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I know this has been brought up in the past, but I am tired of replacing my tip up spools that I smash when trying to get them out of a frozen hole. What is the best way to keep your hole from freezing. I usually place a set outside the hut but when its below -20 it freezes quickly. Plastic spools are not that durable and I have broken them chipping the ice away.
Use tip ups which sit above the hole. Spool is elevated away from ice.
-insulated tipups that cover the hole
-vibrating floating pucks that run on AA batteries... sit in the water and vibrate around to keep the water moving.
I just break the ice with my boot before moving the rod....
Pour a 26 OZ bottle of Crown Royal in each hole. The booze won't freeze.
That there is alcohol abuse.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fenelon
I use the northland tipups that cover the whole hole and don't have issues very often with freezing . I also add snow around it to make sure the wind isn't getting below. ( if there is no snow I just use the ice shavings)
With that being said , I generally don't use tipups anymore due to low catch rates. What I do now is have two rods going inside my portable , one in a rod holder and the other in my hand. Even if I do have a setup outside the hut I tend to use a second rod with bells on it ( but that doesn't help your question ).
Lots of people do say that a little alcohol ( isopropyl ) works real well , I just have not needed to try.
SM cut out in a circle. Cut a slot to the middle to slide onto your tip up
cut a second hole down 4" Chanel a slot to both holes place a tomato juice can with Charcoal in it lit add charcoal as needed keeps the top warm and sorta outta of the way of your line
I totally read the thread title wrong. A little bit of lexan goes a long way! youtube it!
I walk out from my cottage and when I leave after fishing for the day, I place a square of thick pink styrofoam board/insulation over my holes.
Then I place a big mound of slushy snow on top to keep them down (but I leave the edges uncovered/exposed or it could freeze right in).
When I come back the next day, I give the board a kick or I use my shovel as a spatula. 9/10 times, the mound of frozen snow slides right off.
The holes are like I just drilled them.
The best part is, if for some reason I can't come back, or I can't get them out (hasn't happened yet) the board(s) will simply float in (to somebodys dock) to be thrown out in the spring.
I'm on a pretty quiet part of the lake and I've been doing this for 8 years without a problem (other than one snapping in half when I've tried to remove it).
So my suggestion is to use a piece of styrofoam over the hole.
The best part is that you can litter and let your neighbours pick it up?Quote:
Originally Posted by muskokaguy
Pick your crap up!
I know the original question had to with tip up spools freezing but I was wondering if anyone uses those vibrating pucks that float in your hole? Do they spoke the fish? I hate having to run out of my hut every 10 min to break open my dead stick holes on those super cold days. Seems like they would be perfect for fishing deep water (Walleye or Lakers). May not be the best move for fishing Brook Trout in shallow water?
I've heard of guys using the Lucky Duck H20 Quiver Magnet in their holes? Anyone use these?
I was waiting for that.Quote:
Originally Posted by blasted_saber
And I'm ROFLMAO.
As I said, IF FOR SOME REASON...and HASN'T HAPPENED YET.
But let's address your issues.
1) I could have written the "take only photographs, leave only footprints" quote/poster. I have NEVER littered in my life. I'm the guy who brings a garbage bag into Algonquin Park and hauls out others trash.
2) I'm part of our lake association and everybody knows me. To the point that my boards have my name on them so they can let me know if they found one at our next annual lake regatta/picnic.
But like I said, it HASN"T happened yet.
3) I am one of the founders of an organization that protects Canada's lakes and waterways.
Since you are SO concerned, I expect you to PM me your name and email so I can send you some volunteer information.
Should I put you down for 50 hours of your donated time or 100+?
Let me know.
Windshield washer fluid carefully poured in the hole so it "floats" on the top works pretty good. It might slush up but doesn't freeze.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnnyz36
And please don't anyone give me the pollution line. That's kinda lame to me compared to what outboards exude. Tks
Cheers
Just pee in the hole on occasion.
Actually, non toxic plumbing anti freeze would be a better choice however I believe it would rather quickly mix with the lake water and not float on top rendering it useless. But, that is just my untried opinion.
The acute oral toxicity of propylene glycol is very low, and large quantities are required to cause perceptible health damage in humans; propylene glycol is metabolized in the human body into pyruvic acid (a normal part of the glucose-metabolism process, readily converted to energy), acetic acid (handled by ethanol-metabolism), lactic acid (a normal acid generally abundant during digestion),[11] and propionaldehyde (a potentially hazardous substance).[12][13][14] Serious toxicity generally occurs only at plasma concentrations over 1 g/L, which requires extremely high intake over a relatively short period of time.[15] It would be nearly impossible to reach toxic levels by consuming foods or supplements, which contain at most 1 g/kg of PG. Cases of propylene glycol poisoning are usually related to either inappropriate intravenous administration or accidental ingestion of large quantities by children.[16] The potential for long-term oral toxicity is also low. In one study, rats were provided with feed containing as much as 5% PG in feed over a period of 104 weeks and they showed no apparent ill effects.[17] Because of its low chronic oral toxicity, propylene glycol was classified by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration as "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) for use as a direct food additive.
Thats called baiting.
Good for you you all you do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by muskokaguy
Does that mean 50 hours?Quote:
Originally Posted by blasted_saber
As long as you use styrofoam and not "beadboard" I don't really care...It's the bait tubs, pop cans and old fishing line that bug me...
Just to get back to the original point, "gentlemen", you're having problems with a set tip up spool freezing in the ice? Can't you just put the spool lower down in the water so it won't freeze? How often do you check it? I keep mine way below the surface and haven't had this problem..... ice needs to be broken sure but I haven't had a spool get frozen in the hole yet.....
For the love of anything, let's put this to rest. LOL. You can buy this material for dirt cheap at any Home Depot or Rona or Lowes and cut your own.
http://www.fishusa.com/Product/HT-En...pUp-Hole-Cover
Just keep pulling fish out.
I know this doesn't really pertain to a tip up setup but I was told of a tip (haven't tried yet) that apparently works in an open hole.
Painting a few ping pong balls black and putting them in the hole on a sunny day keeps the hole from freezing over by attracting the heat of the sun.
Anyone try this???
FSHN 247
Jay
Never tried it but doubt the effectiveness. Don't know about your icefishing but mine is done often a temp considerably color than freezing, with (often) wind, on overcast days. I can't see ping pong balls or test tube stoppers having that much solar gain. Just sayin'
Ive been out of the hardwater game for the past two winters now. I did use the pro thermal tip ups and found they worked ok so long as you dried them out after each use. Pro thermals tossed in the fish hut overnight were a frozen mess the next day. As far as the conventional method with a hole, line and switch......Is it really that hard to walk over every now and then and skim the ice off the hole? As outdoorsmen are we really getting so lazy as to dump a chemical down the hole as opposed to doing things the way they have been done for 100 years?
I'm with Habs and Oaky on this ....
You hit the nail on the head. I like the convenience of having my stuff neatly organized but I don't mind putting work in. I'll walk 5 miles or more in the course of a day on a small bay trying to stay on the fish. I usually don't even have a tip up in but if I do, There's nothing to stepping on a hole and scooping it out.
I use the quiver magnet mentioned earlier and it works great. The company actually used the sell the exact same thing but packaged as the "ice quiver"
They still do. I saw them at Walmart last year.