Night Fishing With Tip-ups

[jackfridmann]

This night time tip-up fishing will be new to me this yr., and I was wondering what type of light/lantern to use when approching a tripped flag.I was looking at the Coleman rechargable {6vlt}lantern which would eliminate the need for the fuel or extra canasters that I carry for the heater. It also would eliminate the chance of breaking the mantles. I do pull my sled, so wieght is a factor. jockofish

[fishinfey8]

just use a headlamp.

[bobbymalone]

whoa whoa whoa, jack... the water's still liquid so don't try pulling that sled out there yet

i use a headlamp just like mentioned above.

i do use a coleman propane lantern though for lighting up the shack. i went with the fancy northstar model and it was worth the extra bucks. i like the lantern because it doubles as a heat source. mantles do break, but i always carry a few extras. if you are careful with how you pack up your sled and it's not an excessively bumpy ride they will last for quite a while. 1 propane tank can last for several trips.

if you don't need the extra heat and you are worried about space and whatnot then i would go with the battery powered route. One thing I have experienced though is rechargable batteries don't last very long in the cold. Found this with the rechargable AA batteries in my GPS and the rechargable power pack in a spotlight. NOT talking about sealed lead acid batteries like in a flasher, they obviously do just fine in the cold.

welcome to hso!

[herefish101]

headlamp's leave your hands free, plus where ever you look is where your light shines.

[Ryan_V]

definetly a headlamp!!

[MN BassFisher]

I gotta go with everyone here, headlamps are great for fishing at night, ice fishing, camping, etc.

[mr_jman]

Yes to the headlamp as well. I have one made by Energizer with about 4 settings... Red LED's then a low, a high, and a both lows&highs setting for the white LED's. Very valuable and it can be moved up and down to shine it short or "longer" distances! At $20 it is a great investment for the boat and the ice!

[Brad B]

If your talking about night fishing with tip ups on the open ice and not in a house then I would look for a small light to attach to the flag. I personally have 2 tip ups set up with replacement flags that have lights on the top of the flag. you can get these at one of the big box stores that are sporting goods related. I would put the store name but I don't want to break forum policies.

[Ed Carlson]

Simple jingle bell strike indicators do very well on tip ups and are very cost effective. Some models also use the battery L*E*D style pin=lights on the bell clip so you get light and sound.

A good quality Princeton Tec Headlamp is a great investment for any ice ranger or open water fisherman. The style I like will take 3 AAA batteries and last many trips of long use.

Since they take a easy to find battery such as the AAA you can easily find replacements when needed. The ultra light Tec lamps that use the disc batteries will be lightweight, but they cost you more to operate in the long run. So I opt to go with the AAA style and go with using rechargeable Lithium Ion battery's in them...the rechargeable ION combination is a very good system.

Frabill also makes a wide range of strike indicators, electronic and lighted. The Frabill Arctic-Siren will most certainly get your attention, as it is very bright and very loud.

More bulky a system, and is best suited for Plank Style tip-ups. They are very durable and do the job very well.

I try to go as simple and portable as I can. Try the pin-style lighted spring bells once. If they do not cut it, move up the Siren if you wish.

[Steve Foss]

I use a headlamp, the jingle bells and strips of reflective tape on the flags. The combo of sound/sight means I always know when a flag pops. I pull the clip off the set of bells and tie them to a hole in the flag right next to the shaft, using light superbraid and letting them dangle an inch or so. Each bell is tied singly, not in tandem. You get a longer louder jingle this way. If you run a narrow strip of reflector tape up the flag, it shows horizontally when the flag is down. If you happen to miss the bells going off and see the reflective strip is vertical, you know you have a flag.

[Ed Carlson]

Shiny Jingle Ball's..I like it...BRILLIANT!

[jackfridmann]

thanks guys, all I need now is a bit of hard water. jockofish

[bikeoutback]

Ha ha, lights and sounds remind me of what I did about 4 years ago. I had just seen the lights in the store but they were around $10 each or something like that. I did some online reading and figured out could make them. So off to radio shack I went and dropped about $10 on some 9 volt connectors and other wire and connectors. Raided Dad's garage for some hardware and grabbed an old set of xmas lights and got to work. Made about 10 lights and brought them on a fishing trip to WI where we had 15 guys fishing tip ups so around 30 tip ups out. I also rigged one of these set ups to an old car alarm speaker I had.

Got them set up and batteries on them around dusk, we were around a fire watching for flags and low and behold little orange xmas light bobbing was first hit just after dark. Few minutes later the car alarm siren goes off. Middle of northern WI woods on private lake with 1000s of acres of nothing but trees around and 100db car alarm siren going off. Never used the siren again but it was funny once.

Oh and I have 3 or 4 of the $15 Energizer headlamps around. Use them around the house, camping and nighttime tip up fishing. They are stashed all over with fishing gear, camping gear, in the truck, in the garage. Pretty much use them for anything where would like light and 2 hands... haven't used a regular flashlight in years.

[reinhard1]

great post and some good humor. old fashion i guess, i use a little clip on bell day or night. good luck.

[Steve Foss]

Great stuff, bikeoutback!

Reinhard, my bells are permanent on the tip-ups, and as you know they work just as well by day. Any time I hear jingle bells now, I tense up and get ready to go pull in a pike or laker. Christmas is a strange and wonderful event these days.