custom ice rod tips

I’ve been looking into building my own ice rod for lake trout. Probably a 45″ or 48″. One of the guys that we fish with has been making a few. He has been using fly guides for the bigger diameter and also using the same fly guide for the tip. It looks like TUCR does this, is that right?

My question to rod builders… Do you prefer using a guide on the end, or using an actual tip? Why?

I prefer the look of using a normal guide since you see thread rather than the metal tip over the blank.

Thanks

I just had a bunch of lake trout rods built. We used the fly guides and a slip over tip top of the same style. I went that route so they would be more durable when used in slammer setups. I prefer the look of the regular wrapped guide as a tip, so I had a bit of cosmetic wrapping immediately under each tip top.

I do prefer mine with a fly guide on them,I believe the less metal on the tip produces less chance of ice build build.

I have NEVER had one come off either,I do double wrap the tip guide tho.

JMHO Jeff

I used a standard glue on tip. I like the larger diameter to avoid some of the freeze up. I built a Batson .385x.105×72 in a 34″ and love it.

I thin out the foot as much as possible..030 is too small for any slip-on style.I have never had one let loose yet.

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If light weight is key then use a guide instead of a tip. I prefer a guide over a tip, yes it is harder to wrap but I find that if I wrap the tip guide first its easier to align the rest.

onepine wrote:

I used a standard glue on tip. I like the larger diameter to avoid some of the freeze up. I built a Batson .385x.105×72 in a 34″ and love it.

The blank i was looking at is the same one. Hoping to go around 45 or 48 with it since we rarely use houses.

Thanks for all of the advice!

Ryan,

We wrap our tips on because to get the larger diameter guide they just don’t make tip tops.

Another reason why is heaters and tip top glue done go well together.
Neither do rods but, waving it over a heater could potentially loosen it up.

Just my two cents.

I am wrapping fly guides on my rods too. They are lighter, bigger (if desired), and most importantly can be made to fit the needle like tips of some ice rods better than trying to glue a tip top on.

I will say that it can be a little more tricky wrapping the tip of a noodle rod, but the result is worth it for me.

Tucker

Onepine, what size guides did you use for the reduction guides? I have all of my parts picked out, but the guides. I’m thinking size 6 fly guides for running guides and tip top. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea of guide sizes and spacing still.

Not quite as equal spacing as I thought. Here is what I measured for the 36″ and 42″ builds.

tip
3.75″
8″
12.75″
18.5″
24.5″ this is the 6th guide on the 46″

Thanks. That will be a good comparison to what I come up with.

My first build I can’t really remember the size of the guides.I loaded up the tip to still have some good backbone. It jigs really nice. I like the idea of a guide for the tip as I wanted a little more visibility on the tip and you could wrap the tip any bright color you would like. I also would figure out a way to use reel rings so I could adjust the reel position on the handle.I use the castration rings but have a Frabill with the sliding reel rings and really like that option.

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thanks for everyone’s help and advice. I got all the guides wrapped up last night. Just need to do the epoxy tonight after i line them all up. I think I still need to re-wrap the tip. I don’t feel real confident in that one. They are a little bit tricky.

I debated on getting a tip like that. I got one of these instead. Mostly because i like the look of thread over the blank rather than the metal being over the blank.

http://www.mudhole.com/RSFXB-Black-Pearl-RECOIL-Single-Foot-Snake-Guides

I’m going to give it another go on wrapping it on tonight. It felt like like the thread was too loose when i was done with it. I should be all done with it tonight though. Now if I only had another laker trip planned.

Your wraps don’t have to be super tight. If you think the tip wrap should be tighter maybe make something like the tip support attachment I made for the thread carriage on my manual wrapper for wrapping ice rod tips. The support has about a 3/32″ hole in line with the rod supports and a removable bridge piece on top (so the rod can be removed after the tip is wrapped on.)

It isn’t pretty, but it works great!

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Any Pictures of the finished rod Ryan?

Sorry they aren’t the best. I don’t have a lot of light in the room. I’ll take another one once the epoxy is all set up. My mistake, i meant to order color fast thread, but clicked on the wrong one when i ordered it. Instead of neon yellow i now have lime green. I still like the color though.

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Ryan Scholl wrote:

My mistake,i meant to order color fast thread, but clicked on the wrong one when i ordered it. Instead of neon yellow i now have lime green. I still like the color though.

I use normal rod wrapping thread as apply a coat of U-40 Color Lock 2 to all my rods, I found my colors come out more vibrant using the U-40 Color Lock 2.

JMHO Jeff

Looking very nice. How about a Picture of the tip guide and wrap? Is that the .385 blank? How long did you decide to make it?

onepine wrote:

Looking very nice. How about a Picture of the tip guide and wrap? Is that the .385 blank? How long did you decide to make it?

It’s out at my dad’s place right now since he had the dryer. I’ll take a picture of the tip when I pick it up and post it.

yes, it is the .385 blank. I cut it to 48″. 2 feet off the butt end.

here’s the picture of the tip:

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That looks good!

tucrs wrote:

That looks good!

Thanks. For my first build I am happy with it. There are little things I would be sure to do a little different next time, but I am happy with the outcome. A good learning experience

So I finally got to put the two lake trout rods that i built to use. I used the REC Black Pearl fly guide for a tip on both of them. This weekend the temps were below zero for all three days for the most part and I fished outside the whole time. The guides become very flexible in the cold in a short time. You can shape them and mold them into any shape you want. As soon as the warm up they are back to normal. Even with just warming them with your fingers.

Is this just the properties of titanium in the cold? or just the REC alloy in the cold? With all of the TUCR users out there, does this happen to you too?

Here is a picture of one after a few minutes of jigging.

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Yes they REC guides will do that. Usually they don’t move like that from jigging you have to move them with your fingers. But then again touching them does warm them up.

This is a good point about titanium spring bobbers too.

Ryan what were the temps it usually has to be pretty cold to have them respond like this.

tucrs wrote:

Ryan what were the temps it usually has to be pretty cold to have them respond like this.

I just looked up the past temps. Temps were between -20 and 0. In the mornings, it happened really fast. When the temps got closer to 0 they were less flexible, but still would get this way from jigging.

Does this cause any long term issues with the guides, as in weakening?

Ryan Scholl wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tucrs wrote:</div>
Ryan what were the temps it usually has to be pretty cold to have them respond like this.

I just looked up the past temps. Temps were between -20 and 0. In the mornings, it happened really fast. When the temps got closer to 0 they were less flexible, but still would get this way from jigging.

Does this cause any long term issues with the guides, as in weakening?

Doubtful.I tried a Clam Nitinol spring bobber a few years ago,it would droop in cold weather,but spring back when warmed.You can twist it into a pretzel,and would spring back straight.It is the properties of the material,and is very durable.

Not that I have ever seen. I have tried to break them in the cold -35 and they just bend and bend.

tucrs wrote:

Not that I have ever seen. I have tried to break them in the cold -35 and they just bend and bend.

That’s what I was hoping to hear. Thanks for the info.