Best tip up

[dbswab78]

I have all different kinds of tip ups, the ones I like the best are the cheapest ones I have.  x style with a plastic spool.  simple, very lightweight, and for me, they set up quick.  I have magnetic, round thermal. beaver dam style and my go to when conditions permit is the cheap x style. 

[boatman]

I think POLOR tipups were the best ever made.

No doubt polar IMO are the best. The magnetic ones can never freeze, and fold up quick and easy. Super quick set up.

[flyfishbowhunticefish]

I really like my new frabills blackhawks...at ten bucks a pop u can't beat em....take a look...really sturdy and they pack up nicely.   For me it was a much bigger improvement over my old ht x style...I'll still use both but I can use hole covers if I want to on the frabills...I think the thermals are cool, but super bulky if u are allowed a bunch

[1MOFISH]

i have used polars,ht's,and the 40 ups taking in consideration all aspects of tipup fishin i choose to buy more 40 ups.each tipup has its place polars hard to secure leaders but a do like the whirlybird it is convenient seeing fish run but it lays close to the ice gets buried easily with blowin snow,and you have to pick it up ice level not good for a person with a bad back.40 ups stand tall and with customized flags you can see flag pop a quarter mile you can grab tipup at knee height and grab line to set hook.i recommend lookin at tipups in action at lake to better make decision.
GOD BLESS
mo

[Jason1817]

Mo

Thank you very much for the insight....I still haven't decided lol....

[Joshua]

Theres so many options and personal prefrances you could drive yourself nuts. But for the fish your targeting, and wanting extreem smoothness the fish wont feel, id recomend some stick tip ups. A strait falling spool is smoother on the run than a polar going sideways through a line guide. Although they do work ive had them extreemly finiky crappies drop the bait. Another thing is how hard the spring comes up. Light and flimsy springs dont jolt the tipup for the fish to feel. Also they can be set to hair trigger. Dont know your budget but theres little stick tip ups they sell with a bright yellow spool you can easily see spinning under water with sensative triggers for about $15 per 3pk. They are built cheap. The flags will probably fall off. As all mine did. But you can put orange duct tape on for flags. Also they may freeze up. Dont have sub zero lube like the polars. I make shure i put the spool right back in the water after catching a fish on a crazy cold day. Wont freeze under water, and ones that do freeze will begin to thaugh when back in the hole. Anyways the point is cheap, high preformance, extreemly sensative. I own a pile of different tip ups. Ill end here before i start a book. Haha.  PS the tall hardwater ht tipups are even better. Higher quality, hair trigger, tall flag, smooth spool, and even a reel tension adjustment for if you decide to put a big bait on. Short ones are junk though. Dang neer jump out the hole when they go off the springs so stout. Hope this helps or at least amuses someone.

[Joshua]

Id say (1MoFish) has a realy sensative setup to. Ive used his tip ups to.

[1MOFISH]

Id say (1MoFish) has a realy sensative setup to. Ive used his tip ups to.

like captain said i tweek each and every tip up they are mass produced and so each one has its own personality i check every part from the flag to the trip mechanism a  lil bend in the wrong place and you got a malfunction and a lost fish?even weight of leader comes into play.the way spool freespools is also important i want weight of leader to spin spool so fish feels i mean dont feel resistance.my tip ups are soldiers into battle STAND DOWN GUNNY lol so if they arent battle ready you lose the war with dem bass
GOD BLESS
mo
the subject is exhaustive

[Jason1817]

Mo...
I was reading your last post giggling lol my wife was like what are you laughing about....Hahahh anyways yes this is a great analogy....Makes perfect sense to have them in tip top shape...

Im just going to buy a few different styles based on all the great recommendations and see which ones fit me best...Round polars, 40 ups and a  beaverdam

[Chris338378]

I have the 40-Up tip-ups and like them a lot.  Mine are over twenty years old and I never had any problems with them.  The think with the wood tip-ups no matter what brand you get how long they last comes down to  how you take care of them.  When I got mine I put a few coats of polyurethane on them and never had any problems with them warping or splitting.  Between the HT Polar tip-ups and the traditional wooden tip-ups there's a trade off, the wooden tip-ups are higher and more visible where as the Polar tip-ups help keep the hole from freezing over but the flag has to be extended and stick out past the tip-up base on the ice giving it a chance of being stepped on.

[subtlehustle76]

I made a set of my own tip-ups, windproof and completely tunable. High quality, on my 4th year of them

http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/subtlehustle76/media/bWVkaWFJZDoxMTY3MTAzNDk=/?ref=

[Matthews]

So far I like the heritage lakers. Nice tip-ups subtlehustle.

[subtlehustle76]

Ty, each of the major popular brands have desirable features, but none had all, (Windproof-ness, collapsibility and portability, ease of setting up, durability, tunability, freeze prevention, and more). So I just made my own with all those features.

