Dead stick rods.?

Currently I have a TUCR DS and was wondering if anybody else thinks it might be too soft of a back bone on it. Should it have a soft tip and a stout backbone to fight the fish. I think the TUCR is a glass blank. I tend to use a bobber next to me on the bench. I don’t have a rod holder in the Otter shack. I have talked to a friend who works at an outfitter business and he told me that walleye snare rods are now popular. specifically JT custom rods. Just trying to get a feel what other fisherman use or suggest to try or any tips. Not trying to start a manufacturer battle royale. Thanks for input.

what are you fishing for and what bait do you use….not all deadstick rods or methods are created equal

There are two trains of thought with the deadsticks – little backbone so the fish doesn’t “feel” the rod and drop the bait, and lots of backbone so the fish practically “hooks itself”. Results may vary, it is mostly personal preference

I would use primarily on walleye’s. Maybe the occasional crappie. Good question.

Ray Gylsen wrote:

Currently I have a TUCR DS and was wondering if anybody else thinks it might be too soft of a back bone on it. Should it have a soft tip and a stout backbone to fight the fish. I think the TUCR is a glass blank. I tend to use a bobber next to me on the bench. I don’t have a rod holder in the Otter shack. I have talked to a friend who works at an outfitter business and he told me that walleye snare rods are now popular. specifically JT custom rods. Just trying to get a feel what other fisherman use or suggest to try or any tips. Not trying to start a manufacturer battle royale. Thanks for input.

The TUCR Deadstick is a fiberglass rod. It is designed to have a moderate action tip and a stout backbone. When fighting a fish it should hit the backbone about 1/3 of the way down the rod. From what I understand the JT Snare has a softer action and lighter tip. That’s my impression from pictures and videos, I have not handled one before.
Dan

I have used the JT Panfish Snare for crappies and it worked great, I was fishing outside, had the JT set on the stand about 5 to 7 ft away from the hole I was jigging and saw the tip slowly go down, went over and picked up the rod (not a hard hookset) and worked as advertised. That is really the only deadstick of that style I have tried, have always just used a slip bobber and kept the bail open prior to that

bigstorm wrote:

I have used the JT Panfish Snare for crappies and it worked great, I was fishing outside, had the JT set on the stand about 5 to 7 ft away from the hole I was jigging and saw the tip slowly go down, went over and picked up the rod (not a hard hookset) and worked as advertised. That is really the only deadstick of that style I have tried, have always just used a slip bobber and kept the bail open prior to that

Yeah, I think this explains the differences in design. The TUCR Deadstick is intended to be in close proximity to the person using it. You see the bite but it looks like the tip is bouncing. Then you grab it and set the hook. I think the JT Snare is more of a passive technique where you can set it and forget it thing. A lot of people put an Okuma baitrunner reel on their TUCR Deadstick to have the fish be able to take the bait. Then they can set the Deadstick on an iFishPro and not need to be right next to it. Very different designs.
Dan

I prefer the Thorne bros dead stick over the tucr and I can say that fishing them side by side over the weekend

What is the difference in the thorne bros vs TUCR?

The transition between tip to back bone.

It all comes down to what you’re after in the actual set up.

For myself, if the rod is next to me and I’m looking for that visual tip there are a lot of choices. I do own a Thorne Bros. dead stick 32″ rod.

I am currently testing out some retail rods.
K&E Whip’r rod 36″ ultralight
Beaver Dam Noodle ice rod 32″
The K&E Whip’r rod is an ultralight and fishes like an ultralight.
The Beaver Dam Noodle ice rod may have an ultralight tip but has a slight transition into more of a L power rod. 8-9″ crappies feels like big fish.

I have used the St. Croix Premiere 36″ L power rod and it works great.

I use my dead stick for a rod next to me. I like to watch the fish grab it and know I can take my time and it’ll be still on there. To me the tuned up tip was a little to tough and you’d have to be much faster.

That’s just my preference

Any more out there that dead stick?

Ray Gylsen wrote:

I tend to use a bobber next to me on the bench. I don’t have a rod holder in the Otter shack.

Just trying to get a feel what other fisherman use or suggest to try or any tips.

I really like and often use rod rocker II’s in conjunction with my deadstick rods. With rods setup to balance on the rocker, they can be absolutely deadly. You can impart action by tapping the butt of the rod. They also further reduce resistance a fish might detect. I highly recommend giving them a try.

As far as a rod with more backbone, maybe look into the DH big boy?

To the original poster, you say you are using a bobber on your rod. Given that you could easily get away with using any of your standard jigging rods as your “deadstick”. The TUCR and the Thorne Bros deadstick are both made to be fished without a bobber using the tip to show the bite. I’ve caught big fish on both of these rods, but I know exactly what you are saying as even smaller fish even seem to over power the rod. TUCR’s rod seems to be better as far as backbone, but the thorne bros tip is softer, so there is a trade off between the two. Pair either with a baitrunner reel and they work great as a true deadstick, but with a bobber you could easily use any rod, even up to stiff lake trout rods. I think James even states he uses a LTP rod on his Ipro’s, which is similar to fishing with a bobber in that the bite is detected for you and you are just setting the hook.

Great points Bigeye30, I think investing in a good bait runner reel would be best for me along with a solid carbon rod with a little stiffer backbone. That’ good info.

I haven’t used a bobber in about 3 years. I have the tucr deadstick in a 32″and 36″. They are like two completely different rods. The 32″ makes a 15″ eye seem pretty big and the 36″ makes it feel small. I also run them with the okuma baitfeeder sitting them on an HT balancing rod holder. This set is pretty deadly. I use gamakatsu circle hooks so I can let them take it for a long time without deep hooking them.

I just received my dead stick Jt walleye snare. Unfortunately due to warm weather , we don’t have any safe ice near my local I can use it. What real should I pair it with? It’s a snare and set the hook your self rod so probably a baitfeeder is out ?

The JTsnare isn’t likely a self setting only rod, you could likely use a baitfeeder or maybe roll the dice and try and set the hook yourself.

A baitfeeder could be a more multipurpose setup, but the reel sizes is bigger if that matters.

I use my TUCR with a Avenger Baitrunner reel. I have used both TB and TUCR deadsticks and I like the action WHILE FIGHTING THE FISH on the TUCR better. Since I’m using a baitrunner reel, the tip action when the fish strikes is not that important to me.

Although I have 2 ltp custom rods paired with okuma bf reels I really dont see the need an expensive rod for a dead stick.I have them in case I go after lake trout and wanna jig.I have since bought mid range rods and more okuma bf reels for dead sticks. If jigging it’s a different story