above water tip ups

[bigcat61]

anyone have any ideas on how to keep your line from freezing when you use above waters ?? 
come on and lets hear your ideas.

[fishingidjit]

Your reel should be underwater ?

[Will Vaughan]

If it's super cold out I'll fill the hole with snow. It looks bad and is a pain when you hook a fish, but it insulates the hole and allows the line to move freely. An older friend of mine uses a tiny bobber where the line goes completely through it then put the smallest split shot just above it when setting the line. This way the line is inside the bobber where it touches the water so it doesn't freeze in.

[tracker one]

I use monofiliament line on my above water reel tip-ups, it won't freeze in and a bite will trip it, however the knot usually gets caught at the hole so you gotta be quick

[dave bartlett]

       You know i will respond buddy.If you remember i got a tip from Field & Stream 30 yrs ago and it worked.OK 20 .Take ping pong balls and paint them black,after you set your tip up put all three in a triangle around your line going in the water.If it's sunny it heats the balls up and if it's not the balls stay moving so it doesn't freeze.I think i still have some balls from way back then.I was amazed they work.I'm not saying it will work in -20 but it does around 0.Let me know i will try to find them for ya.I saw them this past fall in my cellar.

[bigcat61]

hey dave  if you come across them let me know and i will try them, yes i do remember when you tried them and they worked,  i cant remember what we did 20 years ago.   

[dickbaker]

    I've found that if I use fewer tipups (6 in NH)  I can easily  keep ice clear and check shiners every fifteen minutes.    Nothing worse than watching a tipup for an hour or more and when you chisel it out you find that no shiner and a bare hook.
Dick

[bigcat61]

thanks for the ideas, i thought for sure the bigwiggle would chime in, it seems like he does alot of research but i guess not. so the best one yet i think would be the ping pong balls painted black, if that does not work maybe we can get a game of beer pong going on sat. afternoon   

[putback]

very old school solution, works fair to good, floats in the hole. 3 to 4 "s of paint stir stick painted black, 1/8 - 3/16 hole in ctr, small slit to edge, generous dap of Vaseline where line goes through and film on few inches of line above & below water line. Only extends time between clean outs.

[grampieshanty]

I know a guy who takes a piece of small plastic tubing, & threads his line through it, then buys cheap vodka & pours in the hole. The day I saw this it was bouncing off 0 without the windchill & water was slushy in the holes, but line worked good. Never tried it as I hate to waste vodka.

[tracker one]

there is no such thing as cheap vodka

[icejumper]

Home made hole covers piece of old ceiling tile cut 3" bigger  than hole you use. Drill hole center of tile cut groove from out side edge of tile to drilled hole.Paint black worked good in the 80's for walleye fishing.