200' versus 500' spool...need some help

[montanafos]

Only saw one thread with very few responses on this one.  Picking up a dozen tipups (HT Polar Therm) and have the option of the 200' or 500' spool.  I've not ice fished for abotu 5 years and at that point had standard HT tipups with the 200' spools.  Is there any reason NOT to get the 500' spools.  I live in Montana and I'll be fishing northern Montana lakes (Fort Peck, Nelson, Canyon Ferry) and typical depths are 16' and under for walleye, ling, and northerns.  With the 200' spools in the past, I've had northerns spool me (usually overnight) and in most cases, were self hooked.  We do go after the occasional lake trout at 40'-80'.  One other point.  We stay on the ice and leave the tipups out all night, so there will be a 6-8 hour period where they'll not be checked.  Typically we'll have fish and flags on 50% of our holes.  We may have 24-30 tip ups out in our group.  My concern with this point is that I'll have several spooled tipups with 300' of line out in many cases.  Any insight is more than welcome.  Is there a draw back to having the 500' spools as far as drag or "felt take out" is concerned and is there any problem with using a 500' spool and putting only 200' of line on it.  Thanks!!

[IceGeek]

If you 've got the 500' spools and fish are spoolin' ya, you might want to think about how far apart you space your tipups...It would be an aweful mess to have them get all tangled up UNDER the ice...Just a thought

[montanafos]

I hear you loud and clear on the tangled lines...been there and it was no fun.  As for spooled tipups...generally pike over night.  Am I hearing you fella's correctly that I probably should just go with the 200' spools and put 100'-150' on them?  A local sporting goods retailer has the Polar Therms on sales for $7.99 and I may have to go with the 500' spools.  Just want to make sure I am not going to regrest that decision.  Is there a problem with a 500' spool with 150' of line?  Thanks again for insight.l 

[Barleydog]

Welcome Montanafos!
I would say to pick up the 500ft. reel instead of 300.  Since the reel is bigger, it holds more line "comfortably."  You can line 300 ft. on your reel and still have a lip or enough spool left over to reel your frozen line in.  I know your fishing some cold weather from the lakes you mentioned, so the maximum capacity spools would work better.  Frozen line takes up additional space in your spool, so the extra space will come in handy and allow for expansion.  If your worried about the amount of tension your tip up is giving out, maybe you may want to consider an adjustable tension model.  I really don't worry about drag much with pike and burbot, but walleye are a different story.  I'd use a different rig altogether for walleye, or like perviously mentioned, look into getting an adjustable tension tip up.  Good luck  Barleydog  

[montanafos]

Anyone know if the 200' & 500' spools are interchangeable? 

[montanafos]

Just learned that the spools are not interchangeable.  Thanks for your advise fella's...

[rob-s]

get the large spool.
 if you leave the trap in all nite isnt it a solid block of frozen ice in the morning?

[dogfish]

Get the 500's.  The bigger spool is easier to respool with cold hands, increased line capacity for big and/or deep fish.  Also I cut 20 feet of line off my polars every year (figure that is the part of the line that gets the most wear and tear) and the increased spool gives me longer before I have to respool with new line.

I did find some replacement 500 yd spools at a sporting goods store a few years ago and replaced the 200 yd spools on my tip ups that had them.  It can be done, you have to take the tip-up apart and screw off the old spool then loosen the lock nut at the T piece (that spins and sets off the flag) and turn the T pce counter clockwise to raise it on the threaded rod.  Once you have enough threaded rod on the bottom to hold the larger spool re-tighten the upper locking nut, trim the little plastic protector on the very top and put that back on, screw on the larger spool and you are in business.  The line guide from the 200 yarder looks a little small but still works fine you just have to help the line a little when respooling after a big fish.

[AD]

Im with dogfish on this one.   
  Also if you get to 500 one nobody ever said you have to fill it full of line, you can always leave them half empty.     
   With the size pike you are fishing for out there the larger 500 spool will come in handy for when you have to re-real in all the line after or while your bringing that monster in.     

[WntrMrngWood]

i agree with the 500 guys on this one.  Since it seems like you have a few varying applications, you could fill some for your overnighters, half spool others for your wally's, and etc.  then just code your flags for quick reference

[penna]

I think 200' or 500' are both excellent but the problem is not the spools.You  got to keep an eye on the tipups for when the flag goes off .If the fish swallows the bait and no one is watching the tipup its going to run the line out every time

[montanafos]

I did go with 10 of the 500' spools and will most likely put 300' on each.  For the most part, the only time I get spooled is when we leave them in over night and check them first thing in the morning.  Even then, only happens a couple times with a pike over a few day trip.

