Tip Up Recommendations????

[sconceptor]

Hey, I just bought my first hand auger at CT since they are 20% off the 75$ down to 60$. I got the 8incher since I hope to maybe hook some big fish....LOL(dreaming most likely). Anybody want to convince me to trade it for a smaller one, and give me reasons why they are better?

 

So, since I hope to ice fish a little in the future. I wonder about purchasing a decent tip up? What would you recommend? At CT, they have the plastic folding SubZero brand that sits above the hole for about 15$, the Plastic hole covering tip up for 20$, and a new SubZero style that is balanced at the back end and raised up above the hole(didn't see the price of this one). I know Frabill makes a few models simular to all of these too, and does the brand make the better tip up???

 

Thanks for all your help!

 

My ice fishing experience is a few trips to the bungalows on Nipissing with rods and not much luck. Then a friend who fishes Simcoe a lot, taught us about the balancing tip up for white fish during a trip on Jumping Cariboo Lake near Temagami. I've done one day trip on a Simcoe hut rental for whites and we used the balance tip ups with good success. In my local area, ice fishing is a little limited, but I might try to get out a few times. I would like to try a tip up in a hole I'm not fishing much, for either lowering a smaller bait down for some walleye or whitefish, or use a large bait or dead bait for pike. I might even learn to tie my own quick strike release hooks for the pike fishing. It would be fun to use a rod on a hole and have a big pike bait on a tip up in another hole close by.

[Twocoda]

my kind of tip ups dont involve fishing rods [insert beer cheer icon here]

 

balanced tip up [insert double fisted beer drinker standing on one leg icon here]

 

unbalanced tip down [insert pic of me New Years Eve icon here]

[Musky or Specks]

8 inch hand auger ??? I hope you bought an oxygen mask and tank thats a lot if effort if you want multiple holes. I use a 4" in most cases sometimes a six. If Im going any bigger its the gas powered ten inch

[SBCregal]

are the augers still on sale at CT?

i didnt see them in the flyer

[sconceptor]

Not sure if it's in a flyer or not, but the Port Elgin Store has had them on sale for a week, so it likely ended today.

[archie_james_c]

That SubZero cross style tip-ups are JUNK. I bought one the other day and tried it out tuesday. What a piece of crap...doesn't sit right in the hole and half the small tabs meant for holding things together snapped off with regular use . I spent 15$ on that pile when I could have bought one of these for 20$ with line and a indicator light.....

 

HT Polar Tip-up...I've owned them before...best, most rugged tip-up ever...

 

http://icefish.com/catalog/inventory.php?fam=110&cat=1

[sconceptor]

Maybe I should exchange it for a 6 incher? I've got no experience, but my coworker says they are like butter till either you bend the shaft and it's time for a whole new unit or the blades dull. I recall an old ice fishing magazine that went over the different drills, hole sizes, and what you should be looking for when requiring one. Also it went over tip ups. I should go through my stacks of fishing mags to find the tips......

[archie_james_c]

oops...

Edited January 8, 2010 by archie_james_c

[DRIFTER_016]

I just got a Bass Pro extreme tipup when I was down visiting the folks.

Looks like it's well made and the spool holds 100 yds of 36# dacron.

It was either $14.99 or $19.99 I can't remember.

[sconceptor]

http://www.ehow.com/video_4944185_differen...ing-augers.html

 

good link with lots of ice fishing tips....I watched the 2 on augers......off set looks to be a good idea....I wonder what the one I bought is?

 

They didn't mention size of hole being a factor, other than what you're fishing for.

[archie_james_c]

Here's a little review I did over on CanadianGunNutz.com on the topic of augers

 

 

 

i have an 8" Finn-bore...love it I've got 3 seasons on the original blades and they're still going strong (although Im going to change them anyways this year). They're no 6" as far as ease of drilling goes, but when you have anything over 4lbs looking to come out of the hole you'll be glad you carried the 8" .

 

I found I can knock through 12" of ice in a minute-ish , mind you thats after you use them for a few weeks and get the muscle memory back . My walleye trip yesterday I managed to punch through 7" in 40ish seconds

[Twocoda]

Not sure if it's in a flyer or not, but the Port Elgin Store has had them on sale for a week, so it likely ended today.

