Checking the holes in order
The method's second act. The rig is already set and needs nothing more — all that's left for the person is to arrive on time.
Why an order matters
To know the time. When the round always runs the same direction, you can tell how long each rig has stood since it was last checked, and what's different about the one that fired. A random route erases that information: everything becomes "sometime, somewhere". The direction of the round is kept the same all day, even when it seems shorter to cut across.
What gets checked at each one
Whether the baitfish is alive, whether the line has frozen in, whether the hole has skinned over with ice, and whether the depth has shifted. This is the real reason for the round — the signal only shows a bite, and a silent rig can just as easily mean it stopped working long ago.
What a long round costs
Time before the hookset. The wider the row is spread, the later an angler learns about a signal-less bite, and the bigger the chance a predator drops the bait or swallows it deep. The width of the row and the speed of the round are chosen together, not separately.
When the round gets shortened
Once it's clear where the work is happening. Rigs on the far edge that haven't produced in several rounds get moved closer to the working zone — and the round gets shorter, checks more frequent. Setting out doesn't end there; it goes on all day.
What to do about holes that freeze over
Ice gets cleared off them on every round — that's the second reason to keep walking the row even when not a single flag has gone up. A skipped round costs more than a missed bite — it costs the rig itself: a frozen-in line has to be cut and retied in the cold. Why the hole gets covered with snow, and what that buys, is covered in the card on the tip-up.
The sign for changing the order of the round
Where the activity has gathered. As long as rigs fire across the whole row, the round is left as it is. The moment two or three neighbouring ones are producing everything and the rest stay silent, the round starts from them and comes back to them more often — cheaper than moving the rigs, and done on the spot.
The round alongside active fishing
Most often the rounds aren't done for their own sake: between them the angler fishes an ice jig or a spoon nearby. That's exactly why the round is easy to neglect — a round skipped twice turns tip-ups into forgotten ones.
What isn't done on the round
You don't run. A footfall on ice carries far underwater, and rushing toward a rig that's fired often scatters the very thing you came for. The last few steps are taken calmly. And gear doesn't get scattered around a rig: anything left lying on the ice is frozen solid into it by evening.