pros and cons of tip ups

[mrpike1973]

hi my biggest problems with tip ups are when its cold out getting your hands cold from the suckers and setting up. on the other hand if i'm to lazy to set the house up. punch a couple of holes and watch from the car. just wondering why some of you do and dont use tip ups

[Far-I]

My buddy has a cabin on a good northern lake. His cabin is more of a nice house, actually, with a hot tub out back. We, legally, can watch for flags while soaking and run out to the tip ups in our boardshorts.

Nothing like getting a pic of a fat gator in your swimsuit

[Huntin&Fishin]

My buddy has a cabin on a good northern lake. His cabin is more of a nice house, actually, with a hot tub out back. We, legally, can watch for flags while soaking and run out to the tip ups in our boardshorts.

Nothing like getting a pic of a fat gator in your swimsuit

Ha nice

[Steve Foss]

For me, cold fingers are part of the experience. Not that I love getting my bare hands wet when it's -10 and blowing, but it's just par for the course. I make sure I have dry chemical handwarmers in my side coat pockets and inside my choppers, and I always have a towel stuck in a pocket or hanging from a clip on my bibs. First thing I do after baiting the hook or landing a fish is dry those hands off. Helps a lot!

When you're tending 4-8 tip-ups in a group and the flags are popping, it can get darn challenging to keep your hands warm.

I have experimented with baitcasting rigs for deadbaiting pike, but there's just something about working with tip-ups that keeps me coming back. Maybe it's the simplicity of the thing, as well as cost. I have a couple more spendy tip-ups I got as a gift, but day in and day out I just use those inexpensive plastic Polar HT tip-ups, the ones you can buy for $10 on sale. I do equip mine with jingle bells and reflective tape. I use the round foam hole covers too, which means I can go all day without having to clean ice buildup out of the holes.

[Huntin&Fishin]

They are nice for trying to spread out and covermore area and structure, but HATE when the hole freezes! just recently got the frabill polartherm tip up hope that helps my problem

[Steve Foss]

They are nice for trying to spread out and covermore area and structure, but HATE when the hole freezes! just recently got the frabill polartherm tip up hope that helps my problem

I used to use those, and they are great for insulating the holes. I use standard tip-ups now and foam hole covers, but the principle is the same. If you push the thermal down hard to seat it into the slush produced by drilling the hole, and then pack it slightly around the thermal and remove excess slush, it'll keep that hole open all day, even on the cold days.

[SDS]

Tip ups are simple to set up and use. Its a great way to cover a peice of structure and get an idea of whats down there. I love fishing tip ups no matter how cold it is. I have landed some of the biggest walleye and pike of my life on tip ups and I will continue to use them.

[nllumberco]

Easier to drink barley pop.

[bloc004]

we get three lines in WI, so always put two tip ups out, and jig one. Nothing beats looking up and seeing that flag pop!!!! No cons in my opinion!

[Steve Foss]

There's also something really stealthy about tip-ups. Very minimalist presentation. Nothing but the bait down there, a hook and a couple sinkers, with an angler sitting on a bucket nearby, quietly waiting for a flag to pop. On slow evenings, especially for walleyes in clear water, I think this quiet approach can put more fish on the ice than doing the whole electronics/jigging thing, and is a more peaceful way to fish.

That being said, when I'm jigging in walleyes, I either have a bobber/minnow in a second hole in the shack or a tip-up outside. Generally I run the tip-up in deeper or shallower water than the shack, and will often drill one hole deeper and one shallower than the shack. As the 'eyes move toward the shallows in evening, the deep tip-up gets hit first, then my jigging or bait line in the shack gets action, and when that's done I grab the tip-up out of the deep hole and put it in the shallow one, and can then nail a couple more fish that way.

[MJ1657]

There is just something exciting about seeing that flag go up. I like when I am looking at it when it trips.

[Big Tom]

That being said, when I'm jigging in walleyes, I either have a bobber/minnow in a second hole in the shack or a tip-up outside. Generally I run the tip-up in deeper or shallower water than the shack, and will often drill one hole deeper and one shallower than the shack. As the 'eyes move toward the shallows in evening, the deep tip-up gets hit first, then my jigging or bait line in the shack gets action, and when that's done I grab the tip-up out of the deep hole and put it in the shallow one, and can then nail a couple more fish that way.

I do the same thing Steve. A pair of surgical gloves helps a lot with the cold hands as well.

[GrizzlyAdams]

A cheap and inexpensive way of keeping your holes from freezing is to cut a piece of carpeting into a 12" or so square. Cut one slice through to the center for the tip up shaft. Then pack a little snow around the edges. A friend of mine did this on URL one year when it was -40 plus windchill and never had a hole freeze over. He had to periodically remove some slush that the wind blew in. (it was blowing pretty good). Cheap, Easy, light weight and packs up nice.