 

 

hell must of froze over ...cuz this is the first time the port elgin store ever had anything in stock of something that was on sale ...normally you get the rain check ...and a month later when frustration sets in because the article hasnt shown up yet...ya drive to owen sound to find out they wont honour the rain check from port...

[sconceptor]

True that about Port CT....needs a big update and the town needs a few more things, like competent police who'll pull over some traffic that race through the town or build a by pass of the town(dam bad drivers in the area) The Hydro 500 every day is crazy and rarely do you see anybody pulled over. Also a 24hr grocery store would be nice......KINCARDINE is much better, except not as close to the Geen...but in between the Maitland and Geen is okay.

 

I'm a transplanted Kincardinite in Port......

 

Owen Sound Port carries RedWing brand flourcarbon tippet line...which is very nice!!!! I like it the best and always thought I had to pick it up in the city, but OS carries it and has a decent selection of fishing gear. Not as good as North Bay, but pretty good.

[Jigs_up]

I have the 8" Nor-Mark auger and it presents no problem even when drilling multiple holes. The thickest ice I have drilled is 14" though so if you're on thicker ice I could see the benefit of either a gas auger or gullible friends. The hand auger is nice when you're going solo and want to limit the weight of your gear. Anything smaller is going to limit the species you target. Just keep the blades sharp and aligned (don't jam it on the ice ) and you'll be fine.

[tipupesox]

If you are willing to spend a little more money, I would purchase a man hole cover style tip up versus the T style. The man hole cover style insulates the hole and will keep it ice free.

 

Tom

[sconceptor]

Owen Sound Crappie Tire(CT)...not Port....carries the Red Wing Flourocarbon

[bow slayer]

if it were me I would trade it in for a 6incher,that is all you should need plus alot easier to drill multiple holes with.

 

As for a tip ,simple make one. An old hockey stick(wood) a door stopper spring,a 18 inch piece of dowling that fits in the spring.

1) cut a 2ft piece of stick and make a 45 degree cut on one end.

2) screww the door spring stopper into the 45 cut.

3) wrap a paper clip on one end of the dowling leaving a small hook shape of clip sticking out.This will be for hooking line on over top of hole.

4) drill 2 small holes on back of cut stick on slight angle away from each other. Hole should be about 8inches apart.This will be for wrapping your line with.Glue in a 2inch piece if dowling in each hole.

 

Just place dowling in spring when fishing unwrap line from back and hook on clip on the end of dowling.This is very popular on nipissing and real easy to make. Alot of guys paint them up,add a small stick on cork patch to hold hooks. Maybe I will try to take a picture of mine and post.

[Dabluz]

For ice less than 18 inches thick, an 8 inch auger would be my choice. I've pulled 40 lb cod and 10 lb halibut through such a hole. On top of that, the hole will stay free of ice a lot easier. I often cut through 30 inches of ice up here in Quebec but I have to admit that I don't cut many holes.

 

Do not bang the cutters on the ice. Steer clear of dirty ice. Lots of dirty ice where I fish because of the tides....the ice often sits right on the bottom at low tide.

 

Keep your blades super sharp...sharp enough to shave the hair off your forearm and oil them as soon as you get home to keep them free of rust. You can sharpen them on a good flat stone and be careful to keep the angle exactly as it is. Buy a spare set of blades and bring them with you.

 

DO NOT LEND YOUR AUGER TO ANYONE!!!!

 

Bring along an ice chisel or hatchet to trim formed ice around the hole when it's very cold.

 

As for tip ups and ice rods etc.....wow....that's a big question. It all depends on fish species and the size of the fish, whether you visit your set up often or not, whether you fish on bottom with the lead weight at the end of you rig or off the bottom, for light biting fish or fish that run before swallowing the bait etc etc etc.

 

One thing for sure, you will want one rod that you can hold in your hand. The best ones are the ones you make yourself from broken rods but there are some good ones for around 20 to 40 dollars....depending if the come with a reel or not.

