Maintaining Your Ice Fishing Tip-Ups

Odds are if you're an ice angler, you own tip-ups, and to many of us, they're a critical component to the hard-water season. Like fishing reels, underwater-style tip-ups require occasional maintenance to keep them in fish-catching shape.

To help me explain the process for cleaning and caring for tip-ups, I contacted tip-up expert Eric Poster of H.T. Enterprises, an ice fishing company with over a dozen different tip-up models and more than 20 years of experience making tip-ups.

"One thing that's nice about a tip-up is they don't require much maintenance. I think that's part of their appeal that, and they last a long time," says Poster.

Signs of Tip-Up Neglect

To properly function, underwater tip-ups must be well-lubricated. Over time, the manufacturer-applied lubrication will dry out or drain from the tip-up. The following influences the rate at which this occurs: the range of temperatures the unit is exposed to, the frequency it is used, and its storage location.

Poster explains that anglers will know their tip-up needs to be lubricated when the unit's performance starts to fail. Common indicators include spools not spinning smoothly, the trip mechanism failing, or the unit freezing in cold temperatures. Ideally, anglers should lubricate their tip-ups once a season, but Poster comments that every second or third season is sufficient provided tip-ups are stored properly and not heavily used.

Proper Low-Temperature Lubrication

Poster recommends that tip-ups should be lubricated with a quality, low-temperature rated lubrication (such as H.T.'s Blu-Lube). That means it's designed for cold temperatures. Regular reel grease, for example, will stiffen and sometimes freeze-up in cold temperatures, compromising the unit's performance.

"Proper lubrication not only prevents a tip-up from freezing, it also prevents it from rusting, prolonging its lifespan," he notes. Fail to keep your tip-up lubricated, and you'll likely lose fish because of equipment failure.

Tip-Up Disassembly and Lubrication

The procedure for disassembling a tip-up varies with each design, but the basics tend to remain the same, and some models even come with instructions on disassembly. Poster explains that for most tip-ups, there's a bottom nut underneath the spool that allows the spool-shaft components to be taken apart for cleaning and lubrication. Other models can be disassembled by removing the nut and trip shaft if the spool is secured to the inner-shaft.

On most underwater-style tip-ups, the spool is secured to a shaft, which sits in an outer tube; the outer tube holds the lubrication.

"Once you've removed the spool shaft, place a dab of Blu-Lube onto a dry cloth and wipe the shaft down," Poster explains.

This cleans the shaft, removing old lubrication and debris. Next, apply a small amount of lubrication along the length of the spool shaft and the tube's end, before reassembling the unit. Test the unit by spinning the spool; it should spin freely with little resistance. To finish, wipe the shaft down with the cloth to remove excess lubrication. If you've followed these steps, your tip-up is now properly lubricated and clean.

Storage

Poster explains that cleaning and lubricating are only part of tip-up maintenance because proper storage is just as crucial.

"One important component of tip-up maintenance that anglers don't typically think about is tip-up storage," he said. "You shouldn't store a Polar-style (or underwater style) tip-up vertically. You want to lay them flat so the lubrication doesn't leak out of the shaft. Storing units flat is really the first step in taking care of your tip-ups. You also want to be careful where you store your tip-ups and make sure you don't keep them in an environment that's too hot or too cold. It's not that you can't store them in these conditions; it's just if you do, you'll need to re-lubricate them more often, as varying and extreme temperatures ranges breaks down lubricants faster than more stable temperatures."

Tip-ups require little maintenance and the time required to keep them in top-shape is minimal when compared to the rewards they deliver on the ice. After each outing and at season's end, store your underwater style tip-ups horizontally to prevent lubrication leakage. Also, take the time to keep your tip-ups lubricated for better sensitivity to strikes, and smoother spinning spools, ensuring your tip-up won't fail when you get a hard-strike from an aggressive fish.