Impact of retrieval time and hook type on hooking depth in ice-angled northern pike caught on tip-ups

Abstract Ice angling is a popular activity during the winter months at northern latitudes. For ice-anglers, tip-up rigs are often used to capture sportfish, including northern pike Esox lucius. When a fish grabs a bait rigged on a tip-up, a flag pops up and alerts the angler to the fish. However, the amount of time spent hooked on a tip-up before a fish is retrieved may vary depending on angler attentiveness. Studies of open water fishing have found that an increase in the time between the strike and the hookset can cause an increased probability in hook ingestion by fish, which can lead to mortality. However, this has not been documented for ice-angled fish. To fill this gap, we ice-angled northern pike using tip-ups rigged with one of two hook types (treble or gap) over a span of 4 days, waiting predetermined periods of time (0–7 min) before setting the hook. Sixty-five pike were successfully captured, and 142 bites were recorded over the 4 days of angling. We then noted the hooking location (lip, mouth, or throat/gills) as well as the angling outcome (whether or not the fish was successfully landed). It was determined that increasing time between strike and hookset (retrieval time) does lead to deeper hooking locations (ordinal regression, p = 0.04). However, regardless of retrieval time, none of the fish fully ingested the hook, and longer times more often resulted in the bait being dropped. Therefore, although retrieval time does influence the depth of hooking, it did not influence hook ingestion in this case. Despite this, since prior work has shown that deeper hooking increases the risk of mortality for angled fish, we recommend anglers pursue fishing practices that minimize the time taken prior to retrieval for ice-angled fish.