[Stern Rules]

Don't have any advice on a tip up since I just got into ice fishing but I prefer the 8" auger incase I get a nice size fish. Wouldn't want to get a huge pike that wouldn't fit thru the hole. I got the Mora strikemaster at Bass Pro 'cuz it was cheaper that the Lazer one. I paid $54.99 and the Lazer was $94.99 so I went cheaper. Then I saw the video on how much easier the Lazer cuts and wished I got that one instead but it works okay. That was regular price too. It does the job anyway.

[ld17]

Here's my 2 cents. If your the type of person to move around and find active fish then return the 8" and get the 6". Much much easier to cut holes. You can pretty much get any panfish and small walleye up a 6" hole. If you plan and cutting one hole and sitting there for the day then stay with the 8". I bought and HT tip and they claim to have a lube inside the shaft that is guarantied not to freeze up on you. It's more money than the ones I've seen at Bass pro, CT, Walmart. Those ones look the same but don't know if they have the non freezing lube inside. That can be the whole difference in price and landing a fish when it starts to run. That's it. Just get out there and start fishing!

[Muskieman]

One of my modified "door stop" Tip-Up..... It works great for everything I've ever caught through the ice.

 

There are many variations of this particular set up...Just make it how you like it.

 

As for the auger, I have a FinBoreIII 8" with offset handle and it works great...With sharp blades I manage 12-15"

of ice in about a minute.

 

Be safe on the Ice have fun.

 

RFS

[sconceptor]

Thanks for the help guys!

 

I think I'll wait to find a HT tip up, and as for style, I'll wait to see the prices. One that will sit on top and cover the hole would be good on the trips with the buddies.....as the beers might interfere with keeping the hole clean. If not, a folding model of a decent price would be fine. I doubt I need one of those windless jigging tip up sets. If I ice fished more, I'd likely own one of each. Can't wait to win a lottery and buy a few cottages. One on Nipissing, one on Lake of the Woods and one around Midland or Woods Bay, and I'd fish my brains out.

 

If I'm not paying much attention to the tip up, a friend has an alarm but it never went off, so I don't know how effective they are. Do you guys use the alarms and what do you think of them?

 

Those door stopper spring set ups look interesting, and I do remember seening them used on Nipissing. I doubt I'll make one any time soon, but others checking things out definitely will.

 

The 8" auger will be fine, and keep my hopes of a big fish up. I young enough and in decent enough shape to have a little harder work drilling the holes. I think I'll be fine.

[Dabluz]

I've never heard of a lube in the shaft before. Don't see how it would help either. You don't want the blades to slip on ice, you want them to dig in.

 

Yes....if you want to run and gun (make a lot of holes), the 6 inch auger is a great idea.

 

I once had an old Swedish auger with the blade shaped like a big spoon. Wow, it made real clean holes and the center of the ice came out like a cork from a wine bottle. It was real easy to sharpen too. But, it was slow even though it was easy to turn. It was great because it would redrill old holes and holes that partially froze up. It made a 6 inch hole and I pulled quite a few large fish through the hole but it was too small for large cod or even medium sized flounder. I guess a 10 lb pike could be pulled through it but I'm sure that it was such a tight sqeeze.....like giving a enema to the fish....lol.

[bow slayer]

Hey Randy do they still sell the door stopper ones up your way? I bought a couple from Bobs Bait on trout lake in North Bay about 15 years ago and my buddy left them on the ice last year. They were made by a local guy nicely painted. I think I paid 10 bucks for them. thanks

[Leecher]

8" augers vs 6" you ask??? a little more efforts drilling with an 8" is all that I found out. I used to have an 8" and everytime I used it, cursed it.... Last year bought a Sub Zero 6" and it's so much easier and very happy with it.

 

Like mentioned in other replies..... don't knock the blades or use excessive force while drilling..... that will prevent from damaging them.

 

As far as tipups goes well I make my own from pine cause up here in QC we are allowed 5 lines per person and it would be too expensive if I bought them. Mine are rigged with plastic spools and have 10 adjustable holes so that I can set them very light or very heavy depending on the species of fish I'm targetting

 

Here's a few pics, first the adjustable holes

 

 

Plastic reels

 

 

Different designs

 

 

Leechman