Thanks again guys.

[IceTroll]

Montanafos,
Man are you gonna be sorry if you put 300' of line on those tipups. I mean no offense to any of the people that gave you advise and almost all of them are old hands who I have much respect for. The simple fact is that very few realize that in Montana we often fish not in attendance because there is no attendance law. Also, you know as well as I do that Ft. Peck and Nelson both have some creatures swimming around in them. Even if your in attendance, a 20 to 30 lb Northern or Laker can spool you quicker than you could cover 50 yards on foot. Now, the bottom line is, its up to you, but the first time its below zero outside and you gotta spool 300' of line back on to your tip up, you are gonna be saying, man I wish I woulda listened to the wise old Troll. Think about it. Especially if you have the experience fishing Ft. Peck that I do. All I can say is I hope you got more than 300' between each of your tipups because you are asking for a monumental mess of tangled line.. I fish Peck and never put anymore than 100' and most of mine have about 75'. Its all you need, and when a running fish hits the end, they are hung, especially if you use quick strike rigs. Same principal as the slammers that everyone uses so often on Peck and those fish get about 10' of line to run with and WHAM, they are done. Something else to consider on Peck is, there are many places, especially in the Dry Arm that is nothing but submerged trees. You give a monster Northern or Lake trout 300' and you are gonna be one hung up puppy. Trust me my friend. Been there done that and learned it all the hard way. Any doubts about whether I know what I am talking about, take a stroll through the old picture archives and find a couple of my Ft Peck posts.

And for Rob-s. I leave my Tip ups in all night at Ft. Peck no matter how cold it is. Some mornings I have to do some chipping but its never a solid block of ice. A piece of wood, painted black or an old piece of mud flap covering your hole does wonders to insulate and prevent real bad freezing. I catch most of my biggest fish while not in attendance and the quick strike rigs allow me to release almost every fish I catch. With the shorter line lengths, they dont have time to swallow the bait.

Heres one of the shortcuts to some pictures Montanafos
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=22126.0
Still looking for the other. Heres one from Big Ice
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=22401.0
Found the last one
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=11840.0

IceTroll
     

[rob-s]

icetroll, good info , you got some good reasoning there, what pound test you use? and leader?
 ft peck you say, man that place is a dream. cant get there from here.
 but cant wait for your photos this year. best of fishing to you.

[IceTroll]

Well Rob-s, interesting you should ask that. Every year I improve something to better my odds. In the past I have always use a 30 lb test braided tip up line. Last year I had 4 fish break my 30 lb braid like sewing thread. soooooo, this year I found some super braid that has 30 lb test DIAMETER but has 150 lb BREAK STRENGTH. Thats my big change for this year. I will stay with my Malin Boa Titanium stretch wire leader in probably in 40 lb test which is only .013 diameter (which I believe is around 10 lb test mono diameter). Years past I have used the 30 lb test Malin wire but since I beefed up my line, I think I will beef up the leader. If you have never heard of Malin Boa then here is the link. Its awesome toothy critter leader.

http://tackledirect.com/malinboanokink.html

[montanafos]

Mr. Troll,

Great point on the pike and getting spooled.  It's been about 5 years since I've ice fished and I believe we set everyting up with 100' now that you bring it up.  I absolutely recall having some spooled tip ups that were run around each other under the ice after a night of leaving them out.  And to your point on Peck, we would cover a lot of territory with our setups in search of fish, typically with a group of 4-6 guys, each with 6 tipups out and rarely had a visual from the ice shacks of half of our tipups.  Frequent runs on the 4 wheeler or snowmachine were the means of checking them.  We'd just keep following the tire chain trail so we don't have problems at night. 

RobS,

Regarding the ice in the morning.  In the past, I've used the HT Polar "cross hole" style tip up that provide no protection of the hole and each morning would have to chip a couple inches of ice around the edge of the hole to get the tip up out and would work on any fish that had hooked itself and clean off the balance of the ice once the fish was landed.  A long handled, relatively heavy spud bar makes the morning ritual go pretty well.