What are the advantages of using a fly reel for ice fishing? I have tried one in the past, but quite honestly, I never saw an advantage to using one instead of a standard reel. I tried one a few times and found the need to strip out line by hand was an inconvenience. I noticed zero advantages….but maybe I am missing something?
T
The reason people have gone to fly reels for ice fishing is they reduce the line twists. Its straight up and down. They have the same concept at the schooly reels.
I know someone else more knowledgeable will chime in but I believe less line twist is supposed to be one of the large advantages.
You guys are right on. Using a fly reel helps to reduce the amount of line twist. The major thing to think about is a fly reel is pretty specialized in that they suck to try to land a fish is deep water. For me the limit is about 10 feet, any more than that and I switch to a different setup. There fore I generally carry only 2 rods with fly reels and the rest have spinning reels on them. Hope that helps!
reduce line twist making fishing really light tackle alot eaiser, if your a bobber and minnow guy i wouldnt see and advantage.
And as answered, it helps to eliminate line twist.
Most of the waters I ice fish are deeper than 8 feet and I don’t feel like dinkin’ around with a fly reel.
Not to take anything away from those who really like using the fly reels. You will hear from some of the other iceheads that are sold on the fly reels.
When using a spinning reel there are things a guy can do to avoid line twist.
When battling fish that are taking out drag do not reel until the drag stops running. I have witnessed many times a guy constantly reeling while getting no where or while the drag is running. This will cause line twist faster than anything else.
When using jiggin’ spoons a small swivel 3 feet above the jig will help. Myself, I don’t care to see another piece of hardware showing up on my flasher. I have one rod set up for just jigging spoons and do not use a swivel. I’m not as concerned with a tad of line twist when using these heavier baits.
And the most important thing to me, don’t be afraid to change out your line often.
I have no problem spooling on new line ever couple of months. Depending on how much action my rigs are seeing and, come ice season they see a lot 
I’ll chalk this one up to personal preference and conditions.
I’m with Bret on “Not dinking around with Fly Reels”. Still I too fish deep water most of the season when fishing panfish. Eliminating line twists has an advantage absolutley when spooling straight mono. I do know as Bret said others on staff love the Fly reel add to ice fishing. I thought it was very cool watching Cal firsthand a couple years ago fight big “Donks” with his fly reel he had on his quiverstick.
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I’m with Bret on “Not dinking around with Fly Reels”.
I did say….. “dinking around”…. didn’t I? 
Chime in Cal, I know you like the fly reel, rumor has it James might have one rigged up also.
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What are the advantages of using a fly reel for ice fishing? I have tried one in the past, but quite honestly, I never saw an advantage to using one instead of a standard reel. I tried one a few times and found the need to strip out line by hand was an inconvenience. I noticed zero advantages….but maybe I am missing something?
T
Basically the advantages have been spelled out by guys earlier in this thread. Zero line twist (all but impossible to eliminate with spinning reels), exceptional drags and, perhaps most importantly… dang FUN!
There’s no “dinking around” with fly reels in water under 10′ – 15′ in my opinion. My experience is the opposite to be honest although I can see how someone would form that opinion if they picked up one of these rods equipped with a fly reel, fished it for a few minutes and then when back to what they’re familiar with.
I actually find the fly reels extremely efficient. I’m able to pull long strips of line when using my 36″ ice rods I’m mounting these reels on and the only limitation to how fast the line goes down the hole is the sink rate of the jig.
A huge advantage I notice before I even put a lure in front of a fish is how the line comes off the rod tip as straight as an arrow which makes it far easier to hole hop with light line and light jigs. Where I’m able to feed the line and light jigs straight down through ice shavings in a hole the guys fishing spinning gear have two choices… feed the line down through the ice chips by hand because the small coils get hung up on the chips (ironically this looks a lot like stripping line off fly reel 
) or they are forced to clean out the hole with a scoop. By the time either of those are done… I’m already fishing. And with a lure that doesn’t spin.
Is a fly reel the answer to all ice fishing scenarios? Absolutely not. But in shallow(er) water and when fishing smaller lures/jigs on light line… it is a deadly way to present a bait. But I’m not urging all my fishing buddies to make the switch quite yet. I haven’t grown tired of out-fishing them. Maybe that will happen next year? 
