Hey gents,
I was brainstorming how to re-purpose some bait caster reels that I have sitting around that I use for Muskie fishing. I was thinking of converting these into homemade "Russian Style" tip ups. I plan to use these to target pike using large dead bait. The plan is to simply use these to hold line, not to reel in the fish. It has a bait clicker, but I'm not sure if that will add "too much tension" for indication. Still brainstorming if I should add a flag or something but that's not important at the moment.
The main question is what are your thoughts on this actually working. They have 80# braid on the spools, which I do not want to remove since I still use these during warmer months for muskie. The spool might freeze over after I get a run and wet line is on the reel. I plan to use gloves when hand lining a fish in.
These are cheaper Okuma conventional reels that have moving line guides, will these freeze over easily? I'll be using PVC pipe to "hang" the reel over the hole to make a stand. My thoughts are that I'll give it a shot, since I'll only be out some PVC pipe and clamps so not much of an investment.
I'm not a fan of tip ups in general. I hate getting my hands wet and fussing with them so I stick to jigging. I have a productive pike water in the area so I might target them this winter. Don't know if it's worth buying 4 new tip ups so I'm considering making them.
Just brainstorming some thoughts, and wanted to see if anyone has any input if this is worth pursuing.
-Alex