As it gets colder outside, it doesn’t mean that all the fun activities that you do over the warm weather should stop. One of these indulgent activities is ice fishing. Ice fishing can be a very rewarding, fun and adrenaline yielding activity when done right.
To ensure you have a great ice fishing experience, you must ensure you are well prepared. Having the right tools, particularly ice fishing tip ups, is a good start. The best ice fishing tip ups enhance your chances of a successful catch. These tools are designed to specifically work in such conditions, whilst fighting factors that would otherwise make your process vain.
Good quality ice tip ups will prevent freezing of the fishing holes and minimize the risk of scaring off the potential catch. Listed below are the 10 best ice fishing tip ups in 2023. Each tip up brings with its unique advantage and how they will benefit you in the ice cold outdoors.
OUR TOP PICK
Frabill 1664 Classic Wood
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- Comes pre-lubed with patented Sub-Zero low temperature lubrication
- Removable spool shaft
- Adjustable trip settings from light to heavy
- shaft-in-shaft design for re-lubrication
Material: Wood
Weight: 1.85 lbs.
Flag height: 1.75-inch
Price range: $$
EDITORS CHOICE
Frabill Pro Thermal
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- Seals off the hole to prevent freezing and blowing snow or slush
- Prevents unnatural sunlight from penetrating to scare off shallow water fish
- Supports up to 6-gallon bucket
- Lightweight and easy to carry
Material: Plastic and foam insulation
Weight: 0.99 lbs.
Flag height: 1.75-inch
Price range: $$
BEST VALUE
Frabill Blackhawk
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- Attached bait clip
- Molded base to enhance durability
- Extremely affordable
- Simple yet high functioning design
Material: Plastic and metal
Weight: 0.7 lbs.
Flag height: 1.75-inch
Price range: $$
HT Polar Therm Extreme
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- Built-in tackle box
- Stacks into a 5 or 6-gallon bucket for easy storage and transportation
- Patented freeze proof trip mechanism
- Extremely easy to operate
Material: Plastic and metal
Weight: 1.5 lbs.
Flag height: 1.75-inch
Price range: $$
Frabill 1662 Pro Thermo Bulk
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- 20-inch extendable flag
- Shaft in shaft design for easy lubrication
- Comes with tip up light, 50-yard line, and depth finder
- Affordably priced
Material: Plastic and metal
Weight: 0.95 lbs.
Flag height: 20-inch
Price range: $$
Frabill 1720
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- Folds for easy storage
- Designed to work in deep snow
- Extra long spool shaft
- Extremely low costing
Material: Wood
Weight: 0.75 lbs.
Flag height: 32-inch
Price range: $
Beaver Dam
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- Freezeproof grease for smoother operation
- Patented spool technology to maintain line flow
- Customized flag tripping settings
- Hand made in the USA
Material: Metal
Weight: 1.8 lbs.
Flag height: 1.75-inch
Price range: $$
HT Iceman
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- Multiple design trip shaft
- Hook holder built into the frame
- Built with a ruler
- Easy flow spool design with a 200-inch capacity
Material: Metal
Weight: 0.65 lbs.
Flag height: 1.75-inch
Price range: $$
Frabill Round
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- Dual “light” and “heavy” trip settings
- Cover 10-inch hole to prevent freeze ups
- Fits in a 5 or g gallon bucket
- Subzero low temperature lubricated
Material: Metal
Weight: 0.7 lbs.
Flag height: 1.75-inch
Price range: $$
Hayabusa Heritage
- Stand Out Features - Why We Love It
- High line capacity
- Polymer plastic reel with storage hook holes
- High quality stainless steel and hardwood construction
- Stainless steel trip level
Material: Hardwood and metal
Weight: 1.3 lbs.
Flag height: 45-inch
Price range: $$
How To Choose An Ice Fishing Tip Up – Buying Guide
Flat Hardwood
When choosing the best tips ups for ice fishing, the design and type are important factors to consider. The flat hardwood tip up design is a classic and common type. This design is made with a sturdy hardwood base. These types of ice tip ups tend to be more durable and can withstand different weather conditions. This makes them more expensive than their plastic counterparts.
Flat Plastic
You will also encounter flat plastic designs when looking for the best tip ups for ice fishing. These designs feature a plastic base instead. Thus, they are cheaper than the hardwood one. The drawback to flat plastic ice tip ups is that the majority re not ideal for extreme weather such as heavy snow and ice. This is because they tend to easily damage in these conditions.
Thermal
Thermal ice fishing tip ups on the other end boast modes for the best ice fishing tip ups. They feature a round shaped design that helps to minimize and prevent freeze up issues because they cover and insulate the entire hole. This design is also useful because it effectively blocks sunlight from penetrating the water. This helps to prevent scaring off the fish especially, those in shallow waters.
