Ice Fishing

Also back in December i went up to Onaway to go ice fishing. After getting really excited i started working on my own tip-ups and poles. I had made a few before so i tried getting a little creative this time.

Here's the basic shape, cut out of a piece of 4" PVC

The spool i made by splitting one of the ball pit balls in half and taped to a piece of 1" PVC. Don't worry i still have a few left.

Here's the technical bits. The cantilever spring is attached to the pole (an old wire hanger) which is held in place by the magnet, which is set into foam in the spool.

Final product. The flag is old survey ribbon. And the round flaps on the side are to help prevent the hole from freezing up.

The poles are just aluminum tube connected to a PVC handle. The fishing line runs inside the tube so no need for eyelits. But there's no flex in the pole. Also i did end up painting these black as well.

The reels were made out of the bottom of beer cans and some PVC. They didn't work very well either. I spent most of my time on the tip-ups and these were sort of an after thought.

Now i'd like to tell you that i took these up north and caught some monster 36" pike or something. Unfortunately the gas powered auger we used had something wrong with the motor. There was no torque and it only cut one hole before running out of gas. The view was great though.