Thanks for the answers – they make good sense to me. James hit the nail on the head – when I tried one, I tried it in deeper water – and I tried it for only a few minutes before getting frustrated….
If I fished in shallower water once in a while, I would try one again, but in reality – I rarely fish panfish – and when I do, they are generally deeper (20+ feet).
T
I’ve fished perch in really deep water using a fly reel, mostly as a “let’s see how this works” type deal. Getting the bait down to the fish isn’t the big draw back. Reeling the fish up definitely IS. With a 1:1 crank speed you end up feeling like you’re in a Snicker’s commercial…. you’re gonna be awhile.
What I’m hoping someone does is takes a fly reel and comes up with a way to add a 2:1 or even 3:1 direct drive retrieve mechanism without adding a bunch of weight. I know Luke did a bunch of digging around for this type of reel last year and the ones he found were saltwater units that weighed way too much to be used on a micro-weight ice rod. If I could get hands on a 3:1 fly reel I’d swap out every last spinning reel I own on all my ice rods and never look back.
If anyone is interested in fishing a fly reel on an ice rod this winter there’s basically two reel mounts and each mount type influences hand position.
1 – Pistol Grip
2 – Recessed
Check out this thread for pics of both. Scroll past the maps until you see rods if you don’t have time to read your way to the pics.
I know a lot of guys prefer one hand position over the other with the pistol grip being the most common but the recessed “overhand” position being the most comfortable in my opinion.
I use Slater cane pole reels and hand line like the Europeans do.
Get the fish up then back to the strike zone no guess work.
The other advantage I have found was brought up to me when I got this Powernoodle made from thorne bros. Pat showed me how when you put the reel behind where you hold the rod makes the tip weightless and with some of the small jigs I use its really nice. I feel I have more control with setting the hook as well as being a little bit quicker. The other advantage of holding the rod like that is I can just quiver the tip to make the jig “swim”. For me it makes a little bit of a difference and if I remember right James has one of those style of handles in that video he posted.
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The other advantage I have found was brought up to me when I got this Powernoodle made from thorne bros. Pat showed me how when you put the reel behind where you hold the rod makes the tip weightless and with some of the small jigs I use its really nice. I feel I have more control with setting the hook as well as being a little bit quicker. The other advantage of holding the rod like that is I can just quiver the tip to make the jig “swim”. For me it makes a little bit of a difference and if I remember right James has one of those style of handles in that video he posted.
Pat is an absolute fountain of knowledge when it comes to ice rods and reels.
That’s the way I like to mount my reels and for the reason(s) you mentioned. You can adjust hand position to make it balance neutrally for incredible sensitivity and it is very comfortable to hold.
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I’m with Bret on “Not dinking around with Fly Reels”.
Chime in Cal, I know you like the fly reel, rumor has it James might have one rigged up also.
Line twist like everyone mentioned as well as weight of your overall setup. Some of the carbon fly reels similar to spinning reels make your rod/reel combo very light which also increases your feel of not only the lure working down below but the light biting panfish.
Thorne Bros has a new rod out this year called the stealth and it weighs less than 1 oz on a digital scale, so adding a light weight reel or fly reel will make the sensitivity unreal.
Chris those crappies were fun with that fly reel, but I would not like to peel 25 feet off the fly reel every day like you fish them. 
I see Frabill is coming out with a few straight line combo packages sometime this October. The reels are still 1:1 but have oversized handles for eeze of reeling. Though the reel is mounted in the center which I find problematic, I like the reel mounted as shown above, the back of the handle.
James,
I am thinking about getting a RYOBI fly reel. It has a 2.3:1 gear ratio, weighs about 4 ozs. Would it be too heavy for ice fishing?
Sounds like a great reel, where can you get one?
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James,
I am thinking about getting a RYOBI fly reel. It has a 2.3:1 gear ratio, weighs about 4 ozs. Would it be too heavy for ice fishing?
I am NOT James, but I believe the Okuma fly reel I have is 4 ounces too. That is without line.
FDR
I saw it when I visited China in Sept.,cost about $100.00. It’s made of aluminum alloy, not sure if it will cause any problem when it’s very very cold. Here are some pictures of it:
I also found a high end Japanese reel(kurodaikobo brand) that can be used as a fly reel, with a 1.9:1 gear ratio, cost about $400.
