Since its introduction just a few short years ago, HT’s Ice Rigger has steadfastly become standard equipment for many ice anglers–and for me, one of my personal favorite “go-to” approaches! The simplicity of a free-spooling, tip-up style system combined with the ability to manually control hook sets and fight fish with any chosen rod and reel provides a highly versatile, effective way to cover water, and more importantly, really fun way to fish!
If you’re already an Ice Rigger enthusiast, you understand…for those of you who haven’t yet tried one, there’s no better time, because several innovative advances have been made that make the Ice Rigger System better than ever:
1. The addition of an ADJUSTABLE ROD HOLDER at the base, allowing you to change rod angles to better accommodate a variety of rod lengths, reel sizes and styles. The holder also folds down for convenient transport and storage.
2. IMPROVED, “EASY GLIDE” TRIP CLIP GRIPS, to provide more controlled (and smoother!) line releases.
3. An IMPROVED “O RING” DRAG SYSTEM allows users to adjust trip tension, based on the size and weight of your presentation—simply pulling them further apart and away from the trip bar eyelets decreases tension for lighter trips when you’re using smaller baits for lighter biting fish—while in contrast, the closer you press them up against the trip bar eyelets, the greater the tension you can attain when fishing larger presentations for more aggressive, hard-striking fish.
4. DOUBLE SIGNAL FLAG POSTS permit you to switch the signal flag to the right or left side, allowing use of reels featuring either left or right retrieve, depending on your personal preference.
5. The TWO SIDED TRIP BAR accommodates reverse-set left or right retrieve flag assemblies without having to flip and re-set the trip bar into the associated position.