The Mistakes Newbies Make

[Boatless in BTV]

I recent bought my first Heritage tipup (a standard Laker) and I got to use it for the first time today. I set it with my fish finder down, and watched as right away a fish came off the bottom and straight at the bait. I saw the tipup shake as the fish hit, but the flag didn't go up.

I pulled the line in to see if the trip was set too tight and realized the I couldn't pull any line off the spool. It was only then that I noticed that the spool can only turn one way and I had it backwards.   

I had to retire that tipup for the day, and when I got home this evening I had the fun of unspooling and respooling the line to get it right. If you've ever wondered what 450 feet of tipup line looks like rolled up on a soda bottle, here you go:



Thankfully my other tipups were working well, so I still had a good day, including the biggest largemouth I've gotten through the ice at just under 3 pounds.

[R.S.]

buy a HT polar tip-up and compare them.  i think youll like the them better than the old style.  i ditched the antique style 20+ years ago.

[stripernut]

Rig with some nuts and a bolt an old spool (I like the big ones you can often get for free at a shop the load's reels) run it on a drill. Great for reversing lines and "unloading spools.

I myself use a set of old Heritage lakers and find them a great tip-up, with a larger, higher flag. If I fished trout in shallow water the HT polar tip-up might be a better choice, but I spend more time fishing lakers, bass, and walleye... Mine are just over 30 yrs old, and I have "pimped" them out with a nice drag and reflective tape for night fishing...

[Fishingjg]

I switched to Polar tipups many years ago and haven't looked back. I still have my old wooden ones that have a tension spring to prevent wind hits but the polars are just nicer.

[bart]

I've had my Laker for some time now, great tip-up!


Fun personalizing them too!

[Rebelss]

A tip on the respooling if you ever have to strip and save line again....save an empty line spool after putting on new line, and put a washer on each side, and a nut to tighten down, run a 2" machine bolt thru it, put in drill chuck.
You can strip it off as fast or slow as ya want onto the spool, assuming the drill is a variable speed.