home made tip downs

Hello all--- I hope your ice fishing year is going well.... I had a question on the best design for the tipdowns. I've seen them made of wood and pvc. Does anyone have a good design that I could use to make a couple? I have never used them, but I have seen them used and they seem to do well on crappies and other panfish. I usually put out a couple of tipups, but the places that I've been going have been alittle slow for pike and walleyes. You can pm me if you would like-- any help would be appreciated! Thanks and happy fishing-

T. That quite alright my design works just fine.

I have some tipdowns that were designed 50 years ago and work better than anything you will ever design you want to know how to build them PM me.There will be a small charge for design....

Tobadsosad, I would like to see them, I really doubt that they can sit at a 40 to 45 degree angle and then tip freely all the way to the ice. At best they would sit at 0 degrees totally horizontal and might tip but I just don't see them working as smoothly.

Kingsalmon, You are exactly right, the ones that use a spinning reel are nothing more than a rod holder. They do not tip down freely once they pass the balance point like the other cheap poles do. Anyone that thinks a spinning reel setup is a Tip Down they are wrong. They have either never seen a real Tip Down and how it works or they just don't care for them. A true Tip Down sits at roughly a 40 to 45 degree angle pointed upward and it has very little resistance when it is pulled down. Once it reaches horizontal it free falls the remainder of the way to the hole. This gives the fish free line so it feels nothing at all.

Here's what I do to ensure my rods are always balanced...pretty simple. Just a thin wire run on the handle with a slip sinker. Just slide the sinker to the point where the rod is best balanced and voila, a tip down that detects even the lightest hits with almost no resistance.

I use black tip up hole covers when sunny. When it gets to cold I use portable aerators. Works like a champ. Battery operated ones, like frabill. Keeps the holes wide open

I have made my own tip downs also. Am very happy with them but, and this has probably been answered already. What tricks/tips do you gents have for using tip downs when it gets below 32 degrees to keep the hole from freezing. I know a person can fish to about 28 and do minor hole cleaning but after that.... Thanks, W Sr.

I use the 25" ABS plastic handle rods from HT Enterprises because the wood handle rods vary so much in the consistency of the wood that getting the balance point perfect is very difficult at best. With the ABS ones it's virtually in the exact same spot on every one. My ideal pole would be a 30" made of ABS. Next year I may have that exact pole available. We are looking at expanding our operation next year and possibly market them to some of the chain sporting goods stores.

Crappie Guy, Thanks for the information. I just started using tip-downs this year, and really enjoy fishing with them. I saw someone using them last year and decided to make a few for myself. Do you use the 28' rods? When I making my rods, I could only find two 32' medium rods, and had to buy four of the 28' medium rods. I think I like the 32' rods better because they're longer and sit at a better angle. When I move those braces up I think I should get the same result with the 28' rods...right? At least that's what I think will happen. Thanks again, CaptFillet

I made some of these just like everyone else. The thing I did differently is I drilled a hole through the uprights instead of the notch on top. I have a old door hinge pin through it. No strings needed and it pulls out in a second if you need to fight the fish on the pole.