Definition and Uses

• An ice fishing tip-up is a simple tool that allows you to see when a fish is biting your line. Most fishermen use them in areas where they can set up more than one pole. The device signals a bite by raising a colorful flag that is easy to see against ice and snow. You can purchase ice fishing tip-ups at any sporting goods store, but you also can make one easily with inexpensive materials.
  
  To make your own, get a 1/4-inch thick wooden dowel between 18 to 24 inches long, a second dowel of the same length but slightly thicker (about 1/2- or 3/4-inch thick), a piece of brightly colored cloth, like a strip torn from a bright red shirt, some heavy braided twine and fishing line.
  
  

Attaching the Dowels

• Take the thinner, lighter dowel and attach the cloth, flag or even brightly colored strip of tape to the end of it. Attach it by nailing it in, securing it to the end of a flexible wire (as shown above) or with a strong adhesive.
  
  Then, use the twine to bind the dowels together at right angles to form an uneven cross. The lighter dowel should contain most of the length, meaning the thicker dowel only extends a bit past the thinner dowel. This allows the thinner dowel to raise the flag into the air when a fish bites the line.
  
  You can add a second thicker dowel to form an "X" that will be a little more secure over the ice hole, as shown in the picture.
  
  

Placement

• Attach your fishing line to the non-flag end of the thin dowel; on the shorter side. You can use screws or nails to do this. Place the ice tip-up over the hole, with each end of the thicker dowel(s) resting on the ice on either side of the hole. Let your fishing line fall into the hole. When a fish bites the line, it will pull on the line and on the short end of the dowel, raising the flag on the longer end into the air and letting the fisherman easily spot which line has a fish on it.
  
  Note that some areas do not allow ice fishermen to set up more than one hole.