What kind of line are you guys using on your tip-ups? How many of you are using fireline, and how many bandaids do you carry with you to deal with getting cut by the stuff? :D

I've used dacron with mono leaders on my tip-ups always, because it's easy to hang onto, and doesn't get cut on the ice, and you can see it easily, but I'm not sure that's the best way.


Eyez

All my tip-up fishing is for northerns, so I stick to the (cheap) heavy dacron line, with a short 20 lb mono leader. I'd think Fireline would be pretty tough to use in the cold due to its thin diameter.

I also use dacron, like Tom. I agree with his thoughts about fireline, plus I think it would be a waste of money. You dont need it for its thin diameter, or sensivity on a tip up.

Perchjerker,
Do you lubricate the shafts on your tip-ups, and what do you use?

Yes, I use Blue Lube, I think its made by HT, but I could be wrong. Its made for cold weather lubrication of reels, etc.

I used to use dacron about 20 years ago. This will freeze and tangle pretty easily also. I change to vinyl coated dacron. It is sold as "Tip-up Line". It doesn't soak up water, doesn't freeze and doesn't tangle very eaily. It's similar to using "Tangle-Free" decoy line for duck decoys. Before this came out my buddy used fly-fishing line.

I use both dacron and the coated tipup line in back of my leader. I like the tipup line best and it's been on 1/2 my tipups for about 10 yrs but my ice season is only 2 wks to 2 months. Starting from scratch, I'd recommend it over dacron, but I've never bothered to replace the dacron I'm using on the other rigs.

Good Luck, jc