Ice fishing rod options

[Geezle]

Thank Jebus it's not ice fishing season yet!

But I was thinking about the sale coming up at The Fishin' Hole and what I should spend my disposable pittance on, and I figured it might be good to get myself an ice fishing set up.

When I was little I used a rod like this https://www.thefishinhole.com/imagesProducts/big/1371600.jpg with the built in reel.

And once I got a little older my dad got me an ice rod that I used my spincast reel on.

My uncle just uses a piece of wood to wrap his line around.

What do you prefer to use, and why?

Suggestions on tip ups would be great too :)

[allenford]

Ice blue.

[PoorTurtle]

if you are perch fishing the wood sticks work great. make a bunch of them up with different hooks on them. but for everything else i use a 2ft rod and reel.

[bsnyder]

:wave:please dont mention ice fishing yet :tongue2:summer to short:wave:

[Sundancefisher]

Frabill Pan Fish Popper...

Work for perch and trout and whitefish and walleye. Probably a little too light for larger pike or lake trout...

[nicemustang]

Stay far away from that product you posted a link to. They are (IMO) garbage.

Get yourself two ice rods, in a 19 - 28" size. One of them should be an ultralight-light fast action tip rod and the other is a medium rod. Then use you're same spin reels on the rods as you would in summer. Get a couple of tip-ups as well, and then your set.

For a good all purpose medium rod, use a "Lightning" rod. They have good action and are very durable. I've had mine for 4 years and it's awesome. It's a 28" medium action and it put my regular spin reel on it with 6-8 lb firewire. This will be good for walleye, pike, rainbows, lakers, etc. You might have to put some bigger line on if you are fishin for bigguns.

https://www.thefishinhole.com/index.cfm?imageSku=3860623&enlargeSkuz=24243&GETPRODUCTSBYCLASSG=072&C=072&D=07

And for the ultra light rod, that's what you need for perch and trout or the picky walleyes. Ice blue makes one, Rhino makes one, but that should be what you're looking for.

[Hunter Trav]

I just get mine at Wally world, and replace the line/rod as needed. It doesn't hurt so much that way if it happens to take a swim on you...LOL :D

[DarkAisling]

Just got back from TFH. Couldn't decide what to do about an ice rod. Now I know. I'll head back there tomorrow :D Almost bought an "Ugly Stick Light," but didn't.

[nicemustang]

The lightning rod is only $12.95 on sale right now. An ultra light is about 16.99. That won't break the bank, and everyone has spinning reels to re-use from summer. Invest in a high quality spinning reel and it will last a life time, $13 rods can always be replaced.

[Geezle]

Thanks everybody, lots of good info posted!

The main reason I posted that first one is because it's the type I grew up on, plus something like that I could chuck in a bucket and not worry about it getting beat up.

Now as far as getting two ice rods, one ultra light, and one medium, that's fine, but I only have one reel. I've seen some reasonably priced combos out there...would something like that be worthwhile? Or would I be better off shopping for a new reel as well?

And tip ups...are some types better than others, or do they all pretty much do the same thing?

[nicemustang]

I'm not a fan of just basic combo reels. Not worth the money and they will be toast within a few trips, drag won't work properly, etc. You don't have to spend hundreds, but 30-40 is a must. Right now at the fishin hole sale, there are some on sale for $40 reg $70-90 i've heard, will be going at lunch to check that out. I need a new one as well. Most of these will come with two spools, you can spool 10 LB on one and 6LB on the other, and change them out very quickly.

Tip ups basically do the same thing as all other ones, but you'll really notice a difference with the higher quality ones. Depending on what your fishing for, the Windlass tip up is good for some extra action. I prefer tip ups that cover the whole hole, to prevent freeze up. The Fraybill Thermal is the league leader here (although $35) but the Polar Thermal (by HT) is $20 and just as good IMO.

