I usually don’t bother reviewing products I really don’t like but with the ice fishing season already upon some of us and fast approaching for others, I decided I should share my knowledge of an ice fishing trap I don’t particularly care for and the reasons why. This might sway your decision against them or you might disagree and tell me why I should give them another try. We will see.
I tried out a set of five of these ice traps for most of a season. They didn’t make it through the entire season for plenty of reasons. I went back to my old reliable’s , Jack Traps, but sometimes kept one of these in the mix just for good measure. I have found it very important to have quality gear especially when you expose yourself to the elements and brave the cold and winter weather. Why bother going out if your gear is going to let you down.

----------------------- What is it:----------------------

The days of venturing out on the ice with a chisel, a stick with some line tied to it and a lure are behind most of us. Ice fishermen’s products have evolved into highly efficient and reliable tackle and gear. Take the Ice Trap or otherwise known as the Tip Up for example. This product allows the fisherman to maximize the amount of lines allowed by state laws that the fisherman is able to fish at one time. The fishermen sets them and walks away and when a fish strikes and takes the bait a flag informs the fisherman what goes on below the ice and the fisherman hurry to tend the trap and try to catch the fish. Ice Traps, or Tip Ups, are different in their own respects from company to company and from product to product. Take Frabill for instance, they are a great company for ice fishermen providing them us with hundreds of products, some innovative, some just better models of the previous model, and some that frankly are not worth a darn. I think this Tip Up falls in the category of the latter and here’s why:

----------------------- Problems with This Model::----------------------


You can’t use them when its snowing:

This is the only trap I actually lost while fishing. We were ice fishing in winter, and as you know, it sometimes snows during winter. After about 6 inches of snow these traps were completely covered by the snow. It was a real treat trudging around in the snow trying to find my traps while the other guys were using regular stand up tip up style traps and they never had a problem. I lost one for most of the day and eventually dug my way down to it, but I wish I had just lost the thing for good before finding out all of these other reasons why I don’t like this trap.


You can’t see down the hole:

The shape and size of this trap actually blocks the fisherman from seeing down the hole. It is important to be able to see down the hole so the fisherman can detect which direction the line is going and how fast it is moving. The circular shape completely covers the hole enabling the fisherman from detection after the flag has been tripped. Many times a fish will trip the flag and chew on the bait just to the side without spooling line off of the reel. Although this Tip Up has a bar that shows the fisherman how fast the reel is moving from above the hole, it wont show what direction the line is or what the fish is doing.


Awkward size:

Most ice fishing traps are in the shape of a cross with a vertical up right and a horizontal base. They fold flat for storage and transport and stack nicely in a pack basket or a bag. This Tip up by Frabill is a pain in the neck to transport without a bucket which they fit nicely in. Well that sounds easy you might say, but I already have a bucket, and it is full of bait, and I don’t have room for another bucket! It is so much easier to stack traps in a duffel bag over your back or in a pack basket then handling these little discs.

Too Low in the Snow:

The problem I have with these is pretty foolish on the part of the company. Where I do my ice fishing there is almost always a couple feet of snow covering the ice. The reel on this trap only sticks down about six inches from the bottom of the trap which means that I have to dig down to ice level in order to fish with this trap because the reel needs to be submerged below the ice along with all of the line or it will freeze up and you might as well just tie a line to a stick across the top of the hole. But the real problem is the fact that the flag only stick up another 10 inches or so meaning I wont be able to see if I have had a strike unless I am standing over the trap. It is kind of like the old saying, he cut the board again and it is still too short! Most places that have ice fishing have a lot of snow which makes this trap virtually useless. It does not stand up high or poke the reel down low like most ice fishing traps do.

Mounted Reel:

The reel on this trap is mounted the complete opposite direction that most reels are facing. Most reels are perpendicular to the bottom which allows the line to be taken from any part of the spool evenly as the reel unwinds. This one points straight down and the line that comes off of the bottom of the reel comes off much easier then from the top. This is not a good thing when a finicky trout or salmon has the bait in its mouth and is swimming away. They will drop it like it is hot if they feel the resistance or inconsistencies with resistance. By mounting the reel in this fashion Frabill had to add an eyelet to keep the line from just falling off of the reel. More parts, more problems, it just offers one more part that can break or malfunction.

