Another thing you could use instead of tip-ups is a bush rod. If your not sure what a bush rod is its a really small rod and its very strong and it can bend alot. You use that and it is easier to retrieve the fish with. To tell when you have a bite you can put a bell on the tip of the rod and it will start to dingle when you have a bite or another way to tell if you have a bite is to let out line and you have it go around a bottle such as a rum bottle(empty) but it has to be glass so its heavy enough and then the line goes into the hole. So when you see your bottle tip over you got a good bite and it will give the fish time to really take the bait in. Oh and dont forget to wrap the bottle in something like black tape so you can really notice it.