how much tip up line?

[mnvikingsfreak]

I was wondering how much tip up line you all put on your tip ups? I just bought a 50 yard spool of it any help would be great thanks

[Poutmaster]

I keep my tip up spools full. This makes it easier for the fish to peel line, with less resistance. It also makes it easier to wind back up - fewer revolutions needed. I like to use the thick braided nylon tipped with some vanish.

[Ed Carlson]

Depends on how deep you intend to fish and for what species really. Or, how frequently you check your tip-ups.

For most shallow water applications 25 yards is plenty. 50 yards per tip-up spool can handle most any fish run under the ice.

If you are deep water Lake Trout fishing then a spool with 200 yards or more may be needed. Unless the spool is designed for deep water applications they generally are made to hold 100 yards depending on the line diameter used. Tip-up spools are available that may accommodate 100, 200, 500, and even 1500 yards of line. Very few folks need that much line capacity on a tip-up.

For a Wind Tip-up style Tip-up system I recommend you spool up with Vinyl Tip-up Line in either 15 or 25 lb test. Vinyl Tip-up Line works very well on any tip-up but especially well on the Wind Tip-Ups. It resists icing or at least resists water absorption into the spool.

One last thing. One of the most user friendly and cost-effective strike indicators out there are the simple Glow Bells configuration. Easy to use and you can hear the bells at a fair distance away day or night. The newer models will also accommodate a glow stick and will make night strike detection a bit easier.

[PikeTipper]

Ed,

Do you add a lot of weight to your tip up lines? I may have just had a bad batch but I used vinyl tip up line one time and it had so much memory I had to add much more weight to the line than I really wanted to try and straighten it out.

[Ed Carlson]

True, it is a bit stiffer so I try to use it only on the wind tip-ups. I use large baits under tip-ups mostly for pike, so the added weight tends to balance things out. A 6-9" smelt has a bit of bulk and weight, and I also add 3/8 to ½ oz bullet weight so it gets a bit heavy.

The 15# Teflon coated line is a bit more user friendly. I use that on most my tip-ups.