Too small for some holes:

This is a problem that most fishermen know about before they get out on the ice. I like to fish through a twelve inch hole most of the time. When I am going after monster Northern Pike or big Lake Trout, I want as much room around the edges of the ice hole as possible. I bring my 12 inch Auger for most trips ice fishing. It only makes sense to give yourself as much room as possible for landing a fish especially knowing that most heartbreaks occur within arms length of landing the fish or around the hole. A tight hole is not good for ice fishing. The problem with this tip up is that it is only 10 inches across which does not allow me to fish it from the larger holes. Sure you might say to match up my auger with the traps which is a nice idea but what if my auger breaks, won’t start or won’t work and I need someone else to drill me a hole and its too large, then I have to prop sticks over the hole just to keep the trap up, no thanks.

Cheap reel:

The reel is made of a cheap plastic and is not very tough. I have had them mis shape over the course of one summer in storage. I like a reel with aluminum or heavy duty plastic. That isn’t the only problem I have with the reel, it is also too small. When fishing for very large fish you need a very large amount of line and the capacity of this reel is inadequate.

Insulation doesn’t work:

This is kind of ridiculous. I was amazed that the company even claimed this to work especially at 25 degrees below zero let alone 25 degrees above zero! The ice in any ice fishing hole skims over while you are ice fishing with a skim layer or more of ice depending on the temperatures outside. This does not occur when the temperature is above freezing but when it is below, it will freeze. The giant mass of ice you are standing on helps the little tiny hole you have drilled to freeze back up to its solid form. This creates a huge hassle when the trap freezes to the hole. The fisherman is required to check on these every 10 minutes or so to make sure they don’t freeze down. If they don’t and the flag goes up then all I can say is good luck catching a fish with the trap frozen over the hole.

They float:

This might sound crazy but I have fished on ice with water on top of it plenty of times. Late in the season when the ice is very thick and the snow melts or it rains it is common to see an inch or more of water on top of the ice. This doesn’t mean you cant fish, it only means you need to wear rubber boots, Creepers, and oh yeah, you can’t fish these traps because they will float out of the hole and across the surface of the ice. Unlike heavier wooden traps that will sit stationary on top of the hole with water on top of the base, this one will move around and even out of the hole.

It blocks sunlight:

Frabill and some fishermen might think this is a good thing that the Tip Up cover the entire hole not allowing sunlight below the surface of the ice but I disagree. I have had more luck clearing the snow around the hole to allow more light to penetrate below. It is a rather simple idea and makes sense. Allow light to penetrate, baitfish will come to feed on the plankton and smaller species basking in the light and the bigger predator fish will come to feed on the bait fish. The water gets a little bit warmer and the fish are attracted to the light if not just curious, and oops, what is that, a nice juicy shiner, then you have it. Covering the hole does not allow light through the surface of the ice. I have caught more Brook Trout in less than 6 inches of water with a hole above their heads when they took the bait then with my Frabills blocking the hole, and brook trout are extremely finicky and tough to catch.

Short Flag:

The flag on this trap is less than a foot tall. This is a horrible design by Frabill. I had a similar Frabill’s design that had a telescoping aluminum flag that would extend to three or four feet. I thought it was great until the pole bent and it would not extend or retract, then it was worthless. Back to the short flag, this is lousy for the fisherman who likes to cover some ice and set traps more than 30 yards away. I like a flag that stands tall and leaves no doubt that there has been a strike. I already alluded to the fact that these are no good in more than a foot of snow because of the short flag so I will leave it at that.

