<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>AUTO_5 wrote:</div>
Aaron Drier, what kind of case is that?That’s an Eagle Claw.
Everyone have a fun, happy and safe 2019 using their short sticks; may they be from China, Edina or truly custom, made by a guy named Taylor!
BtW, anyone see the St Croix Custom Ice series on sale yet? I want try some without busting into my Livescope fund.
No you don’t…. “tubular blanks” belong in a boat, not on the ice.
Shatter City
I have had a few TUCR now, and they are really nice high end production rods. I think if I lived closer I would have more of them because if I’m paying that kind of money I want it to be exactly what I want. I live too far away to actually go there and feel and work with them. So I now get mine made by Erik Kraemer of Kraemer Custom rods. He is located in SE WI so I was able to go and talk with him and get exactly what I wanted. I like being able to say yes to this, no to that and so on.
Same with me.
Love my Thorne Bros. Sweethearts.
Perch Sweetheart is my favorite.
I would do a noodle or a pan fish carbon then one of my walleye carbon rods. On the pan fish rod depends how you fish, are you a sight or feel kinda guy? Noodles have taken off sense the JM meat stick and Bull Whip came out. But some of the most sensitive rods out there are carbon. My walleye carbon in 32″ weighs .85 of a once. You can feel a wax warm fall off in 20 fow.
Reach out to one of us who build rods to have a custom rod built. It can be expensive or as affordable as you want. Just remember you get what you pay for.
You can feel a wax warm fall off in 20 fow.
I can feel the difference in drag/weight when i lose a waxie with a $30 rod, but i can’t “feel it fall off”. That’s amazing. Can you feel the water moving as a fish swims up to your jig?
BtW, anyone see the St Croix Custom Ice series on sale yet? I want try some without busting into my Livescope fund.
No you don’t…. “tubular blanks” belong in a boat, not on the ice.
Shatter City
I heard the exact same thing.
Agree 100%. Tubular scares me for ice applications.
Solely because of a tube blank’s durability or fragility?
What is the temperature threshold of concern?
Custom means that the rod is made for you to what ever you want.
Who built those for you, really digging that green handle!
Kichler custom he builds a true custom rod. Can make it with a nice wrap name on it etc. even custom the bend you get. For much less then the named non custom rods. Handle design how you want it. He make many rods for the naifc guys.
I build my own…find something you like and go for it!
Kichler custom he builds a true custom rod. Can make it with a nice wrap name on it etc. even custom the bend you get. For much less then the named non custom rods. Handle design how you want it. He make many rods for the naifc guys.
how much less are you talking?
I realize that this is an outdoors site, but some of you guy really have a problem. 
I haven’t ice fished in at least 7 years, but my son is pushing me to take him this winter. So, I pulled my gear out of the rafters this past weekend and bought a new flasher. Of course, one or two of my rods had not survived a move and storage, but I’ll settle for more modest rods. He’ll still have fun, and I won’t get upset when he inevitably breaks one. 
I mostly use rods that I sanded to get the taper I want and built myself. I like my noodle rod actions even more than the TUCR rods. With that said the TUCR noodles are nice too. Mine are similar just a little smoother transition to backbone.
For carbon rods I have hand sanded some, but if going with a manufacturer that sells high end blanks it is hard to beat Thorne. I’ve made myself a 32 inch quiverstick and 36 inch perch Sweetheart. Also have a 29 inch Perch, 28 inch panfish, and 32 inch walleye sweetheart I bought from them before I began building my own.
After buying my panfish sweetheart from them probably almost 20 years ago it was hard to use cheaper off the shelf rods anymore.
I do have a rod built on a DH Al Dente built at 36 inches too. Makes for a pretty fair noodle rod for panfish but I actually really like mine as a walleye deadstick.
Tucker
If the goal is sensitivity at the tip but backbone to set the hook, why not not use a heavier rod with a spring bobber?
Do yourself a favor & stop into Thorne Bros.
