best bang for buck ice rod.

[manitoubass2]

Yeah your right GBW. When i buy these rods i usually just use the reel for emergencies or backups. Good reels for tough backlake trips your getting beatup is bound to happen

Edited December 24, 2013 by manitoubass2

[johnnybo1]

Do you guys think the rod is better to throw more money into or the reel because i have a crap reel i just cant stand the rod it has LITERALLY NO FEEL, If a shark hit it i probably wouldn't know. I just want something that feels good in my hand im gonna go over to CT and then SAIL after X-Mas to check out the lightning rods, ugly sticks and st.croix to see what feels good for the the price. I see lots of frabrill at CT and if I can find one I like I might just skip SAIL its 45 mins from where I am and my car is in the shop. .

My buddie has this 28" meat stick from CLAM I cant seem to find it anywhere but he loves it to death any one know where i might be able to find it?

 

Edited December 24, 2013 by johnnybo1

[Acountdeleted]

For me, heavier fish I love my Ugly stick. For panfish and walleye I find the St. Croix legend is pricy but worth every penny. The spring bobber on that thing is deadly.

[manitoubass2]

 

 

Do you guys think the rod is better to throw more money into or the reel because i have a crap reel i just cant stand the rod it has LITERALLY NO FEEL, If a shark hit it i probably wouldn't know. I just want something that feels good in my hand im gonna go over to CT and then SAIL after X-Mas to check out the lightning rods, ugly sticks and st.croix to see what feels good for the the price. I see lots of frabrill at CT and if I can find one I like I might just skip SAIL its 45 mins from where I am and my car is in the shop. .

My buddie has this 28" meat stick from CLAM I cant seem to find it anywhere but he loves it to death any one know where i might be able to find it?

for ice fishing i spend more on the reel. I dont go expensive either but the reel is usually 10-20$ more then the rod. I dont think ive ever had an ice fishing rod i hated, but you seriously cannot go wrong with fenwicks at CT. Awesome rods. I havent tried the st crouixs though but the way people talk about them on here maybe i should check em out too

[bassjnkie]

Check out True Canadian Outdoors in Vaughan...they have ice fishing stuff at good prices...

[porkpie]

For ice fishing panfish, feel is very important to me, so I have a few expensive st. Croix panfish rods as they telegraph light bites very well. I also have a st croix rod that I use for lite presentations for pickerel or whitefish. Everything else is cheap and functional, as usually if a pick, white or laker smashes my jig, I will know about it! So I like st croix, they make nice stuff, but certainly don't have a fleet of em! Mine all have at least 6 seasons on them if not more, and all have held up, but then so have my 10 dollar ice rods, so there you go!

[Steelheadphycho]

Hate to sound like a tight wad but.........

 

Has anyone ever made an ice rod out of a spare soft water rod they have lying around?

 

I've got some ol' piece in the garage I'm thinking about chopping. I mean if it doesn't work, no big deal.

 

Just wondering. I've never seen a post on this.

 

Tight lines~~~~~~

[BillM]

Absolutely, ice fishing rods aren't overly complicated. The best are tip sections from float rods

[Fisherpete]

The fenwick's are pretty sweet for around $30-35. I have the UL for pannies and a heavier one for lakers.

 

Pete

[limeyangler]

for ice fishing i spend more on the reel. I dont go expensive either but the reel is usually 10-20$ more then the rod. I dont think ive ever had an ice fishing rod i hated, but you seriously cannot go wrong with fenwicks at CT. Awesome rods. I haven't tried the st crouixs though but the way people talk about them on here maybe i should check em out too

 

The fen wicks are awesome rods…..the only reason why i went with the St. Croix is i broke both my fen wick Medium/Heavy last year. I would say they are very similar, although the St. Croix are $5 less and have bigger guides which helps with ice build up.

Edited December 24, 2013 by limeyangler

[Fang]

JB1

 

If you can get over to fishing world in Hamilton they have a very good selection of ice rods this year. St.Croix's, fenwick's and a few of the new brands

 

They even had a couple of buckets of Ugly Stik ice rods on sale

[EC1]

Bud, you need to go out there and feel for yourself! Bring a 1-2 foot piece of line tied to a jig you intend on using, and tie it to the tip guide and you shall see how much you like the rod.

 

St. Croix's bend weird on the blank, but they still work awesome.

Fenwick Elite Tech (Not sure about the aetos) bends really nice, except their UL rod is on the stiff side for my liking.

I personally fell in love with the 13 Fishing Ice rods this year for the UL. Their Mediums felt ok, but the other 2 mentioned are probably just as good if not better.

 

I would spend the 50 on 2 rods. 1 Medium & 1 UL. Probably a little bit more money would go on the UL (Because I fish panfish more often than other fish), and then a Lightning rod for the M would probably suffice.

[Moosebunk]

If not already having pretty well all St.Croix rods ( with one Berkeley and a Rapala), I'd probably look at the Fenwick.sticks.

 

So far more than happy with St.Croix. Not so much with their longer rods these days though.

[jeffw]

Love my fenwick and jason mitchell mackinaw rod. Won't buy a st. Croix anymore they always break. Cheers jeff

[Sinker]

Yep, ive broken a couple st croix too.

 

My favourite ice rod for larger fish is an old mitchell brush'n rod. 36" of power, and I cant break it if I try. For pannies, you need a whole different set up...I like ML, because I break the real light rigs all the time. I use a slip bobber for the light biters.

 

P.s....spend some coin on the reel. its the reel that will lose that big fish. The rod will be fine, but a stiff, frozen, reel that doesnt work well, and has a cheap drag is good for nuthin! I use my quality reels soft and hardwater.

 

S.

[GBW]

Hate to sound like a tight wad but.........

 

Has anyone ever made an ice rod out of a spare soft water rod they have lying around?

 

I've got some ol' piece in the garage I'm thinking about chopping. I mean if it doesn't work, no big deal.

 

Just wondering. I've never seen a post on this.

 

Tight lines~~~~~~

I know a guy who did it and used cork from wine bottles for the grip and it worked well for him. No harm considering it's only your time to make. It if the tip is soft and fast I sure would try it.

[Pikeslayer]

Our St, Croix combos outfish all others 3 or 4 :1

[Pikeslayer]

Our St, Croix combos outfish all others 3 or 4 :1

[Sinker]

Its not the rod that catches the fish

 

S.

[manitoubass2]

Its not the rod that catches the fish

 

S.

i lol'd.

[pidge]

I just grabbed an ugly stick from crapp tire a few weeks ago. Looks to be a good unit with a locking handle for the reel which seems to be hard to find. It's cheap, but I've been using another one for many years and it's worked great. OOD sent me a rod recently with a subscription as well so I'm excited to try these new ones out. I'd say go to crappy tire and pick yourself up one. I should note that I was in Bass Pro and they had the same ugly stick and reel combo for the same price as CT. 39 or 35 bux if I recall.

[misfish]

I have become a fan of the Rapala rods. Nice handle and has back bone with good tip sensitivity.

Bought an ugly stick last week. $20.

Also picked up a Celsius combo. The price was cheap,but the rod and reel seem to be decent for the $15.

 

Does Sail still have the bait casting Rapala combo?

[GBW]

Yeah B, on the website (today) they have the R-type combo's for $59.99

[misfish]

Thanks Geoff.

 

Reel looks decent.

Have to make a trip.

Edited December 25, 2013 by Misfish

[pidge]

I should add that I've landed many many perch and not so many many pike...15"-20" range. With the good ol ugly stick