Well, the 2012/2013 ice fishing season has come and gone and the 2013/2014 ice season is upon us. What are the reviews and thoughts of those who used these reels last season?
Are these just panfish reels or walleye reels as well?
Now that I am back in Northern MN, I will be back into ice fishing. Since Rainy is 90 minutes away, I think I need to see if I can find those slab Crappies.
Wade thanks for bringing this up, I too am curious as to what the user results are. 
I ran 2 6061’s for panfish mainly, works perfect at depths from 4-50′. I don’t see why they wont work for eyes, I know guys use them as drift reels for steelhead….
I found the drag to be very touchy. I used it mainly for panfish, but during early ice I am always running into large mouth bass. Trying to adjust it on the fly was challenging at best. I will sell you mine if you are looking.
FDR
Last year I used both the Black betty and the Black Betty 6061. The normal non-geared black betty was a fun reel to play with. I would say I wouldn’t want to fish more than 15-20 feet deep on it, since to drop down to depths you have to back-reel. That could get old fast. I got onto a fast bite one day fishing in 15 feet of water, and I was only having to drop down to about 8 feet before the crappies and gills would slam the bait, but after about 40 fish, you definately started to get tired of back reeling. It was still a fun combo to fish with, a really light fast tip to the ultra lite combo I was using.
As for the 6061, I cannot vouch for the drag in any means as i never did get onto any walleyes or pike with it. However it reeled up gills and perch and crappie easily. The fun part about the 6061 was allowing it to free spool down to your fishing depth in a hurry. Fishing at spirit lake or at bitter lake, I could drop down my 3mm fiska in a hurry when i got onto perch, and keep plucking the fish out of the school. Most of the time I would let the spool slightly ride against my palm till it got down to depth and use my palm to stop it, and then start jigging right away. Most of the time when I was into the fast action, I wouldnt even lock my reel from free spooling till i had a fish on. The spool allowed me to keep my palm on it to drop to different depths of the school without having to click the free-spool button and leave it in free spool mode, as well as set the hook as needed. Pretty handy reel for when you get into a hot spot….
Hi,
Tried one of those things (joined the Ice Fishing Show frenzy) for one weekend. Got so pissed off at the rod imbalance (turn my TB custom package into a piece of junk) … got an Ice Tech Razor Pro … and never looked back.
Take care,
Roger
Wade these reals are mostly black and white with very little gray area when it comes to liking or not. Personally I only used the Eagle claw ones last season and even though I would not say the EC reel was high quality I was very impressed and most likely will not go back to a spinning real for ice fishing again. I had a 1/2 hour battle with a musky with 4 lb. test with one of my EC inline reels. When I finally got it to the 8″ hole there was a eye on each side of the hole ( never would have fit thru but a great fight). So all in all they will work for more than pannies. Iced walleyes and manny slab crappies last year. I would say find someone who has one or try one of the lower end models and see if it will fit your style.
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Hi,
Tried one of those things (joined the Ice Fishing Show frenzy) for one weekend. Got so pissed off at the rod imbalance (turn my TB custom package into a piece of junk) … got an Ice Tech Razor Pro … and never looked back.Take care,
Roger
It takes a certain person to be able to adapt to these types of reels. The reels also needs to be used in the right condition or application. Lastly the reels allow you provide a specific type of presentation that may not be available via a spinning reel. So its a reel thats not for everyone.
I for one dont have an issue with the balance weight of any inline/straightline type reel and will fish these reels in up to 40 fow, mostly in 10-25 fow. Nor do I have an issue with the way the reels need to be held and retrieved.
When I pick up my inline reel im thinking presentation on a day where the fish is real finicky. If the fish is active I stick with the spinning reels. Why? If the action is good there is no need to go finesse. Point given.
On the negative the inline reels can freeze up easily on the really cold/windy days. Especially when your outside hole hopping. And if the reel or its internal gets wet it becomes frozen and useless.
Being that last year was more of a test market for these inline reels I hope this year that companies have taken to some refinement to make the reels better as they evolve. I hope this year models inline reels are more refined and have better components. The drag was an issue and difficult to set as well as the line free fall features which needs constant attention if your changing lures often.
