Gord Pyzer’s 12 all-time greatest winter walleye tips

#9  CATCH THE WIND

My primary winter walleye tip-up is an HT Windlass model that sits on top of the ice, instead of a T-shaped tip-up with an underwater reel. I prefer the Windlass because I can bend the metal blade on the end of the arm to catch as little, or as much, of the wind as I want to rock the bait the same way I would jig it. The only downside during our cold Canadian winters, of course, is that your line will freeze in the hole if you don’t constantly clean out the slush.

Fortunately, there are two ingenious ways to prevent that from happening. The first is to buy or make a simple foam hole cover with a tight-fitting plastic tube in the centre. Run your line through the tube, place the cover over the hole, then pour two tablespoons of heavy mineral oil into the tube. It’ll never freeze, and it won’t contaminate the water. Alternatively, you can use a Lucky Duck Quiver Magnet, a puck-like device that waterfowlers float on the surface of a pond to impart ripples to keep ice from forming.