There are surely times when you would need to tip with live shiners. Proven fact to me anyway. One morning of fun fishing with a few other guys, we were not doing well till a call from a buddy and asked if we had minnows. " No" not that day. Since he was headed in, he stopped by and gave us all his left over big shiners. It was an instant change as we took a limit of eyes in a couple hours. There are times when you dont need them as they turn aggressive enough to hit anything. Very early April with very cold water, prob no bait, all mid April I would take shiners and early May would be bare jig and maybe tip with some worm. Alot of times it could be just how you are moving the jig. Many diff ways, fast , slow, really rip it, cast ahead of the drift, jig the swing, jig under the boat, just drag it little hops in back of drift, turn your hat around. Try a blade, it could make a diff.
One guy may just not feel anything all day and another guy is throwing fish back. Watch the one that is catching and how he is catching, line angle, rod position, jig weight and color.