How to Make an Ice Fishing Tip Up

A tip-up, also commonly referred to as an ice fishing trap, is one of the effective methods of presenting live bait without having to hold onto a fishing rod. Ice fishing tip up plans allow anglers to fish several holes simultaneously. Custom ice fishing tip ups also let you fish at different depths at one and work various positions for drop-offs. A DIY ice fishing tip up is rigged with a colored flag that will pop up whenever a fish is caught or takes the bait. How to make an ice fishing tip up is easy with the right tools and techniques.

That’s what we will tackle in this article. Read on!

How to Make an Ice Fishing Tip Up: Step-by-Step Guide

It’s possible to build your own tip ups, including a wooden ice fishing tip up. But, it’s critical that you follow these steps on making an ice fishing tip up while wearing an ice fishing suit and ice fishing gloves to ensure your safety and fishing success:

Prepare the Supplies and Equipment

You’ll need the planks of wood for each tip-up. The planks should be 1 inch thick and wide no less than 18 inches long.

You will also need two #4 1.5″ machine screws, a #6 2″ screw, a #6 nut, and two #4 wing nuts. Include one #4 0.5″ machine screw or the kind that you’d see used for securing switching plates.

You should also look for the biggest bike spokes available and a quarter of an inch diameter hose pipe. You’ll also need a quarter of an inch PVC piping, PVC glue, hooks, a sheet of PCV, brightly colored beads, a line, 0.5″ wire staple, duct tape, electrical fish tape, and two old CDs.

In terms of the equipment, you’ll need a chop saw, drill, table saw, wire staple gun, hammer, pliers, screwdriver, and wire cutters.

Make S-Shape Bends on the Bike Spokes

Use your pliers to grasp a bike spoke about an inch and a half from one end, and then bend to an L-shape.

To form a bend that’s an S-shape, hold the spoke above the end that you’ve just made. Bend the spoke towards the opposite direction at 90 degrees.

Grab the opposite end that’s unbent with the pliers. Carefully bend the longer end down so it’s bent 90 degrees from your two other bends. A wire from your bike spoke shouldn’t lie flat when it’s placed on the table as this will be your C-bend.

Make a Small Hole in the Old CD

Use your 9/64 drill bit. The hole should be 1/4 inch from the edge. Then, insert a #4 screw into the hold.

Cut the PVC Piping Into 3/4 Lengths

Try to keep your cuts as clean and straight as possible.

Cut Circles from Your PCV Sheet Using Your Drill Press

The circle should have a snug fit into the pipe that you’ve just cut.

Glue the CD and PVC Hole Together

Use a clear circle as a guide in the center. Once it has dried completely, find the center of your reel and drill a hole that’s large enough to accommodate #6 screws. The fit must be loose for the reel to turn. This will be your wheel.

Prepare the Wood Planks or Sticks

Take out your sticks and drill a hole (9/64 bit) at the center of the two sticks. Set aside one of the drilled planks/sticks and line one drilled plank with two undrilled sticks.

Make sure an undrilled wooden plank is hanging 1 1/4″ from the other. Create a mark that’s about an inch from the left of your initial hole then drill through with a cordless drill that has sharp blades. You should now have one stick that has two holes that are an inch apart.

Take your third stick and drill a hole (11/64 bit) an inch from the overhang’s side. Make a hole (3/32 bit) again for your wire staple 1/2 inch from the same side or edge.

Grab your drilled wooden planks then attach them in the center hole with the use of a 1 1/2″ screw. Place the larger screw through the reel hole, making sure it is pointing in the direction of the screw on the wheel.

Get 2 beads and attach them to the screw. Screw into your third stick then secure using a nut. Make sure there’s ample room for movement.

Assemble the Ice Fishing Tip Up

Take your third stick and place a trigger wire on it so the S-bend can catch on the small screw. The C-bend should be over the third hole. Make use of a wire staple to attach the trigger wire to the S-bend.

Attach a wire for the flag to the opposite end and staple the flag at intervals of half an inch. Attach all the sticks with your last screw on the remaining holes.

A wingnut has to be on the side of the reel. Add 2” of colorful tape at the topmost portion of your flag wire. Lastly, add a weight, hook, and monofilament fishing line.

Conclusion

You now know how to make an ice fishing tip up. Learning how to make an ice fishing tip up the right way is necessary for you to benefit from using an ice tip-up.

Contrary to popular belief, using tip-ups is far from being lazy to catch catfish. It requires plenty of exercise and attentiveness as you keep tabs and run from one hole to another.

Tip-up ice fishing at night allows anglers to set several baited lines below thick ice. The strikes are detected even when an angler isn’t within the immediate area to where the equipment is set up.

Make sure you follow the steps above and keep on repeating them until you become an expert at making your own DIY tip-ups. Be resourceful and look for all the materials that you need at your local hardware store and around your home.