Help a lady pick out the best ice combo for husband

I’ve been ice fishing with my husband for the past few years and want to get him a new rod/reel combo for Christmas, but I’m realizing I’m a bit of a noob as far as knowing what to get. He mostly has pan fishing rods and we use rattle reels for walleye. I want to get him something more versatile that can handle walleye, but also be used for pan fishing. I’m looking at JT Outdoors Gold Digger or Black Reign, and I understand the GD is medium light while the BR is medium. For reels I’m looking at the Okuma Ceymar Baitfeeder or regular spinning reel. I guess my question is, can this reel be used for either rod, and which combo makes the most sense for what I’m looking for? Do I get the 500 or 1000 model? Or if you have any other suggestions I would gladly take them. Thank you!

Best ice fishing combo is a party size bag of Funyuns and a 12 pack of Busch Light.

For pan fish and walleye consider the JT Shiverstick with a Daiwa QR750 reel. Great all around ice combo from quality companies that stand behind their products.

Lots of good sticks out there. I’d look at a tucr fusion with a regular old ceymar 10 on it. No need for a bait feeder unless dead sticking.

mxskeeter wrote:

Lots of good sticks out there. I’d look at a tucr fusion with a regular old ceymar 10 on it. No need for a bait feeder unless dead sticking.

great suggestion, I use that very combo… if you live close to them, go check out the TUCR store

I know how my answer will be like, get both.

The biggest misunderstanding of buying a rod is people will buy the rod for the rod. Which inevitably often leads to a dissatisfaction of use. The rod’s intended use is primarily for the lures and lure presentation. Yes the final intention of the rod is for the targeted species. However without the right lures or often lure weights, the feel of the rod in use is often missing out on.

The biggest misunderstanding of buying a reel, is people will buy a reel for the rod. Sure it will be just fine, but the reel’s best use is for when you’ve hooked up with the fish. Inevitably the bigger sized reel will be more robust. Sure there are reels with special technical features or special functions like a bait feeder design. When it comes to fishing equipment, small nuances maybe subtle advantages to huge game changer impact for the individual.

TBH, some lingerie and a $200 scheels gift card between the t!ts is a better idea.

Guys shouldn’t buy their lady purses, and women shouldn’t buy their men fishing rods. It can be a very personal decision, just sayin!

Deuces wrote:

Guys shouldn’t buy their lady purses, and women shouldn’t buy their men fishing rods. It can be a very personal decision, just sayin!

I am of this thinking too. I dont want anyone to buy me anything sporting goods related unless they absolutely KNOW that I have been eyeing that up. I have pretty much everything I could ever want and can buy anything I want so Christmas is always meh to me and that is just fine by me. I would rather the kids get things over me.

Deuces wrote:

TBH, some lingerie and a $200 scheels gift card between the t!ts is a better idea.

Good grief, Deuces. That’s fairly personal alright!

Guys shouldn’t buy their lady purses, and women shouldn’t buy their men fishing rods. It can be a very personal decision, just sayin!

Nonsense – she listed out some pretty nice stuff. I’m okay with a double standard here disallowing purse purchases, but not ice fishing gear from the lady.

That’s not personal Erik, couples do stuff, simply gave an idea to what any fisherman would love to receive. Take it or leave it, I’m giving hope

I’ve gifted some great combos over the years, some have sat on the shelf in their ice house or in garage bc it wasn’t their style. And that’s just a son/friend gifting, no biggie, if you didn’t like it but ur wife gave it to you and she went fishing with u, now u have to use it, and that one chance down the road it slips out you actually don’t like it I see an icehouse arguement, which noone needs. Now enter my option…..winner winner chicken dinner

Erik Swenson wrote:

Nonsense – she listed out some pretty nice stuff. I’m okay with a double standard here disallowing purse purchases, but not <em class=”ido-tag-em”>ice fishing gear from the lady.

She definitely had done her research that is for sure. My wife wouldnt have a clue, but she would ask my middle son and he would tell her.

Deuces wrote:

That’s not personal Erik, couples do stuff, simply gave an idea to what any fisherman would love to receive. Take it or leave it, I’m giving hope

I’m not in a position to disagree that any fisherman would love an intimate gift from their sweetie…I’d be taking.

Walleye and panfish on the same rod would be hard, most walleye rods are to heavy for the light jigs you use for panfish and a panfish rod would have to soft a tip for most walleye lures. So now your going to have to get him 2 rods, lucky guy. lol

Unless you positive you would never use the rod for dead sticking I would spend the little extra for a baitfeeder reel. With so many options to consider with buying a new rod, like length (are you mainly fishing in a shack or outside), and action for the types or lures he may want to fish with, it may be best to let him choose the ice fishing rod himself. I’m sure you have probably received gifts where you said, this is nice, but thought to yourself I really would have liked this other model/gift. A nice rod and reel won’t be cheap so might be better to let him choose what he really wants. An option would be for you to tell him, I want to get you a custom ice fishing rod for Xmas, but I want you to get what you really want so you are leaving the decision up to him. Let him go online and look at all the different ice fishing rod builders, or maybe he would want to go to an ice show and look at the rods in person and talk to the seller s directly. I probably wouldn’t wait too long though if you decide to go this route, because it could easily take 2-4 weeks to get a custom rod built, and most of the ice shows are before Xmas.

Take him to the Ice Show in St Paul. Walk around with him until he finds the rod he really wants. Drag him away from the booth. Say you’re going to the bathroom, and then go back and order the exact rod.

This ^^^ X2

What Dan said or get him a gift card\certificate from one of the many rod builders or Scheels.

Dan Baker wrote:

Take him to the Ice Show in St Paul. Walk around with him until he finds the rod he really wants. Drag him away from the booth. Say you’re going to the bathroom, and then go back and order the exact rod.

I second this.

I personally think a decent noodle rod can get just about anything done. There are a few light power rods out there that are decent “all-arounders” as well.

Thorne Bros Panfish Sweetheart has been super versatile for me but it’s a bit heavy for really small tungsten. I have a JR’s Custom Tackle noodle that was excellent for everything, very similar action to the JM Meatstick.

As for reels, a 500-size spinning reel is good for anything. I have a bunch of Okuma C-10’s, but honestly the Shimano Sienna is better for almost half the price. The size 20 Pflueger President is great too. I have a baitfeeder on my deadstick rod but I hardly use the ‘baitfeed’ feature.

Well said. My wife has tried to get me these things and it’s never quite right. I’m very grateful for the effort and good intentions but thevgift card idea is best.

Slabaholic wrote:

As for reels, a 500-size spinning reel is good for anything. I have a bunch of Okuma C-10’s, but honestly the Shimano Sienna is better for almost half the price. The size 20 Pflueger President is great too. I have a baitfeeder on my deadstick rod but I hardly use the ‘baitfeed’ feature.

+1 on the Shimano Sienna. Solid reel. Never had an issue with any Shimano stuff.

Even though many don’t like the baitfeeder reels, I still like having the option on my rods. I have been able to get all my Okuma Ceymar reels for under $50. My local L&M sells the Okuma Avenger BF reel for $39 every day. Right now Reeds has the Okuma Ceymar ODT 500 BF reel on sale for $39 and the normal price is $85, in case anyone is looking for a baitfeeder reel.

Dan Baker wrote:

Take him to the Ice Show in St Paul. Walk around with him until he finds the rod he really wants. Drag him away from the booth. Say you’re going to the bathroom, and then go back and order the exact rod.

This for the win! Or like others have said maybe one of each. I can think of a couple rods he would like that could do both but it would be better to have two that really worked well.