If you want to go ice-fishing this year, you need to purchase an ice fishing tip-up. A tip-up allows you to hang bait over your ice hole down into the water. It allows you to suspend bait over your fishing hole, and see if a fish has hit your bait, without having to keep a fishing pole in your hands the entire time. A high-quality tip-up bar will have a trip far, a wide stable base, a flag lock, a hook holder, a large bait clip, and quality spool.

#1 Trip Bar

The first thing your tip-up should have is a trip bar that allows you to set it up for different types of trips. You want a trip bar that you can set up so that it can be triggered by light fish bites or triggered by heavier fish bites from stronger fish. The heavy setting is also helpful when it is really windy, as it helps you avoid false alarms.

#2 Wide Stable Base

The next thing your tip-up needs to have is a wide bae. The bigger the base of the tip-up is, the more stable your tip-up will be. It will be able to sit more securely over the fishing hole if it has a wide base. If the base is long, it will be able to sit over a larger hole and will have more of its base on the snow and ground around the hole, creating a more stable set-up.

#3 Flag Lock

Your tip-up should have a flag on it that indicates when you get a bite on your line. A flag lock helps secure your flag when you are storing it and helps prevent the flag lock from getting damaged. Due to the tall and thin nature of the flag, it can easily get damaged if it is not properly locked in place.

#4 Hook Holder

Just like with the flag, the hook and terminal tackle can easily get damaged in storage as well. A hook holder is just a small extra feature that helps secure and protect the hook holder and ensures that it doesn't get tangled, snagged, or broken when you are storing your equipment.

#5 Large Bait Clip

If you live to use large or oversized baits, you can get a lot of false flag trips if you don't have a large bait clip. A large bait clip stabilizes the line and ensures that when the flag goes up when you have a heavy or large bait on the line, it is because a fish is actually biting the line.

#6 Quality Spools

Finally, make sure any tip-up you purchase is equipped with a high-quality spool. Make sure that it is either plastic or made out of rust-free metal. A large spool is also better as it allows you to keep more line on your tip-up.

When looking for a tip-up for ice-fishing this year, look for one that has a tip bar, a wide base, a flag lock and hook holder for storage purposes, a large bait clip and a quality large spool that will hold lots of line. 

Contact a company like Extreme Tackle for more information and assistance.