Ice Fishing Help

[Boghog1]

The scouts will be building their own ice fishing traps and I need to get line, I have two questions. how much line per spool (there will be 20 traps built) and where can I get it. the cheaper the better as this will be out of my pocket. I am in Milford NH so the closer the better as well.

 

[Andy in NH]

how much line per spool

Enough to reach the bottom of the pond / lake you plan to fish on.

...and where can I get it.

"The Ice Hole", Rt 13 in Brookline.

 

[Bad13Luck]

It all so depends on what size spool you are running. IE. you can't put 200' of line on a 50' spool.

 

[Coyote33]

Do you mean tilts? Are they building these for sale? Could be a GREAT fundraiser. I have another thread where I am looking for some tilts. I'd buy from these kids if they look like a quality product.

 

[el duderino]

Depends on where your fishing, I wouldnt put more than 15-20ft on myself.

 

[Boghog1]

Do you mean tilts? Are they building these for sale? Could be a GREAT fundraiser. I have another thread where I am looking for some tilts. I'd buy from these kids if they look like a quality product.

not sure what Tilts are. they are building tip ups

We will have to see about doing them another time as a fund raiser as I am not certain how much could be made off them. if you are looking to build your own I can get you the name of where we bought the kits

I'll check out the ice hole on 13

 

[vtrj]

serously 15-20 ft! have you ever had a fish only run 15ft before you got to it. at least 200ft.

 

[mac1911]

line amount depends on location, most of the pounds in my local are very shallow, 200' would be over kill for most of the small pounds in my area.

I found as labelled Darcon trolling line @ the army navy store 800 yards 200 pound test box of 4 rolls where 12.00 at the time.

The army/navy store in kingston mass has all sorts of surplus line/rope ect.

As far as Boy Scout projects suite a few up and hit the stores for donations. I would guess a good tackle shop should have what you need and give a good idea of how much you need. Also I bet you could get it at a discount or free if the boys ask or present a This is our project can you help...

I see the only problem with trying to sell these and actually make enough to recoup the cost. My dad made many of the folding flip flag style. He used cut up pallet wood, some stainless steel hardware and found the spools @ a tackle shop somewhere in NH.......that was over 20 years ago. All but the flags have lasted. The flags dry rot after about 6 years..

 

[Bad13Luck]

serously 15-20 ft! have you ever had a fish only run 15ft before you got to it. at least 200ft.

I run about 150 to 200 feet of a braided ice line with a 3' leader of a 20 or 30 pound test line at the end. You need this extra length to buy you some time to get to the tilt if they are spread out.

................or if you want to finish your beer.

 

[el duderino]

Haha well maybe now I know what were doing wrong, but everywhere ive fished on the ice so far is only about 5-8 feet deep, and we dont want them getting far as tip ups are a pain in the A to reel in.

 

[StevieP]

All my tip-ups have at least 50 - 75 feet of dacron ice fishing line, with a three or four-foot mono leader attached with a uni-to-uni knot. At the end of the leader is a snap-swivel to which I attach a snelled hook. split-shot sinker attached to mono leader just up from the swivel.

 

[weehooker]

Couple things to consider here. Don't use monofilament line(!). It behaves badly in the cold, is hard to handle, causes tripping hazard (because it's clear, coils and blows around) . it also has ALLOT of stretch which makes setting the hook ( by hand) difficult. Just about all my tip-ups are set up with 50-60 yards of 30 - 50# Dacron with a 6' monofilament tip. ( Which is a very common set-up in this area) This gives you enough to fish most depths and leaves reserve on the spool for the fish to run. ( While your running to get to the trap!)
The heavier line is best so as not to cut your hands when setting the hook or "playing the fish". However, too heavy ( over 80-100#, and fish will often fee' the drag of teh line and drop the bait. Dacron is best because it has no stretch and has no memory so it lays flat on the spool & ice. Braided nylon is cheaper but suffers from streatch. A 1000 yd spool of dacron "green spot" trolling line (enough for 20 traps) should run $50-$60 at any local shop/ bass pro shops/Cabelas/Ebay. If you scrounge, you might even find some used line off someones trolling reels. It's common stuff.
p.s. Thread a common shirt button onto each line (through two holes) before attaching terminal hardware. Then you can slide the button up and down the line to use it as a marker for setting bait depth. This helps allot in setting traps properly.

hth

 

[Boghog1]

thanks for the tips, especially the button

 

[arlow]

As much line as the spool will hold leaving about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of spool edge remaining. It is nothing for a bass to take off 30 or 40 yards of line before you can get to the tip up.