Get yourself a “Perch Sweetheart”
Your investment will be in the range of $100-$110You can utilize this rod for Walleye & larger panfish.
That’s my 2-cents
Good Luck on your choice
& Happy New Years!!
Yep! me three!
If the goal is sensitivity at the tip but backbone to set the hook, why not not use a heavier rod with a spring bobber?
IMHO the difference is the transition from sensitivity to backbone.
The heavy rod set up with a spring bobber makes for a very abrupt transition.
Whereas, a custom rod can be designed for anything from a very fast tip which gives a quick transition, to a slow parabolic action which would give a very slow transition from tip to backbone.
Both rods would have a sensitive tip and both rods would have a heavy backbone.
The only difference would be how quickly the transition would take place.
Most are 80 buck with a custom wrap and your name on the rod. You pick design colors handle type etc. look at als facebook page Kichler custom rods. Pm me if you want his number
If the goal is sensitivity at the tip but backbone to set the hook, why not not use a heavier rod with a spring bobber?
St Croix already accomplished this with their line up of Legend Ice rods with spring bobbers.
For example, if you use the Legend Ice rod in UL power. You will find that it is more power than any other UL power rod on the market in comparison.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Sylvanboat wrote:</div>
If the goal is sensitivity at the tip but backbone to set the hook, why not not use a heavier rod with a spring bobber?St Croix already accomplished this with their line up of Legend Ice rods with spring bobbers.
For example, if you use the Legend Ice rod in UL power. You will find that it is more power than any other UL power rod on the market in comparison.
I actually own a St Croix Legend Gold (solid carbon w/spring bobber). I also own a Thorne Bros Quiverstick w/a Tripwire. The TB has more backbone than the Legend. The Legend bends all the way to the handle where my TB stops short of that.
St Croix sells ice rods on their name, not their performance. Their spring bobber design is great, but the Tripwire takes it to another level with non-kinking Nitinol that doesn’t have a spring for your line to get tangled in.
St Croix’s new tubular design is a warranty nightmare waiting to happen. Solid blanks hold up better in the cold and take the abuse better that ice fishermen dish out to their gear. They might be great, but I think their trying to get a piece of the “Mass Produced Custom” rods.
With that being said, I now roll my own and will never buy production again.
Its pretty obvious that opinions are like butt holes. Everyone has one and they spew…
Hopefully a little clarification among the pissing matches of builders.
Start out with identifying what baits you use most for each species. Are you mostly fishing gills with tiny tungsten, perch with little spoons, do you use a lot of W-3 jig raps…. THEN build or buy a rod specific to your needs. What works perfect for one of my applications could suck donkey balls for you. That is where some guys get very frustrated with their purchase of a “custom”. Too many guys buy a custom rod with no true application in mind and then expect it to be a one-rod-fits-all. Sometimes that works and many times it doesn’t.
As I read through all the post, this one about made me crap myself from laughing so hard
. “tubular blanks” belong in a boat, not on the ice.
Shatter City
Thank God you guys have NOT done my rod selection for me over the last 40+ years. Being in sub-zero weather on up has never busted a rod. Stupidity, stepping on them, auger rolling over onto them in the truck, wind rolling over a sno-boat, and smacking them against stuff to get ice out of the guides has all put some nice rods to their graves – but never fishing in cold temps.
For me, my “tubalur” composite, carbon, graphite, and glass rods make up for about 20 of my 25-30 ice rods. 
Custom v non-custom depends on how you define Custom. If you can only select from certain specs, is that custom? If yes, is that same rod at Cabelas also custom?
I have read many different posts on IDO about “custom” and I am not going to touch that subject on my first post.
The most important thing to a rod is the sensitivity of the tip to the taper into a heavy backbone. The tip will change depending on the weight of the lure you want to use. The taper is where all the magic comes in and will change depending on what you are doing. What makes the best rod is the one that works perfect for the exact presentation you are going for.
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