Ice angler Roy Leyva came up with a super creative tip-up that’s great for kids and catching baitfish through the ice!
Keep reading this article to find out how Roy came up with the idea for his micro tip-ups, what fish they can catch, and how they work in action.
Every once in a while, I come across a really cool and unique topic when scanning the internet for new fishing articles.
Roy’s micro tip-ups are a perfect example!
I saw a Facebook reel with him using them on a small pond and thought, this is definitely an awesome story to cover.
So, I reached out to Roy and asked him a few questions about his amazing idea.
My first question was how he came up with the somewhat odd but super creative idea of a micro tip-up.
“I came up with the idea last year while checking on one of my bait fish spots.
I do quite a bit of micro fishing and thought it would be a great idea to build a miniature tip-up to target small baitfish.”
That’s exactly what first came to my mind when I saw the video on Facebook.
This is an excellent way of catching fresh live baits while you’re out fishing!
Sure, many of us have live baits at home, and we can just bring them with us on a fishing trip. But that’s not a luxury everyone can enjoy!
Or, suppose you brought your baits but ran out of them during your fishing trip. How many times have I wished for extra baits while on the ice? (way too many times!)
Running out of live baits when the bite is on really sucks, and this solution might be able to save a fishing trip!
So, what has Roy been able to catch with these babies?
“To date, I’ve caught fallfish (chub), blacknose dace, and common shiners.”
I don’t know about blacknose dace, but chub and shiners are primo baits for predators like pike, walleye, lake trout, and bass!
And if you catch the smaller minnows, which should be super easy with these micro tip-ups, you can also go for crappie, bluegill, and yellow perch!
So, really, these things allow you to cover a wide spectrum of fish.
Sure, you’ll need to exercise some patience, as it might take a while to catch those fresh baits, but even just getting a few could save the day!
If you know where to find those small baitfish, this can be a really effective method of catching them relatively quickly through the ice.
If nothing else, it’s a very interesting and exciting way of catching baitfish.
Roy second that and added:
“I definitely agree! That’s actually the reason I came up with the idea in the first place.”
Here, you can see how the micro tip-ups perform on the ice. It’s really quite exciting to watch:
As this is my first time seeing this type of ice fishing gear, I wondered if Roy had any further plans with his micro tip-ups.
Do you have plans on getting a patent for these tip-ups of yours?
“I have thought about producing them on a larger scale, but I still have some bugs to figure out. Though they work, they don’t work as well as I would like them to.”
Turning an idea like that into something people would want to buy and use is never easy, but I’m sure Roy will figure out a way to fine-tune his creation if he puts his mind to it.
I’m sure many anglers would love to use this on their local ponds and lakes.
Oh, and I can think of another “target group” that would appreciate these micro tip-ups: kids!
Forget about the baitfish thing; using this with your kids would be great fun in itself!
It could be an educational and entertaining way of introducing them to ice fishing.
Additionally, the micro tip-ups would keep your kids engaged and away from those screens during your trip. It’s a total win-win!
In this reel, you can see how Roy goes about building one of his micro tip-ups. They are a mere 4 inches in size, by the way:
That is some skilled craftsmanship right there! Seeing how creative some anglers can get is really nice and refreshing.
Find Roy Leyva on Instagram or Facebook
When he’s not building micro tip-ups, Roy is out fishing a lot and taking beautiful pictures on his trips.
You can find him on Instagram: @offthehookfishing or Facebook: OffTheHookFishing.
I want to thank Roy for our nice talk and wish him the best of luck with his future endeavors.
Tight lines, Roy, you’re awesome!
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