Cross-stick
Cross stick ice fishing tip ups are a less common design but never the less use by anglers. The design incorporates X shaped wooden sticks whilst the third stick holds the line spool such as Frabill 1720 Ice Fishing Tip Up. This design makes the longer and heavier duty thus, making them ideal for use in deep snow as well as low visibility conditions.
Windlass
Lastly, the windlass ice fishing tip ups are designed to add jigging action to your bait. These types of ice fishing tip ups feature a small sail attached to its arm and as the wind blows it, it equally moves the bait underwater. They serve an excellent choice when you are not using live bait. Just use them in windy areas to make full use of their functionality.
Rod Holders
Rod holders combine with rods and reels can also work as to makeshift ice tip ups. Simply mount rod to the holder and let the rest flow. All you have to do is occasionally check on the tools. You can even mount a rod holder onto a flat wooden tip up so you can drop two lines in the same hole instead of one.
Materials
The best tip ups for ice fishing will either be made of wood or plastic with some metal elements. Although both wood and plastic offer sturdiness that makes them ideal for their purpose, plastic may easily break off or crack under extreme conditions.
Thus, in extremely cold and heavy snow or ice conditions wood is favorable. However, thermal plastic ice fishing tip ups also favorable because of their rounded shapes that prevent freeze ups. Additionally, when choosing the best tip ups for ice fishing, look for those with weather-resistant qualities such as stainless steel to ensure that they are durable.
Portability
Because of the conditions to which you will be traveling, you want your ice fishing tip ups to be as portable and compact as possible. Look for ice fishing that offers such features, for example, thermal tip ups that fit into 5 to 6-gallon buckets or those that fold for easier storage and transportation.
Climate
Before you choose what tip ups to invest in, think of the conditions to which you will use them. As mentioned before, wood-style is better for extreme conditions whilst plastic is good for normal conditions. Yet, thermal ice fishing tip ups work for extremely low temperatures as they fully insulate the holes.
You might also like: Cold Weather Fishing Gear And Apparel Guide
Trigger Bar
The trigger bar is what is known as the trip settings. The feature is what sets the tension between the flag and spool depending on the size of the catch. The majority of the best tip ups for ice fishing feature two trip settings. The low is for small catch whilst the heavy is for larger fish such as pike and bass. A higher setting also prevents accidental flags due to wind and current in the water.
Spool
The spool is what directly affects the tip up function. You want your spool to be smooth in operation as well as durable. The best tip ups for ice fishing are made of metal spools as they offer this advantage. Depending on the choice of material, they also tend to be more weather resistant.
Flags
You want the flags on your ice fishing tip ups to be visible. This means that more colorful and longer flags are more visible. To enhance visibility, go for bright and vivid colors such as orange, bright yellow or red. Cross stick tips tend to have longer flags.
Hole Covers
Especially if you are not using thermal ice fishing tip ups, always get a hole cover to supplement your ice tips. This is because covering up the hole helps to enhance insulation and thus, prevents the rate of freeze ups. You can enhance the functionality and effectiveness of your tip up by simply placing the cover over your hole and sliding the tip through the slot.
Chisel
A chisel is an important tool to take with to ice fish. They are ideally designed to reopen holes and check the thickness of the ice to ensure you are safe. They work especially well when you are using multiple tip ups for different holes.
Light
A tip up light also comes in handy to help you see when your tip up is tripped. The light is attached to the tip up and lights up hen fish bites into your bait and trips the flag. They are especially handy when night fishing or fishing under low light conditions.
FAQs
Q: How Do Ice Fishing Tip Ups Work?
They work by fill their spool with a line. The line is attached to a swivel that’s linked to the hook. Then, bait used by attaching them to a hook. Then the bait is suspended through the hole into the water using the ice tip.
Q: How Do You Set A Polar Tip Up?
Simply fill the line spool with the appropriate fishing lines. Then, attach a swivel at the end of the line, attach a hook at the other end of the leader and attach it with bait. The set your bait to the ideal depth through the hole and enjoy fishing.
Q: What Is Tip Up Fishing?
Tip up fishing is used when ice fishing. The process involves using the tip up device to suspend the bait at a certain depth through a drilled hole to attract fish. When the fish bites into the bait, you can detect this without having to constantly wrestle with the fishing gear.
Q: How Do You Use A Tip Up?
A tip up is ideally used to fish over ice. The best ice fishing tip ups feature two trips setting to allow you to catch a variety of fish species and sizes. Simply set up your tip up and set the appropriate trip to catch the species you want.
Globo Surf Overview
The ice fishing tip ups reviews above outline useful information on how these tools are handy in ice fishing. With the very extreme and somewhat dangerous conditions during the extreme cold weather, the design on these tools allows you to successfully and safely enjoy the fishing experience and bear as much catch.
Their buying guide above also shows how they are designed to deliver high quality and functioning performance. The buying guide also guides you on what to look for when choosing the best ice fishing tip ups to invest in. the list of the 10 best ice fishing tip ups above is also an excellent place to begin your search.