You really only need one or two, because you can't fish with a tonne of lines anyway (2 max). And usually a guy fishes with his rod and sets one tip up for fun. Personally I like to use my Automatic Fisherman. It's a neat little thing, I got it at Bass Pro in Toronto, was a xmas gift. You can put in a regular rod into it and if you get a bite it sets the hook for you. It's good for lakers on Spray or pike on pike lakes.

[nicemustang]

You can see Auto fisherman here: http://www.automaticfisherman.com/

The guys on this board seen me use it, heck there is a pic of me setting it in my profile. I've caught pike, lake trout, rainbows and walleye with it.

[Jayball]

Stay far away from that product you posted a link to. They are (IMO) garbage.

Get yourself two ice rods, in a 19 - 28" size. One of them should be an ultralight-light fast action tip rod and the other is a medium rod. Then use you're same spin reels on the rods as you would in summer. Get a couple of tip-ups as well, and then your set.

For a good all purpose medium rod, use a "Lightning" rod. They have good action and are very durable. I've had mine for 4 years and it's awesome. It's a 28" medium action and it put my regular spin reel on it with 6-8 lb firewire. This will be good for walleye, pike, rainbows, lakers, etc. You might have to put some bigger line on if you are fishin for bigguns.

https://www.thefishinhole.com/index.cfm?imageSku=3860623&enlargeSkuz=24243&GETPRODUCTSBYCLASSG=072&C=072&D=07

And for the ultra light rod, that's what you need for perch and trout or the picky walleyes. Ice blue makes one, Rhino makes one, but that should be what you're looking for.

i agree with this post... x2. I have a couple kids aged 5 & 7. I take them out and they use those rods reels. easy to use...durable.

[Geezle]

Well, I was just at the sale at TFH and I I picked up a light ice combo. It's a light Quantum 24" rod with a Diawa Sweepfire 1000B reel.

As for the heavier rod, I'll probably just pick up a medium rod somewhere in my travels and put the Shimano reel I use in the summer on it :) I saw a Rhino for about $17 (regular price) that looked like it might fit the bill?


edit: this is the combo I got https://www.thefishinhole.com/index.cfm?imageSku=3852111&enlargeSkuz=23240&PAGEAT=3&GOZ=31&SORTPRODUCTSBY=ASC&FILTERBYPRICE=AND

[Geezle]

Also, what lb. test line should I put on my 'light' setup?

I just realised that I maybe should have got an ultra light? :o

[nicemustang]

Depends what you're fishing for, but 4-6 lb line.

[DarkAisling]

I skipped picking up an ice fishing rig. They didn't have a great selection of rods at the Calgary store, but had plenty of rod/reel combos. As I've got three Sidestab 1000s, I'd prefer to just use one of those reels. BTW: I've got three so that I can load up the spools with different weights of line (2,4, & 6), and then just swap out the spools. As one reel become non-working I'll have back-ups and still be able to use all of the spools with the replacement reel. I'll be using the Sidestab 1000s 'till I'm dead :lol:

[Geezle]

I skipped picking up an ice fishing rig. They didn't have a great selection of rods at the Calgary store, but had plenty of rod/reel combos. As I've got three Sidestab 1000s, I'd prefer to just use one of those reels. BTW: I've got three so that I can load up the spools with different weights of line (2,4, & 6), and then just swap out the spools. As one reel become non-working I'll have back-ups and still be able to use all of the spools with the replacement reel. I'll be using the Sidestab 1000s 'till I'm dead :lol:

I like the idea of having different spools with different lines. Have you had any luck tracking down the spools for the 2500's? Any idea what they're worth new?

[DarkAisling]

Nope. No luck at all just tracking down the spools. They don't appear to be available without the reel. I bought the 1000s in an Ebay lot for a very good price. I got my first 2500 as part of a combo, so I haven't paid full retail for either of the 2500s. I was using a 2500 reel with 6lb line last night while fishing, and I should have been using a 1000 as the spool itself is lighter. With the lighter spool I probably would have been able to cast a little further. Oh well, live and learn!