Been looking at adding a few new rods/reel combos to my ice fishing equipment. I looked at the 13 Fishing Wicked and White Noise Combos. Anyone own any of these?
They seems like decent combos at a very low prices. How do the reels hold up?
Guy at thorne Bros said he would put them up against any st croix they would equal out very well. They look like nice rods.
13 makes some nice products. I’ve been very happy with the rods and reels I have purchased from them.
I have a few reels that are twice the price of these reels that don’t seem like they work half as well. Some of my expensive reels you still have to manually flip the bail closed. The 13 Fishing Wicked rod/reel combo I played with at Scheels felt twice as smooth as my good reels. And the bail flipped close with ease. I’m curious how they are once you get them out of the nice warm store and into sub-zero temps.
I have a 13 Wicked Ice combo in 25″ M action. I have landed a 28″ Northern after a long fight and the drag held up perfectly. The Rod is stiff enough to land big fish and also soft enough to feel the bite of crappies. I’m very happy with it.
You will get less line twist by closing the bail manually. You are not putting that partial turn in every time. I also feel it is easier on the reel itself.
Duke
Great customer service from this company. I have one of their reels that I screwed up, returned to factory & they repaired N/C & shipped back to me N/C 
What’s the difference between manually flipping the bail closed and giving a turn to close the bail? Nothing if you ask me. I’d rather manually close it. Easier on the reel and leaves the jig where you want it rather then have it come up with the turn of the handle
Let me explain manually closing the bail versus closing the bail on the spin. Whenever I fish, I always place 2-3 deadsticks with small slip floats around me when I jig. For example, last weekend it did not matter what we jigged with, slender spoons, small jigs, rattlers, etc, the perch would not take them. They would only take minnows on small hooks under small slip bobbers. Seems that the flash/sound of the spoons/rattles would call them in, but they would not take. They would just look at the jigs with waxes/shrimp.
So, while busy watching the graph, working the jig(s), you forget to look over on occasion to check the slip bobbers. Oops, there’s one gone, drop the jigging rod, grab the deadstick to spin the reel and there it sticks, won’t close, stop & manually close the bail and set the hook and fish is already spit the hook and gone.
While, I agree it’s easier on the reel to manually closing the bail, I want/need reels that I can depend upon will close the minute I spin the handle and the drags must not fail. The reels I have that closed on the slightest spins caught the fish, while the ones I had to monkey with to get the bail to close were never quick enough to catch perch.
That was the difference between us taking home fish and the shacks around us going home empty handed when the bite is that light or finicky. Any failure with a reel no matter what can cost you a fish.
From what I can tell in the store, the 13 Fishing Wicked reels felt smooth, closed with ease, both manually and by a quick flip of the handle and the drags felt smooth… all-around they felt much better than some of the $40, $60 and on up reels. I also liked the feel of the rods. All-in-all, they seemed like they would work well to replace some of my other more expensive rod/reel combo’s I hate fishing with….
Just looking for others thoughts on how these perform.
Quote:
Let me explain the manually closing the bail versus closing the bail on the spin. Whenever I fish, I always place 2-3 deadsticks with small slip floats around me when I jig. For example, last weekend it did not matter what we jigged with, slender spoons, small jigs, rattlers, etc, the perch would not take them. They would only take minnows on small hooks under small slip bobbers. Seems that the flash/sound of the spoons/rattles would call them in, but they would not take. They would just look at the jigs with waxes/shrimp.
So, while busy watching the graph, working the jig(s), you forget to look over on occasion to check the slip bobbers. Oops, there’s one gone, drop the jigging rod, grab the deadstick to spin the reel and there it sticks, won’t close, stop & manually close the bail and set the hook and fish is already spit the hook and gone.
While, I agree it’s easier on the reel to manually closing the bail, I want/need reels that I can depend upon will close the minute I spin the handle and the drags must not fail. The reels I have that closed on the slightest spins caught the fish, while the ones I had to monkey with to get the close the bail were never quick enough to catch perch.
That was the difference between us taking home fish and the shacks around us going home empty handed with the bite is that light and finicky. Any failure with a reel no matter what can cost you a fish.
From what I can tell in the store, the 13 Fishing Wicked reels felt smooth, closed with ease, both manually and by a quick flip of the handle, the drags felt smooth… all around they felt much better than some of the $40, $60 and on up reels. I also liked the feel of the rods. All in all, they seemed like they would work well to replace some of my other rod/reel combo’s I hate fishing with….
Just looking for others thoughts on how these preform.
Why not have enough line out where you can let the fish take what’s needed and have the bail closed? No sticking. Just simply reel the slack and set the hook. Worked on Mille Lacs for me. I have Shimano Sedonas on all my rods and they’re awesome. Quality reel that doesn’t break the bank.
I have seen some of their stuff. The reels are nice. The rods are nice also. Not nearly as sensitive as a good custom, but for a factory rod they are pretty nice. I’d put them up there with st. croix and fenwick elite ice rods.
I use too leave out enough line, but have lost and broken a couple of rods when those big Northerns come by, grab it and run. I stopped closing the bails on the deadstick and started leaving them open.
The drag knob on my BB ice reel fell in the hole.
Called them to order a new one.
It was in my mailbox 3 days later, for free.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
