Tip Up Alarms

A few people have asked some good questions about the new Tip Up alarms I have been using this season from Vulture Systems, LLC so I put together a little review.

Do you just set it next to your tip up? Looks like it would be easy to get lost down a hole?

Blue Tipz hands down.

I don’t believe these are legal in MN

Charlie W wrote:

I don’t believe these are legal in MN

Probably not

X2

mahtofire14 wrote:

Blue Tipz hands down.

X3 on the Blue Tipz

I have owned a product called strike sensor that I bought about 30 plus years ago put it on your tip up and when you get a bite it pages you on its own pager this has been great for many years with no trouble I have 4 that go to 1 pager unit and can buy more sending units. Wow went on Amazon 1 system is 175.00 then each sending unit is 68.00 strike sensor is easy to use and is 60.00 for 1st unit and 30.00 per sending unit! That is what I paid for at my initial purchase

The SCRATCHER wrote:

I have owned a product called strike sensor that I bought about 30 plus years ago put it on your tip up and when you get a bite it pages you on its own pager this has been great for many years with no trouble I have 4 that go to 1 pager unit and can buy more sending units. Wow went on Amazon 1 system is 175.00 then each sending unit is 68.00 strike sensor is easy to use and is 60.00 for 1st unit and 30.00 per sending unit! That is what I paid for at my initial purchase

Cool, it looks like strike sensor is back in business! I bought a handful several years ago. I think they were somewhat clearanced and I seem to remember it being a going out of business sale. Glad to see they are back at it in case I need to add any additional units to the fleet.

My Strike Sensors are as old as scratchers and the results are the same, zero problems. The price of those Vultures seems insane IMHO.

I had a warden trip my flag with a strike sensor on it. It was about 9:30pm and as I lifted my tipup out of the hole I hear ” I guess those things really do work”. The first time I used them it went off at 3:30 am I thought the pager going off was our smoke alarm my wife says honey you got a flag. So I got dressed and went out and caught a walleye. Well worth the money and no ticket for unattended lines.

I’ve never used it but it looks like it is $60 for one transmitter and one sensor. You don’t need the transmitter for Blue Tipz, all you need is the sensor which you can find for $35-45 and download the free app to make your phone alarm when it goes up.

Just setting the record straight. But yes, some of these alarms have a ridiculous price tag. Not to mention having to haul all that extra crap around.

I’m sure the strike sensor works well also.

3rdtryguy wrote:

Do you just set it next to your tip up? Looks like it would be easy to get lost down a hole?

I run IFishPros so no chance of it falling down a hole and they actually come with a little bracket to mount to your tipup if you want to!

I can only say look into the technology first before bashing these and their price tag… I ran Bluetipz first before going with these for the shear reliability of them…

And before anyone adds their 2cents the BlueTipz worked when they worked so not bashing them.

The new BlueTipz flex are much better than the older ones. I haven’t had any issues with them at all, while the old ones would fail in the cold sometimes. I think it had to do with the coin cell battery. If you do have those issues, get in contact with BlueTipz, their customer support is great!

I’ve been using the strike sensors for more than 10 years now too. They have worked fine for me. Just need to make sure your batteries are fresh.

Question on the BlueTipz? Do you need to get a good phone signal for them to work? I’ve never used these.

No phone signal is needed for Blue Tipz as they use Bluetooth. I like using the blue tipz receiver to cut the phone out of the picture and not drain battery.

bzzsaw wrote:

I’ve been using the strike sensors for more than 10 years now too. They have worked fine for me. Just need to make sure your batteries are fresh.

Question on the BlueTipz? Do you need to get a good phone signal for them to work? I’ve never used these.

buck-slayer wrote:

I had a warden trip my flag with a strike sensor on it.

What a Richard move. In fact, next time get their name and report this behavior. They are not to touch your equipment nor interfere with your hunting and fishing. I respect these people but the ones that do this should not be working in this field.

-A cop hiding in the bush to give out a ticket is less effective then a cop in clear view not giving out tickets.

bpholl wrote:

No phone signal is needed for Blue Tipz as they use Bluetooth. I like using the blue tipz receiver to cut the phone out of the picture and not drain battery.

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bzzsaw wrote:</div>
I’ve been using the strike sensors for more than 10 years now too. They have worked fine for me. Just need to make sure your batteries are fresh.

Question on the BlueTipz? Do you need to get a good phone signal for them to work? I’ve never used these.

Thanks bpholl

Strike Sensors work better than the BlueTips by far but I can’t find the Strike Sensors anymore.

I must have really good luck with my Blue Tipz. I have been using the same two for 4 years and have not had any malfunctions or any flags where they haven’t alarmed.

Amazon has them! batteries last all season as no signal is sent unless the points are contacted! the pager has never gone dead with a quality name brand battery for most of the season! I am not in any way involved with this product I just think they are the top of the charts you will not risk losing your 1200.00 cell down the hole with strike sensor! Just saying

bob clowncolor,

That is not true, at least in WI. I had a warden trip one of my tip ups this winter and he wrote me an unattended line citation for $186. (the regulations state that you have to immediately tend to the line). He gives 5 minutes to be standing next to it. It took me longer to get to it with my 6 and 9 yr old boys…he has a zero tolerance policy. He told me he could write me a $186 fine for each of the 12 tip ups I had in for myself, wife and two boys… (if one is unattended, they all are)

I invested in the Vulture system that week and sent him a text with a 27.5″ walleye laying next to a sensor at 3:10 in the morning the following weekend. By the way I love the vulture system!

5 minutes seems a little quick. I would have fought it saying it took you that long to get your kids dressed. I was told it’s up to the wardens discretion on how long before he considers it unattended. But 5 minutes what a Richard.

buck-slayer wrote:

5 minutes seems a little quick. I would have fought it saying it took you that long to get your kids dressed. I was told it’s up to the wardens discretion on how long before he considers it unattended. But 5 minutes what a Richard.

I’m not sure. I’m assuming the unattended rule is in place to prevent fish that aren’t legal to keep from swallowing hooks. 5 minutes gives any fish plenty of time to swallow a hook deep deep and likely kill it.

Of course this happens in seconds at times, but when is the last time anybody gave a fish 5 minutes to take a minnow on purpose?

Does it seem like a bit of a Richard move? Maybe so. I think a warning 1st before writing a ticket could be appropriate, but aside from that I doubt fighting it would get any of us very far.

curleytail wrote:

but aside from that I doubt fighting it would get any of us very far.

Hate to derail…

But why wouldn’t it? People fought and won that CO’s needed consent to enter a fish house.

I’d still argue that they aren’t allowed to touch your equipment to mess with your fishing or hunting. If they ask or demand…that’s completely different.

ClownColor wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>curleytail wrote:</div>
but aside from that I doubt fighting it would get any of us very far.

Hate to derail…

But why wouldn’t it? People fought and won that CO’s needed consent to enter a fish house.

I’d still argue that they aren’t allowed to touch your equipment to mess with your fishing or hunting. If they ask or demand…that’s completely different.

Your point about touching your equipment is noted. I’m not sure of the laws regarding that but I can see it being touchy. If they saw your flag go up on it’s own and it sat unattended for 5 minutes I can see that being an infraction. If they aren’t supposed to touch it, I guess that would be a different story.

Back to the topic, yes, I do like my Strike Sensors if somebody is able to find them.

Your game warden is probably an Illinois transplant. Down here they are typically zero tolerant at least where I fish.