[TubaDr]

Here's a question, I have looked at the thermal tip ups and they all say 10" I have a Strikemaster with a 10" bit. Will the holes be too big????

[blackdog1101]

Here's a question, I have looked at the thermal tip ups and they all say 10" I have a Strikemaster with a 10" bit. Will the holes be too big????

Just an idea, but what if you cut a piece of that insulation board they put on new houses into, say, a 14" x 14" square. Drill a hole in the center and cut a slot from one side into the center hole. Then you can slide the 'shaft" of the tip up into the center of the insulation square, and set your tip up down on top of the 10" hole. Maybe that would work?

[herefish101]

Here's a question, I have looked at the thermal tip ups and they all say 10" I have a Strikemaster with a 10" bit. Will the holes be too big????

Yup, your thermal tip ups will float in a 10" hole.

I too love looking over only to watch a flag pop, what a rush! it's somtimes hard to calm down when you get to it, you have to remind your self to let it run a bit before setting the hook, too many times have I gotten to the flag only to hit it way to early just because of the adrenaline rush. Calm down, take a deep breath and when it stopps, BOOM! IT'S ON!

[TubaDr]

Would it then freeze in on cold days??

[Steve Foss]

I got out of the round thermal tip-ups because at the time I was using a 10-inch auger. The round foam hole covers made by HT and a couple other companies are about 12 inches in diameter, and cover a 10-inch hole nicely. Now that I'm back to an 8-inch auger I could use the thermals again, but I've got about a dozen of the standard HT style, and I really like how those hole covers work. They cost about $5. I like the HT ones best because they are stiffer than some others that sag in the middle, and because they hold the tip-up shaft snugly in the slit.

[birdswacker]

The best part of watching flags go up is when your buddies aren't watching tie some clear vanish line on the flag to trip it. Hilarious when they finally see the line on the flag.

[gill man]

I like using tip-ups too. About the only disadvantage is if you want to keep moving to new spots they take a while to put out and pack up. If I know I'll be staying on a spot the rest of the evening, I love having tip-ups out!

My buddy bought me a bunch of carpet samples. They are probaby 12x18 inches or so. Cut a slot in them with a carpet knife for the tip-up shaft to go through, and that's it. Have had them set out over night on well below 0 degree nights and only had a very thin skim of ice on the holes in the morning.

gill man

[fishersofmen]

How quickly do you guys begin to pull the line up, right when the flag goes up or do you wait a bit?? Then do you slowly pull the line in or somewhat fast??

[scott3137]

I know a lot of people like to wait for a stop or a second run I've been running to the tip up and setting the hook right away that has increased my success rate tremendously I love tip up fishing it is relaxing but is very exiting when a flag pops

[Steve Foss]

How quickly do you guys begin to pull the line up, right when the flag goes up or do you wait a bit?? Then do you slowly pull the line in or somewhat fast??

Depends on what I'm fishing for. I sure give 'eyes and crappies a lot more time than I give pike. With pike, when I get a flag I walk over quickly, get the rig out of the hole and just stop the line with my hands. Usually the pike is running, and that's enough to set the hook just fine. I like it when they're running away because most of the time the hook ends up in the corner of their mouths, and that's easy to get out.

If it's walleyes, it really depends on the day. I generally give the first one a lot of time. If it's deeply hooked when I land it, I might take the next one a bit more quickly. No different, in that way, than using a Lindy style rig during summer. Just gotta experiment a bit each day and let the fish tell you.

In any case, once I feel the weight of the fish, I pull it in as fast as its weight/fight will allow.

[picksbigwagon]

A couple of years ago, I bought the arctic warrior tip up system from Clam. the basic principal is just like a tip up except that I use a medium heavy ice fishing rod and reel set up so when the fish hits, I fight it with a fishing pole and not hand lining. The serious set back is the hole freezing over. I have actually caught more fish on it that any other tip up I have ever owned.....

[Steve Foss]

Tom, I like bait rigs on rods as opposed to tip-ups, too, and for exactly the reason you mentioned. Hole freezeup for me has not been a problem with those rigs because I use the hole covers with them. More a problem for me is what happens after landing the first fish. The rig depends on the reel's ability to freespool without much added tension so the fish won't drop the bait. Once I play and land a fish, the line is wet where it lays on the reel (even with mono), and that freezes and causes the spool to hitch and bind next time a fish runs with the bait, and I get too many drops.

I just tie a piece of surveyor's ribbon to the line just below the rod tip, and when that ribbon disappers, I know I've got a fish. You tie it tight enough so it doesn't slide down the line on its own but loose enough so the line can still go through it when you reel it up to the rod tip.

I'm wondering if I set the rods/reels across the top of the 5-gallon bucket and put some small heat source in the bucket, if that'll keep the line from freezing to the reel, but golly it seems like a lot of hassle.

Always, there are tradeoffs to whatever system we use.