom then spread the rest out going up. I really like have the sinker on the bottom. That lets me know for sure that my bottom bait is excatly where i want it. Its just like a tightline rig for catfish only I custom bend my wire arms to be 12 to 16 inchs long. That way my minnows or chubs dont get tangled in my main line. The line coming off the wire arm is only 8 to 12 inchs long to the hook. With the line going to the bait being that short it allows the bait to swim but keeps it from being able to swim to far. I have found that by shortening up the line I get more bites because the fish dosnt have to chase the bait to much. I normally will have one of the hooks being a jigging rap with a live minnow on it, then another with a slender spoon, swedish pimple or some type of spoon for added flash with live minnows then the other hook being a roundball jig with a live minnow hook thru the tail so it  trys to swim. I use small snap clips to hook the line to the bait. That way I can change my lures quickly to adjust to what the fish want. If I am fishing an area that has no or few crappies I will change up the rig to have more smaller baits like genz worms, diamond jigs and other horizontal jigs tipped with maggots and waxworms to catch gills. I think im going to pick up a few of the new frabill digital tipups. I like that they tell you how deep you are set at, how long your flag has been up and how much line the fish has taken out. I dont always run my tipups this way but I do for the most part. It has proven to do very well for me.

Any way you could post a pic of this rig? I have been messin with something similar ( I think) and would like to see yours to see if I can make any good mods to my rig. 90% of the time I run tipups.....just seems like a numbers game. More has to be better

[snowcone]

wow its all i can do to jiggle 2 rods