Questionable: How close should you be to your tip-ups?
Each week we answer questions our readers have asked. What do you really want to know? Drop us a line; maybe we can help.
“Is there a regulation, or distance, on how far away anglers can be away from their tipups? I thought as long as an angler was tending their tip-ups, they could place them at any distance?”
– Sam, Cassian
The Star Journal asked Jim Jung, a conservation warden with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Jung responded:
“Unlike open water fishing in Wisconsin, there is no minimum or maximum distance requirement from an ice angler to their tip-ups. Open water anglers in Wisconsin must remain within 100 yards of their line(s), and be in a position to immediately respond upon indication of a strike or bite.
“Your second question is defining what ‘tending’ your tip-ups mean. The law states that, ‘failure to immediately respond to a line upon indication of a bite will be sufficient evidence that the line is unattended. So, distance may play a role in the ability for you to tend your tip-ups and to ‘immediately’ respond.
“The mere fact that you are a long distance away from your lines is not a violation in and of itself while ice fishing, and the focus is more on the ‘immediate’ response of the angler.”
Editor’s note: Send in your questions to Star [email protected], or mail them to the Star Journal, 24 W. Rives St., P.O.?Box 558 Rhinelander, WI?54501.
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.