stop line from hitting bottom?

[fishin buddy]

Im new to tip ups and I was wondering when you put a big bait on how do you a stop the line from unraveling from the spool to keep it off bottom? Do you use a rubber band or something because from what I can see if i put a smelt on it will just keep unraveling till it hits bottom. any help for this newbie to tipups would be great tks

[brujharr]

Fill me in.    What, style and company? Are you thinking about buying some, or do you have some?

[billditrite]

when you trigger the flag mechanism on the tipup it puts just enough resistance on the spool to prevent your bait from swimming away...larger baits can trip it so some tipups have a drag system...my heritage lakers do but i dont use it  cause i dont want the fish to feel resistance when they take my bait. if i have a large bait that keeps tripping my flag i just trim his tail down a bit with some scissors or a sharp knife to take some of his thrust away,,,hope this helps...its early 

[IceRover]

Something you might try is to slide a faucet washer O-ring onto the notched side of your trigger mechanism. This will usually provide the extra bite of drag you need to keep a bigger bait in check. Just slide it onto the shaft right to the notch and stop. Works pretty good! Hope this helps. By the way, that is a Rubber O-ring washer.
Good luck.

[Master Angler]

If your fishing with big dead bait for pike, don't be afraid to lay the bait right on bottom too.  Also if your tipups have the wire line guide attached to the spool, with the bait clip on it, use the bait clip or if that still isn't enough for say the really big stuff, I just make one wrap of line around the wire arm to add some resistance and it doesn't seem to effect the bite for the big pike, of course this is only if your tipups have the wire line guide on the spool.   8)

[fshnfool]

  trim his tail down a bit with some scissors or a sharp knife to take some of his thrust away

that's what I do    and like Master Angler said, dead bait on the bottom for pike...slice the belly open   

[fishin buddy]

tks for the info guys ,I think Ill try it with the bait on the bottom and see how my success goes if not Ill get her figured thanks to your help.

[Bartman44]

I have wooden tip-ups and for big bait I affix an alligator clip (with a couple of real small model railroad nails) at the bottom near the spool. I place surgical tubing over the clips and after lowering the bait down the hole, insert the line into the clip. Big bait can rattle the tip-up all they want without tripping it. Been using this method for 30 years and it works great.

[brujharr]

Smart idea!! 

[Rob Wasser]

Another simple and cheap way to keep your spool from unraveling is to buy some everyday use sponges at the store, cut them into 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares and wedge one of them between the spool and the main stick that the spool is attached to.  This works fantastic for the "cross stick" style of tip ups.  Just be sure to put the sponge on the bottom of the spool so it doesn't interfere with the tripping mechanism.

Good Luck,

Rob Wasser   

[hunters08]

I have wooden tip-ups and for big bait I affix an alligator clip (with a couple of real small model railroad nails) at the bottom near the spool. I place surgical tubing over the clips and after lowering the bait down the hole, insert the line into the clip. Big bait can rattle the tip-up all they want without tripping it. Been using this method for 30 years and it works great.

(Image removed from quote.)

That is one good idea

[Bartman44]

Thanks Guys. There's one important thing I didn't mention. I learned through experience that the line will "pop" much better off the clip on a bite if you have a loop between the spool and the clip.  Without the loop, the line has a tendency to slide through the clip instead of releasing - Good Luck! Bart

[shrub]

another method that is simalr to bartmans, and possiby cheaper is to glue a cloths pin to you tip up and clip the line into the cloths pin.

[Hard_H2O]

Why not use a planer board release?

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=66925&hvarDept=200&hvarClassCode=3&hvarSubCode=12&hvarTarget=browse&cmid=PP_P2_2&cmCat=CROSSSELL

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=66924&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=273&hvarDept=200&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=3&hvarSubCode=12&hvarTarget=browse

Cabela's has some that are similar to yours.

[fishslayer37]

I dont know what kind of tip-ups you have. But with mine i had that problem and there is a washer nut on the side of the tip-up and all i did is tighten this down and it helped. And on the spool where you put the flag to there is a nut that you can tighten that helps adjust how fast the line is let loose. I hope i make sence.