Rod choice preferences

I’m part of a fishing club at UW, the guys and I were discussing our preferences on how long of rods we use for ice fishing. I grew up fishing 36 inch+ rods for panfish and I have never really turned back from it so many advantages to using a longer rod, my fave three combos right now are all over 42 inches, guess I have never figured out the benefits of using a short rod other than they are easier to store and are easier to fish in a shack. What are your thoughts on the subject and what are your go to’s and why?

I have never used a rod longer than 28″. That rod is almost too long for my liking inside a portable, I couldn’t see myself ever using a 36″ rod inside a shack. If I were fishing outside I guess I would be willing to try a longer rod, but I’ve never really seen a need for one.

When fishing 4 lines in a shack its easier using a long rod for the farthest hole.

inside my one man I use all 15-20 inch rods and if outside no longer than 24″. 24 inchers are the longest rods I have. I Guess its all a personal thing.

It really depends on the presentation and location. I have a 2 man flip over, and 30″ rods are tough to use when flipped all the way down. Most of the time I’m hole hopping and then its 32 -48″ rods!

Only short rod I like would be a finnesse rod for site fishing in shallow or super clear water

28 inch powernoodle wiht a fly reel. 26″ trip wire (broken quiverstick with trip wire added), Probably going to add a 28-30″ quiverstick this winter for the go to panfish rods other wise 28 and 30 inch perch sweet hearts for everything else. I love my thorne rods. great hole hopping rods.

Im sensing a theme from all the posts that the Thorne Bro’s rods are a big favorite, I’m from Central Wisconsin so I don’t get to Minnesota much and I refuse to buy a rod over the internet because I have to feel it in person before I’ll buy a rod, I make more of mine I’m using now. I love the long rods for the shallow water I fish. 90 percent of the lakes I fish are less than 12 FOW. Can’t wait for the ice!!!

Longer rods 32″-36″ work great for hole hopping. I always recommend what feel comfortable to the individual. Not having to crunch down to fish the next holes is a great time saver and also you still can fish each hole.
Personally I am a tall guy and love my 34″ rod. I have very longer arms though.

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Longer rods 32″-36″ work great for hole hopping. I always recommend what feel comfortable to the individual. Not having to crunch down to fish the next holes is a great time saver and also you still can fish each hole.
Personally I am a tall guy and love my 34″ rod. I have very longer arms though.

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Great point regarding height/arm-length.

I think alot of anglers focus only on their portable/hard-side when deciding on rod length. Height also plays a big role, not to mention, are you a kneeler, a stander, etc. If you prefer to kneel on the ice when fishing, anything 36″ or longer to me at least, feels like you’re fishing in a neighboring lake’s hole rather than your own. When standing, that’s a different scenario too.

To each their own, but the point of custom rods is to get the size/shape/design that fits your exact specifications!

For me, 32″ rods are a perfect compromise that fit in most portables, yet alow me to fish standing or kneeling without being too far away. That said, I have shorter and longer rods for specific applications!

Joel

A custom rod builder can give you the perfect fit and recommend a rod that suits your individual needs.

Fishing with a rod all day that makes you stoop over will ruin a trip. Fishing with one that fits you will make the day so much more enjoyable.

John

I’m a standing ice fisherman, can’t do it any other way because of knee problems from sports but I agree customized rods are built for a specific style of fishing. I guess the conclusion is inconclusive all personal preference. I’m really intrigued to check out the Frabill Jiggler rods this year love that they feature a drag system, I had one similar but it busted on a big fish because it didn’t have a drag system. It’s so easy to feel bites with those long rods where the line runs through the blank, for those who have never used one.

Wind has a lot to do with my rod choice. If I can get away with a longer rod I will use it. However if the wind is blowing and I dont want to be in the shack I will use a 17″ to 24″ rod so I can kneel close to the hole to block as much wind as possible, just so I can have complete control over my jig and not have the wind blowing my line around and working my jig for me.
That said Custom rods are the way to go!