[Tip up Ryan]

I have a grab bag, some ht polar tip ups and the flat plastic rail style. the old woood 4 way ones...last year I picked up the round thermal ones that cover the hole...IMO you cant beat em...easy set up and take down..you can fit them in a bucket...I love them...my kids ( 2 young girls love themalso)...the only down side is the antenna style flag but so far so good

[icewagon]

Even the cheapest 5 dollar ht tip up will catch fish for the next 20 years . More important is the line , the leader , the hook and the bait.

[planner47]

if you have the money a jaw-jacker or a Automatic Fisherman will work with a rod and reel combo. I got lucky 2 years ago found a jaw jacker at the end of the season pretty cheap. first time I used it on keystone state park I caught a trout with in 5 min. on a rat finkee and a wax worm. works great, like I said that is you have the money.

[Jason1817]

That’s what I ended up buying 5 Jae jackers and 5 rod/reel combos caught 6 trout on them in 2 outings.....I love the jaw jackers and we rigged up some alarms/lights on them for night fishing

[Hartman99]

Love my frabill great lake series

[Ice.rat]

preference is everything when it comes to tip-ups in my opinion and everybody has one. i use worth grey tube magnetic type have 12 wish i had more with a little tlc every year they are great they are 38 years old and still work flawlessly.they work great in high wind and crazy temps you just have to lift them out once in awhile to clear the hole.a little blue ice lube on the reel shaft a couple times a year and that takes care of the most finicky lite biters. i recently got 3 polar thermal disk type tip-ups for Christmas given them a try this weekend. i would try 1 or 2 of different types and see which ones you like the best  before you buy your whole rig. one thing for sure and two things for certain don't buy any ht windless tip-ups biggest piece of junk ever made.    

[PaCarpboy]

IMO Fishcrafters are the best ever made.  Made in Worcester, MA back in the day.  You can tell an FC by it's tapered wooden main stem. Unfortunately, no longer made, but certainly available at flea markets or garage sales, or on line at the usual sites selling used stuff.  I have about 15, maybe 20 of them.  All are the X type.  Some were my dads he used back in the 50's and then with me in the 60's and 70's.  I still use them.   Feels like he is with me.  Over the years, I have picked up several here and there at the places mentioned above.  Bought four nice ones at a flea market last year for $9.   I'll buy them every time I run across a few.  Can't help myself.  They are true quality.

[delawareriver]

do yourself a favor instead of ordering a set of 15 get 3 different sets of 5. i use heritage laker tip ups for muskies and pike, they do really well at keeping large baits pinned till a bite. nothing worse than checking and resetting constantly after bait flags. also work good for lakers when you need a couple hundred feet of line when setting baits in 60-100ft of water.  have some green predator ht tip ups that i dont care for but they work ok for bass, walleye, pickerel etc. not the smoothest but are convient if i wanna throw a couple in a back pack and gotta hike a ways to my spot. some hole cover ones work good for big lakes with lots of wind and on cold days. need to get a set of finesse tip ups for shallow water trout but ill probably get some jaw jackers for that

[ontle67]

I agree with getting a few each of different types and then if you find one type you prefer way more than others go ahead and buy more. I have found that some styles work better in certain conditions. I have close to 30 tip ups and often decide which ones to take based on the conditions (e.g.- windy, deep snow, extreme cold, etc). I tend to lean toward the polar therm tip up in black. Holes rarely freeze over, and they come with an adjustable/extendable flag. Good luck.

[fisher 74]

40 up tackle company tip ups

[EssoxHunter]

As mentioned before they all have there good and bad points, most of the bad things has to do with twisting wing nuts when it's terribley cold. The only ones I've purchased and don't like at all are the HT dog bones, just can't get the spools loose no matter what I do. 40 ups, any round thermal ones, or the flat rectangle type are all pretty awsome

[Stickhick86]

Nothing is more rewarding than catching a fish on something you built. I love my little setup and you don't have to hand line the fish.

[Chute82]

If your fishing “tip ups” beaverdam are some of the best especially targeting walleye because they are smooth.. for “slammers” I would just build your own lots of videos on YouTube how to build them and save you a bunch of money Instead of paying for cheap china plastic.

[subtlehustle76]

Building is best

[paramedicjake]

I went out and fished with a few tip up crews for pike / musky . They ran a mixed bag of Tip Ups . Gave me the good and bad's of them . I bought a few Frabill Pro Thermals after using them . They froze up the least , set up easy , and store in a bucket with a lid . I got tired chipping ice on our tip ups . I can see fish running as I walk up . Comes with a light and built in tackle box . We have had no issues with big musky , pike , walleye on them . Also , quick switch to the light trip side lets me use the same ones on trout and panfish . I now own 10 of them for 6-7 years  , as do all of our ice crew . It is 2018 and I went with technology advancements .