Tip-N-Jig

[GullGuide]

At first glance, the Tip-N-Jig seemed to me to be a little on the cheap side as far as quality goes, but under close examination this last weekend on Lake of the Woods, I have come to the conclusion that this nifty rod-and-reel-tip-up combo has a niche in the world of ice angling.
Constructed mainly out of plastic, the rod itself held up to the test of bending it under weight, in fact, we took the tip of the rod and bent it to almost touch the butt of the rod and not only did it not break, but sprang back to it's original shape.
Unfortunately we did not catch any fish on the Tip-N-Jig during our outing, but it was very easy to set up and very little force is needed to trigger the flag. It also held up very nicely in windy conditions, not tripping a false flag even once.
There were some design flaws that I would recommend changing, such as providing a common head on the screw that holds the reel together, such as a flat-head type or Phillips. Also the line did have a tendency to slip between the reel housing and the reel itself, a potential problem especially in very cold conditions.
Further testing of this product will be done next season, but for now, the Tip-N-Jig is a very versatile piece of ice-fishing equipment.

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Gull Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/gullguide
Brainerd-Mille Lacs-Willmar
Bemidji-Ottertail

[Guest]

I'm gonna go give it one more go up on LOW next Monday and see if I can get a fish to take my bait so that I can see what it's like to reel one in on this tip-up. Will give a much more comprehensive report on it when I get back.

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Paul
[email protected]

[Guest]

I tested the Tip-n-Jig this past weekend and have found it to be a good ice fishing tool. It took under 15min to assemble out of the package. I then spooled it with Dacron and rigged it up for some Mille Lacs Perch. I found the system very easy to use and set up once on the ice. The reel has a clicker feature and the strike indicator is nice and sensitive which can be adjusted. The system is made of extremely durable plastic which makes it tough and lightweight. I really enjoyed landing Perch with the reel and have found it to be very fun. The best part i liked is its easy on the fingers v.s a conventional tip-up where you need to hand over hand the line. The only draw backs are the system has many loose parts when assembled which i super-glued to make sure they dont fall apart. I also would like to see different actions of rods since the one i tested was very stiff. Overall its a great product. Cant wait to test it on some pike and eyes next year!!

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MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[Guest]

I had the chance to use mine for a day on LOW and once I got into fish I really had the chance to put it to the test. I was using it as a standard tip up with the flag. It took me about 5 minutes to get it fine tuned but once I did, I found that it was very sensitive and could detect even a light strike. The day I used it was very windy, but still no false flags .

The only improvement I could think of would be to change the reel ratio. It is like 1:1, but like Scott said, it beats the heck out of pulling it in hand over hand. Not even sure if this would be feasible, just throwing it out there. Maybe in the next couple of days I can get a giant LOW pike on the end and really give it a work out.

All and all, thumbs up, it has found a home in my sled and has become a permanent part of my gear.

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Paul
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Pwaldow123 (edited 03-29-2002).]

[Guest]

I didn't get my Tip N Jig in time to try it out on LOW, but I did get it out on the Horseshoe Chain this week for a real test. CATFISH!! Lots of fun!! The nice weather gave me a chance to experiment with it a little and the fish were biting so this really helped. If was a lot of fun and gives an angler a chance to fish it several different ways. The scrappy catfish were nothing for the rod, very durable. I will take fighing a fish with a rod/reel any day over fighting by hand with a standard tip-up. The catfish were really aggressive so I didn't need to try any of the finess setups but I look forward to in the near future.

The real test will come next year when I am able to test the durability and portability when I am putting those long miles on the snowmobile chasing fish. It has become a part of my icefishing arsenal and I will be giving it some more work on last ice.ScottS

[Guest]

I had a chance to test the Tip-N-Jig out on pike this week.

The overall set-up of the rig was not too bad but the instructions came in handy.

With no snow to anchor the base, as it all has melted, I needed to weight the base to be safe. Even with some vicious strikes the rig did much better then I originally suspected it would. The rod worked well on pike and produced a good fight with no big problems to report.

On a scale from 1-10 I would give the rig a 7.

If the rod came with a second interchangeable rod for panfish action and lighter bites I would up the score to 8 or 9.

Overall a neat system that functions well on warmer ice outings where excessive freeze ups would not be a worry.

For the gizmo lovers this would be a joy to use on the ice.

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Backwater Eddy.......><,sUMo,>

Backwater Guiding
Ed Carlson
(701)-281-2300

http://home.talkcity.com/ResortRd/backwtr1/index.html

[Guest]

Unfortuneatly, I did not get a chance to test the Tip-N-Jig on the ice, but I did give it a good look over. I really think this could appeal to a lot of anglers who don't like or don't use conventional tip-ups. It did take me awhile to find a driver to put the reel handle on, but when I did, I was impressed with how well it worked. I liked the clicker style reel and I liked how sensitive the flag was. I only wonder how well it will work with a large minnow? It would be nice to be able to adjust the flag tension.
I also think the base should be set up differently. Like Backwater Eddy said, with no snow, it would be hard to anchor the base. I would be hard to drive those spikes into the ice .
Overall, I am impressed with the Tip-N-Jig and I can't wait to test it out next year on some walleyes and pike!

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Adam Johnson
www.adamjohnsonfishing.com