When I use tip ups for pike I like to use live sucker minnows.

Live suckers can sometimes trip your tip up trigger, giving you false flags.

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A lot of bait shops use these livestock castration bands as the rubber band to seal the plastic bags they sell bait in. Save a few of those bands or pick up a few 1/4" O rings. Traditional spinning shaft tip ups have a "T bar at the to which typically has a smooth side and a notched side. You can set your tip ups basically with 4 levels of trip tension. the lightest set is with the smooth side of the T bar with the spool out rotation making the bar climb down towards the flag spring. Next highest you give the T bar half a turn and put the flag under the T bar so that the bar is rotating up towards the flag, forcing the flag shaft down a bit before it trips free. Next two levels are with the notch side in the same order, rotation down towards the flag spring and then rotation up towards the flag tip.

If you need an extra heavy trigger for big live bait that is giving you false trips, slide one of those green donut bands over the T bar, you can use the smooth side or the notched side. If you slide the band or O ring over the notched side and place it just outside of the notch, you set the flag in the notch and you now have a very heavy trigger. You not only made the notch deeper but the band is grippy.

And it's fine to have a stout trip proof trigger like this because pike do not "nibble" on a live sucker, they hammer it.

Something clever here.