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Frabil Pro Thermals. End this thread now.
The tip up I use is based on what I'm fishing for: for trout I swear by Fish Brother tip ups. I can see what the fish is doing by watching the spool which is outside the hole. They pack nice and for me they just work! With Rainbows it doesn't matter they just run after picking up the bait anyway. For pike, picks and bass its Jack Traps.
Some of us here are more impotent than we are important! How high up off the surface of the ice are the flags on the frabils when they are up? I sometimes clear about a 3 foot circle around my holes if there is deep snow. If the resulting snow bank is say a foot then I would want my flag to be at least 24 inches high. The only disc type I have found that measure up in this regard are the HT Polar Therm Extremes with the retractable car antenna type flags. Like these.(Image removed from quote.)Off topic but, I had a good day on Friday at my local stream. 5 nice trout 14, 17, 18 and 21 inches but the big one was a thrill. Tiger Trout Hybrid, cross between a female brown and a male brook trout. Awesome fish for sure on 2 pound test ultralight tackle in a swift running stream. First one I ever caught.(Image removed from quote.)(Image removed from quote.)
how well do the fish brothers tip up stay over the hole ? they look like it wouldnt take much wind to blow them around.I do like the design for fishing for rainbows, no reel in the water to spook them, and theres nothing for the bait to swim around and make a mess out of your leader.Looks like i may have to try a set.
I bought a set of Fish Brother tipups at the beginning of last season. I used them quite a bit and really like them. When the sun is out it will heat up the black base ever so slightly and melt a shallow channel in the ice which helps to keep them from moving. I got into some wind last season and they didn't tip over. For extreme cold you may run into icing issues but I didn't run into any problems. I have them spooled with 20lb plastic coating tipup line which is thin and fairly manageable. Going to pick up another set for this season.
This is a Great discussion.We cannot really decide on an "Absolute Best" before we define some parameters.What are you fishing for?How deep is the water?How deep is the snow?How far away is your tip up?How cold is it?Is the snow blowing and do you need or want a covered hole?Does weight matter?How high do you want your flag to be when the magic words are hollered, Flag up!?Is quality craftsmanship and made in the USA important to you?Are you OK with plastic made in China?The Original poster here asked what might seem to be a simple question, "What is the BEST tip up and WHY"?Apparently not such a simple question with this many responses and going from garbage tip ups that work to Cadillac tip ups that cost some $$ and also work extremely well.Let us define a few of the parameters and put an end to some of this threads confusion.If-----------I---------------Could only have one set of 5 tip ups to meet every requirement above, Quality, Made in the USA, Deep or shallow, High flag, Wind resistant, and pretty much fail safe. I would have to go with my Jack Traps. Followed close by my Heritage Lake's.Beaver Dam's are great but the flags are too short. When the snow is blowing I love my HT Polar Therm Extremes with telescopic flags and they cover the holes.If I have to do a long trek in to the pond and weight is a major factor then I guess I will have to get a set of plastic, light weight traps for this trip and hope for the best where quality is concerned.I think I said this early in this thread but if a man could only have one set of tip ups that would do it all and last a lifetime then you won't go wrong with Jack Traps or Heritage Lake's and a few other very similar traps that have some real beef and all the most important attributes a tip up needs. Quality, durability, line capacity, functionality, good flag height and wind resistance.I do, at times, buy China or import stuff but I would never consider any of it in the "BEST" category. Keep in mind what the original question was, "What is the Best Tip-up, and Why". It does not ask what is your personal favorite or what is the cheapest decent tip up.I could easily build the greatest tip up known to man after 50 years of hardwater fishing. No one would pay the price for them but they would last a few hundred years and be Teak wood that never rots or light weight aircraft aluminum or titanium with stainless steel, fully machined reels and mechanisms and have all the great trip gadgets we have ever seen. They would do better in an ice fishing museum of fantastic and very expensive gear. We are not going fishing on the moon or mars but there are a few outstanding tip ups already on the market that could.Gary