Hmm Fly reel for me, it would be fun to have one with an auto rewind for fishing smelt for laker bait.
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James,
I am thinking about getting a RYOBI fly reel. It has a 2.3:1 gear ratio, weighs about 4 ozs. Would it be too heavy for ice fishing?
No, that is the lightest reel with a faster than 1:1 retrieve speed that I’ve heard of so far.
Hi Guys, Not to throw in any curve balls, but I have been using the low profile casting reels, REVO S and SX on my rods for 3 years. There is no line twist, which was the reason for doing it but it gives me a 6.4:1 and a 7:1 ratio if you want. By setting the anti kickback tension to minimum even the light jigs will spool off by themselves and you have almost an infinite drag settable at your fingertips. I love this, yes it is more expensive, but with good rods and reels, I have caught a lot of fish without any problem with my line and it rolls off nice and smooth. 
I have asked this on another site but I would like to get some of your feed back from here.
I have used Nanofil this last summer and really enjoyed it, I think I have heard that this line will not twist?
If in fact it does not twist, why should I go to a flywheel set up?
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I have asked this on another site but I would like to get some of your feed back from here.
I have used Nanofil this last summer and really enjoyed it, I think I have heard that this line will not twist?
If in fact it does not twist, why should I go to a flywheel set up?
Braids generally don’t twist or coil. That’s a characteristic not limited to Nanofil. The real question is how it will perform in cold temps (water retention, stiffening, feezing, etc.) As it is a new product we won’t really know what to expect from it until it has been tested out on the ice.
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Hi Guys, Not to throw in any curve balls, but I have been using the low profile casting reels, REVO S and SX on my rods for 3 years. There is no line twist, which was the reason for doing it but it gives me a 6.4:1 and a 7:1 ratio if you want. By setting the anti kickback tension to minimum even the light jigs will spool off by themselves and you have almost an infinite drag settable at your fingertips. I love this, yes it is more expensive, but with good rods and reels, I have caught a lot of fish without any problem with my line and it rolls off nice and smooth.
There’s definitely more than one way to skin a cat so don’t hesitate to throw that curve ball. What is the weight on your baitcasters? What rods are you fishing them on?
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There’s definitely more than one way to skin a cat so don’t hesitate to throw that curve ball. What is the weight on your baitcasters? What rods are you fishing them on?
Hi James
Yes there are definitely many ways to skin a cat, fish, most things I would suspect. The fun is in trying to find those variations. The overall weight of the reel with line is around 10 ounces. For lines I have tried monofilament in the 6 and 4 lb area, Fireline Crystal in 4 and 2 lb but was not impressed with the braid fraying that occured by the end of the ice season, loved the non-stretch strength though, and this year I am going to give Nanofil a shot in the 4 lb. I am always trying to maximize my strength and minimize the diameter and clarity. One thing I found that really helped the overall line reel off is to put some balast line on first, anything will work, and increase the spool diameter just like is done on a fly reel. The rods I use are the Jason Mitchell or Fenwick with the integral reel holders in the handel. I love the ultra-light to light for all my panfish catches. Medium if I am looking for walleye. The one item that you talked about on one of your shows and that I am still trying to find is a good ultra-light with the spiral eye arrangement. These rods when used essentially upside down with my casting reel and with a heavy fish let the line not follow the controur of the pole due to the distance of the eyelet spacing. They work fine but I believe that I loose some pole efficiency this way.
Whats the price? I want one
I only found about a dozen online sellers in China that carry them(Ryobi Brand), priced between $100–$110. I checked with a guy who is willing to ship them to the US, it’ll cost about $12 to ship one reel.
Here is the link to one of the seller. Ryobi Fly Reel
It’s in Chinese, the orange number is the price in Chinese Currency, divide it by 6.3 and you’ll get the $ amount.
BTW, Ryobi sold its fishing business(and the Ryobi fishing gear brand) to Johshuya a few years ago. This Ryobi reel is not made by Ryobi, it’s made in China by a joint venture between Johshua of Japan and the largest fishing gear manufacturer in China.
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