Poor Visibility:

Even though these are bright orange they lack for visibility to the fishermen and to snowmobilers. Since they have a low profile and sit so low on the ice you can not see them from a central location as you scan the ice for flags. I like to be able to see my traps at a glance so I can continue to glance at all of my traps and everyone else’s as well. It is very important to know exactly where your trap is and to know just when you have had a strike. This will increase your chances of catching a fish. Since they are flat and sit so low on the ice they are incredibly difficult for snowmobilers traveling at any kinds of speed to see them before they are run over. I have enough trouble with this even with my tall traps let alone these flat ones. By the way, its not a pretty picture when these things are run over by a snowmobile, splat!

The Toilet bowl effect:

This will sound very strange to those of you who have not seen it but I have seen it several times. When the water level drops below the ice and there is any kind of water on top of the ice wether it be snow melt or rain, the water swirls down through the ice hole as the ice mass floats above it. For lack of a better term we named this the toilet bowl effect because the water swirls like a flushed toilet. The only problem with this is that by the end of the day the holes have enlarged enough for this trap to be flushed just like a, well you get my point. With the regular wooden traps this is not a problem for the base spans over 25 inches, not the minuscule ten that these traps span.


----------------------- They do have some good features too:----------------------

The tackle box:

This is a great idea that I wish was on all of my ice traps. It has a little compartment built into the trap for storage of tackle. I can’t tell you how many times when ice fishing I had to cut the hook or leader, lost a weight, or lost a lure and had to go back to base camp or fumble around my numerous pockets to find what I need. I hate storing hooks in my pockets for obvious reasons. These little dandies have a storage compartment built right in so if you set them up right before you go out you will have whatever you need where you need it.

Trip bar shows fish movement:

When the fish trips the flag and the reel spins, the trip bar actually shows the fisherman how much or how fast the reel is spinning below the trap. This is nice so you know what to expect while approaching the trap or standing over it after the flag has been tripped. Personally I like the standard trap type so I can look down the hole and see the reel itself moving and the direction the line is going.

Two settings:

This is a good feature because it gives the fisherman the option of setting the flag and reel to a light or heavier trip setting. This makes the trap more versatile for fishing for larger fish such as pike or smaller fish such as brook trout. Brookies hit very lightly and you don’t want much tension after they hit. Pike hit like a rocket and you can have as much tension as you want for the initial strike and they will not from the bait like a brookie will.


Stores nicely in buckets:

If you like storing your trap in 5 gallon buckets then this is the trap for you. I have listed why I don’t like to do this in the above section already. You can stack a bunch of these in a bucket on top of each other for easy storage and transport.

They Work:

For as many negative reasons I have listed, I must admit that they do work nicely when conditions permit. Only problem is that it has to be ideal conditions and most ice fishing excursions are not during ideal weather conditions. The functionality of the trap is nice. When the reel turns the flag goes up, no nonsense. I cannot possibly see how you could ever get a wind flag wit these traps.

They keep slush and snow out of hole:

This is the one advantage to covering the hole, when you are fishing and the slop is falling lightly from the sky, it doesn’t get into the ice hole. Notice though that I said lightly because if it really comes down this trap is covered!

----------------------- Conclusion::----------------------


Like I stated before, I usually try not to bash a product but there were just way too many design flaws with this. It was like someone who had never ice fished before was assigned to developing and designing this trap, I don’t know maybe they work great in Wisconsin where they are made but everywhere else where I have ice fished they don’t work worth a darn.

----------------------- Price and Availability::----------------------


They sell for under$20 each which is nice because when you discard them or give them away it won’t sting so badly as it would if they cost more. Frabill makes other really great ice fishing products and they are a popular company. If you still want to find these they are available in my dumpster or many sporting goods stores.

Please feel free to let me know what you like about this trap, what you don’t like about it, or about your fishing experiences in the comments section, thanks, and remember, Free the Fighter!


©smallmouth 2008
Take a Kid Fishing

The Best Ice Fishing Traps:
1 – Jack Traps ice fishing traps
2 – Heritage Laker ice fishing traps
3 – Big Bob Jack Traps

Other Ice Fishing reviews:
Eskimo 8 inch Hand Auger
Trilene Ice Fishing Line
Stabilicers

Recommended: No