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I’m a standing ice fisherman, can’t do it any other way because of knee problems from sports but I agree customized rods are built for a specific style of fishing. I guess the conclusion is inconclusive all personal preference. I’m really intrigued to check out the Frabill Jiggler rods this year love that they feature a drag system, I had one similar but it busted on a big fish because it didn’t have a drag system. It’s so easy to feel bites with those long rods where the line runs through the blank, for those who have never used one.

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met some ice fishermen from wisconsin last year at lil millers on okoboji using those 5 foot long rods. they let me play with one, really fun to use and can feel everything with them, however they had the same issue you describe of getting broke off from a bigger fish. I too will be getting one of those jiggler rods this year

I prefer a shorter, lighter action rod for panfish.. which is basically all I fish.

I like a spring bobber and to hold it above the hole right in front of my face so that I can detect any twitch in the line, or movement in the spring bobber….

The oldest rods in my aresenal are 4′ Pulsator’s. When I was a younger buck that was ALL I used hole hunting crappie on the shallow mud flat backwaters of the Mississippi. The only disadvantage was when Billy Bass got his mouth around my cecil. With no drag system it was pretty easy to deposit a treble hook in Billy’s mouth. For this reason I started toying with the traditional ice rods again. The technological improvements over the years has been nothing short of astonishing! I am happy with the performance of a 28″ MLXF St Croix Premier rods armed with Cahill & Three Forks 4/5/6 fly reels in which I have added to my weapontry. This combo can handle just about everything the Mississippi river can throw at me in winter session. At 6’2″ it’s not ergonomically friendly to fish with a 28″ rod standing over a hole.

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Might be of interest, St Croix has $9 2012 36″ MH Premier ice rods available.

http://www.stcroixrods.com/shop/catalog/Ice_Fishing-9-1.html#

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While the price is right, and know that what follows comes from a big St. Croix fan, the Premier ice rods are of very entry level quality in my opinion. Unless something has changed the Premiers are made in China like so many of the other inexpensive combo rods out there. If you’re looking for an inexpensive rod to get you into a 36″ blank this might be the ticket. Just don’t expect it to perform anything like a higher end custom. And for $9, why would you, right?

Now if Croix wanted to make a line of custom ice rods they definitely could do it right if they wanted to. Legend Extreme ice rods anyone?

Couldn’t agree more with James, I bought a St. Croix rod about 4 years ago, used it once and got rid of it, and have not even glanced at one since. I love their open water rods, I own 2 or them but they are definitely behind in the ice fishing category(love their spring bobbers though). Wish they would invest more time and effort into making a better ice fishing product because they have the resources and marketability but choose not to push forward or at least they haven’t recently.

Thorne Bros Ice Rods for me. It is really hard to fish with anything else once you us them.

Almost every ice rod i fish with now Is made from st croix tip sections and legend ice rod handles. I,m a cheap skate when it comes to buying ice rods so i just build my own and i can have any length/action i want. But I think i do need to buy a thorne bros custom just so i know what i,m missing.
Ajs

I mostly run St Croix in the summer as they’re hard to beat for quality/price, but I was also very disappointed in the quality of their ice rods.

I’ve got a couple Thorne Bros rods that I like, but they are a bit spendy. I’ve heard good things so I’m thinking about picking up 1 or 2 of the tuned up custom rods to see how I like them this winter

Fishing longer softer rods can be very fun especially for panfish and you can get away with using very light line on these rods with out stressing the line. When fishing inside the portables though you will want to use shorter rods simply due to the amount of room you have but also for myself I prefer to be a little closer to the ice hole and cradle the reel in my palm and rest my hand on my knee and that allows me to very comfortably give a finess jigging presentation which is sometimes very critical to getting those bites you need. Hope this tip helps you out.

Paul Delaney
http://www.lateeyessportfishing.com