Jigging buddy

[tracker 1]

has anyone ever use  the jigging buddy? I saw them on Ebay and they peaked my intrest. Appreciate any input. Here is the site  http://www.tipup.net/.

[Shakespeare]

Not a bad idea.

The more moving parts something has the more likley it is to malfunction.

I don't know why we don't have realistic electronic bait fish yet.

[hunter17]

I used them last year.Actually they are a very simply design.Unlike the windless they don't have any springs to mess with.They come with a solar hole cover and are built well.We caught some trout and bass through the season on them.My 10 year old son had no problems setting his own up.They did outfish are other tip-ups.

[Icepuppy]

I bought one of these last year, here's my review.  Over all it works well and is quite well made.  It is very sensitive, you won't miss to many hits on it.  The biggest problem I had is the hole cover doesn't work too well, it was always blowing into the hole or hitting the line and setting the flag off.  This problem is a fairly big one becuase if you don't use it the hole freezes over you won't get a flag.  It's hard to land a fish with the cover on and getting it off can be tough if it's stuck in the ice and/or you're trying to set the hook or hand-bomb the fish.  The jigging action is of course dependent on wind, so you need some decent wind for that part.  That being said it works as well as any normal tip-up for a set line.  I baited mine with a minnow and split shot and caught several lakers last season.  It's not well suited to very snowy conditions since it's an above ice design, great on a clear/windy day.  Hope that helps.   

[snowman3406]

I've seen them in use, and i wasn't impressed with them.  If your fishing minnows, whats the point?  If your tipping jigs with spikes it may be ok.  Its still a very repeatative motion that won't entice fish to hit.  I get my hits from erratic motions of my lures.  They are also very noisy while in the jig mode, which sends unnecessary noise vibrations through the ice in my opinion.