Good Ice fishing pole!

I am going to purchase a new pole always have used Tip Ups for ice fishing. any ideas on what I should look for in a pole? i will use for sunfish/crappies and bass/pike.

That depends on what you will be doing. Sitting on a bucket,hole hopping,or a hut.Some guys have many rods from home made to big buck rods. I have some that are about a foot long to 4 foot long. Its just what you like as you go along. Good luck because you have many to pick from!!

I just bought a Frabill Jiggler long pole 48″ for hole hopping. That is what I like to do. How I can retire some of my older poles to the grand kids.lol

Take a drive to either Fleet Farm or HookedOnFishing on north Broadway and take a look at the equipment. HOF has a ton of new stuff in the store right now. The Frabil line of rods is real broad and lots of panfish rods or rod/reel combos are in the line-up.

for the most part ill be chilling in the same area. but i did just get a gas auger so i might move around more. my budget is around $100 bucks for a nice pole and bomb line. as for the reels should i look for how many ball bearings are in them?

thanks for the heads up ill go check them out. ive been looking online at fleet farm and gander. just so many to choose from. ive always iced fish but usually with just Tip ups. iam thinking on trying new things and to jig more. my favorite fish to catch are bass and pike for the most part i hate small fish lol

I’d buy a rod and then find the reel. The Shimano Sedonas and Saharas come in a 750 and a 500 series size of reels. The Sedona in the 500 size is sweet and the reel is super dependable. Both models of these reels are smoooooth and have bearing in the right places without over-loading the cost. Keep in mind that if you are on open ice more bearings on colder days can stiffen a reel up to almost the point of being unusable.

Also keep in mind that you are not going to be casting….everything is open the bail and let the lure drop. That said, deeper reel spools aren’t needed but what you will want is a reel that winds the line in an overlap so the line doesn’t cut back into the under wraps. The Sedona has a nice staggered line application that lays the line on the spool to avoid this issue and at the same time keeps the wraps wide enough to help eliminate coiling and memory.

$100.00 will get you a pretty decent rig, line included. And since you’ll be fishing straight down a hole and won’t have to worry about the line taking on water and sinking, I’d go with a clear fluorocarbon line like Vanish in two or four pound weight. Today’s fluorocarbon lines in the light weights are supple and very sensitive with limited stretch and they are darned near invisible in the water.

Check out the Frabill combos.

cool ill check them out iam also going to watch craigslist. but if iam going for bass or pike i would want to use way more than 4-6 lb test right?

Um…One rod for panfish and one rod for “bass/pike”?…ONE??!! That’s like having one beer – and not even fisnishing that.

I just went downstairs to look in the rafters. 18 panfish rods of varying lengths and stiffness,11 of those have a good reel and fresh line. Six panfish rods set up for tip-downs. 14 rods for walleyes – the same as you’d use for “bass/pike”,and 9 of those sport a quality reel. Another 15 that are a mix of spares of rods I like and may not find again if I break the one in the “active” category,or rods that I probably won’t use but are too good to throw away.

Rods in the “active’ category that do not currently have a reel “share” a reel with an open water rod. Some of those are Diawa Excellers – the spare spool holding ice line.

One rod? How can you walk out on the ice with one rod? What if the fish are deeper/shallower than you anticipated and you’re not happy with the rod’s action or the line on the reel? What if you slip,fall,and break the rod? What if,what if?…

thats hardcore.. he sounds like he is just getting into icefishing like myself. All of that would be overwhelming to go out and purchase over 20 rods and reels. Id suggest figuring out what you wanna target more/first and get that set-up taken care of. You can get a good combo for 60 bucks. Shimano reels ive had good luck with. Get to a store near you and start playing with some of the reels and rods and see what u like. Good luck

My point – kind’a made sideways – is that they become like potato chips. You can’t have just one.

They really don’t cost that much. I like the ice blues rods for panfish,and I add a spring. I break them,I have extras. I also like “better” rods such as the St. Croix. I also kind’a like adding a new rod or 3 (or more ) every year.

For walleyes,same thing. You can sort of tell quality just looking/feeling it. Sometimes a rod doesn’t quite fit the purpose you bought it for…Jigging raps,deeper water?..deadsticking a minnow in 40’… Slender spoon shallow water or slender spon,deeper – two diffeent rods…Inside the shanty? Outside?

So buy that one rod for each purpose and use it as much as ou can. Then after 5 or 10 times out,take another look at the rod rack. You now have a better idea what YOU like.

No harm in owning a small collection of rods.

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Um…One rod for panfish and one rod for “bass/pike”?…ONE??!! That’s like having one beer – and not even fisnishing that.

I just went downstairs to look in the rafters. 18 panfish rods of varying lengths and stiffness,11 of those have a good reel and fresh line. Six panfish rods set up for tip-downs. 14 rods for walleyes – the same as you’d use for “bass/pike”,and 9 of those sport a quality reel. Another 15 that are a mix of spares of rods I like and may not find again if I break the one in the “active” category,or rods that I probably won’t use but are too good to throw away.

Rods in the “active’ category that do not currently have a reel “share” a reel with an open water rod. Some of those are Diawa Excellers – the spare spool holding ice line.

One rod? How can you walk out on the ice with one rod? What if the fish are deeper/shallower than you anticipated and you’re not happy with the rod’s action or the line on the reel? What if you slip,fall,and break the rod? What if,what if?…

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I just checked my inventory and it sounds like we have the same problem. Don’t forget the (3) flashers……for those who don’t have and if a battery dies!

If your lookin to just get into the game cheap I would recommend two for right now. A Ultra light combo or a flimsy Light action combo is a great set up for panfish, no more than 3lb test is ideal. In my experience I’ve never had too big of a pike or bass for a fair priced Medium action combo with 6lb-10lb line depending on personal preferance. And remember playing the fish is absolutely key in winter. Honetly I use my UL for everything. Including my largest pike 16lbs on 2lb test. Don’t spend tons of money right away, 100 bucks should get you both those rods and a healthy dose of beer for when fishing is slow

+1 on the shimano sedona 500s