what style tip ups

[lookin4lakers]

looking Through my gear today i realized that i have 4 different styles of tip ups and i have had the best results with my polars whats your preference?

[dylan8351]

Can't best the polars in my opinion. I love watching a fish run! Cheap too!

[Ranger_bound]

Old school crossed legg style with free spool. I bought some berkley polar style tip ups and have nothing good to say about them... One day the will "fall down the hole".

[prchslyr]

I used the old school green high fliers or criss cross style for the longest time. I switched to a Heritage knock off 2 years ago. I needed something I could slow the spool down on. Love the old school for perch, but they tend to back lash when a big fish runs hard.

[Zorros shack]

Old school crossed legg style with free spool. I bought some berkley polar style tip ups and have nothing good to say about them... One day the will "fall down the hole".

Same a Ranger, love the old skool cross leg. And it is higher up so you can see the flag better.

[adkRoy]

I do half polars and have Heritage lakers.  Keep the polars close to the shanty and the heritage farther out.

[surflizard]

Frabill bigfoot classics for Lakers and Pike, Frabill Arctic fires for perch, crappie, Bows and Browns ! I run foam hole covers to keep the holes clear of snow and Ice, I like watching the trip bar to see what the fish is doing without having to punch open the hole or touch the trap ! I have no issues seeing my traps, if the snow is deep, I clear the snow away from the side of the hole facing the portable and I'm good to go ! After losing a nice fish to the spool pin being pulled out on a heritage, I gave them all away ! Just my .02

[s10xr]

i just bought a 3 pack of celcius tip ups cheap on ebay.  I dont own any and always used my buddys.  will see how they work.  I wont use them to often any how.

[carcaju]

i have pretty much all typs made but i use polars the most but i like magnetics also i have many set up for dif. fish i counted them after reading this post i must be nuts i got 83 tip-ups not counting my the one i bought for my wife 15 for her . but i do put out 15 per trip per person on champ. so i feel i can justify my over load of gear

[Irish Jigger]

I have cross style HT Hardwater explorers. What I like about them compared to the other brands is they have a nut on the spool shaft that I can tighten when using larger live bait. I used the green 40ups' for the longest time and always had problems with false trips when using bigger baits. The nut on the Hardwater explorers can be hand tightened and that has pretty much eliminated that problem. I just picked up a set of the Frabill classic wood ttipups so I'll begiving those a try this season. I have or had at least 1 of just about every style of tipup out there and I've always prefered the cross style the only drawback other than the bait thing is being able to see if the spool is spinning since it is under the surface.

[tipup7]

Indian Hill traps.  Used them heavily last season and did not have one wind flag or any false trips. 

[surflizard]

Just curious, what are they getting for IH's now ?

[Grumpyoldman]

After losing a nice fish to the spool pin being pulled out on a heritage, I gave them all away ! Just my .02

The heritage traps have been given a big thumbs down. Again.
I like the polars. 

[tipup7]

Just curious, what are they getting for IH's now ?

Surf, I think they are around  $28 to $30 for a standard cross style trap.

[saranacjoe]

I use 26" cross style jack traps. love them since i got them had no wind flags even with a 50 mph winds 

[afwrestler1986]

I have both the standard criss-cross type and the HT polars. I really like the HTs a lot. simple to setup, and when it comes to reliability they are great. The cross type are ok, use them mainly for pike. I like not having to pull the trap to see if the spool is on fire with the polars. Nothing like watching the trip lever look like a helicopter trying to take off and leave the hole.           Only real downside is that snow machine operators can't seem to ever see the polars when they blaze by the shack at Mach 5.          Never had a wind flag with the polars either.

[lookin4lakers]

what kind of problems are people having with the heritage tip ups ?

[SmellsLikeFishNH]

Indian Hill traps.  Used them heavily last season and did not have one wind flag or any false trips.

Indian Hills are what I use now as well, I have all of the other styles as well....close to 40 or 50 different ones im guessing. I REALLY like the polars cause I love seeing the spindle spin when you are coming up on the trap, When my kids are out with e, those are wat I use for them. The best quality are the Indian Hill's by far!!

Surf..talk to Rick at the Ice Hole.....if you are interested in some...i bet he could set you up.

[surflizard]

I have more traps then I can legal use now, don't need any more ! I was just curious because it seemed like all the different trap makers jacked the prices up this year, like BD and the $75 dollar 50th anniversary trap !!

[andercee]

I like using the Frabill Pro-Thermal Tip-Ups because I don't have to run out to clear holes every few minutes when it's frigid out. 

[maddbmxjumper]

I started off with polars, and they were ok. I was getting some wind flags, and false flags. I ended up buying 5 used 40-up X style tip ups off craigslist for $20 with good line on them. I like them MUCH better. No wind flags, no false flags, easy to see, they take up less storage space and I find them easier to pull out of the hole.   

[lockdown199]

I use Heritage had a couple of issues but nothing I couldn't fix.

[Gamalot]

I have or have had every style that has ever hit the ice. From the cheap garbage to the top of the line and the answer here will always be the ones you like to use and catch fish with.

I have and use 4 different sets and it all depends on what I am fishing for and what the conditions are. I like the HT Polar therm extreme disc style with the retractable antenna flags for shallow ponds on windy days. I like the Heritage Laker cross style for deep water, large fish and in deep snow. I love my 31 inch Jack Trap cross style for windy days on deep lakes and for big fish.

If I could only have one set of 5 tip ups I would buy the Jack Traps and never need another set. Just change the leaders and hooks depending on what and where you are fishing.

Beaver Dams are a well made tip up but the flags stink and are very hard to see if you set them out a ways and they are getting a bit over priced these days. Fish can't read fancy "Anniversary" writing and no one really gives a crap about that stuff anyway.

Every tip up needs a little tweaking right out of the box to get them working to your liking but if you buy good ones to begin with you will pass them down to your kids and grand kids. Get ones that have good trip mechanisms, high flags and a stable footing with smooth reels that hold enough line.

Heritage Lakers have pressed in reel shafts that loosen up and can fall right off or, worse yet, when the wood swells a little from being wet the drags tighten up and the reels don't spin free. Fix that with a threaded through bolt nutted on each side and they become a great trap.

You get what you pay for with this stuff so if you buy good ones to begin with you will always have the good equipment and need to find other excuses for why you can't catch fish.

If I was buying a gun for self protection I certainly wouldn't buy one that might work most of the time. I want equipment I can depend on all of the time and for a lot of years.