Aside this, I use the inline reels for panfish and walleyes without much hassle. Handled 24″+ walleyes and pike just fine.
If your worried about your jig spinning just use a small swivel. I ran quality fly reels for 2 seasons and there fine for shallow water, anything deeper then 10 or 15 ft and they take too long to drop your jig down. I fish bluegills a ton and there is no way I can tell you my catch rate went up while using a fly reel. Save your money Wade.
In my opinion there’s a lot of room for improvement with the multipliers and the price point on some of the higher end reels is almost laughably high for the quality of the product you’ll end up fishing with. I tried 3 different multipliers from 3 different companies last winter and I returned each of them after trying them out on the ice.
I do applaud the companies that have been trying to fulfill this demand. Nobody has really hit the nail on the head but somebody will eventually.
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If your worried about your jig spinning just use a small swivel. I ran quality fly reels for 2 seasons and there fine for shallow water, anything deeper then 10 or 15 ft and they take too long to drop your jig down. I fish bluegills a ton and there is no way I can tell you my catch rate went up while using a fly reel. Save your money Wade.
Trav. Can you talk more about the swivels and line? I cannot for the life of me seem to get the swivels to work. Despite buying what I think are high end swivels.
This is just my opinion or thought proses on swivels with ice fishing. When using small presentations there is not enough side resistance on small jigs to hold them true and let the swivel do it’s job with line twist. And even with the inclines if you have a finesse tail on that is not centered you will get line twist as the jig falls. JMO
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This is just my opinion or thought proses on swivels with ice fishing. When using small presentations there is not enough side resistance on small jigs to hold them true and let the swivel do it’s job with line twist. And even with the inclines if you have a finesse tail on that is not centered you will get line twist as the jig falls. JMO
That is some pretty good insight. Thanks for sharing.
FDR
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This is just my opinion or thought proses on swivels with ice fishing. When using small presentations there is not enough side resistance on small jigs to hold them true and let the swivel do it’s job with line twist. And even with the inclines if you have a finesse tail on that is not centered you will get line twist as the jig falls. JMO
That makes perfect sense. Thanks.
I too got caught up in the fly reel craze last year and tried the Frabill 241. I’ll echo what others have said and say that it is good in shallow water. But the reel was made too heavy and threw off the balance of my combo. It also didn’t free spool when dropping, had to be hand stripped which got old in a hurry when on a hot bite or with big gloves on. The BB, Eagle claw and new Frabill multiplier all free spool which would be nice but for the price I think im going to stick with spinning reels. I normally stretch the line before I start fishing anyway by hooking the jig on something and running line out then pulling it tight and reeling in slowly. Also on jig spin a lot of times when you actually impart action on the jig it will spin regardless of the reel type. Until I find a multiplier fly reel that is significantly less bulky and inexpensive I’ll buy my 30 dollar spinning reels.
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This is just my opinion or thought proses on swivels with ice fishing. When using small presentations there is not enough side resistance on small jigs to hold them true and let the swivel do it’s job with line twist. And even with the inclines if you have a finesse tail on that is not centered you will get line twist as the jig falls. JMO
BINGO!!!
-Munchy
Ice is correct on the swivel issues! To make inlines work and balance to there potential the rod needs to be built around the reel. TUC and etc are not built for a 6061 or a EC inline. Hence they might feel strange or awkward to some. Making my own sticks solved this problem to my liking. I let a few friends try a MHX carbon blank I made a 6061 rod from. I never had a thumbs down. If I needed extra money I could build rods. It’s just a hobby so I’ve no interest to go further. Just to say that I’ve not seen a rod for sale properly made for inlines to work to potential.
Here’s a prime example of swivel failure! Even with a heavier jig or jigging rap shown here its spinning with a swivel attached.
On the note with even lighter or tiny jigs its likely worse. It will still spin a little even with a inline/straightline reel but at least it minimized. Having a swivel on light jigs isnt just conventional, it deviates you from the bite sensitivity as well as up bites and tight lining.
Not to be picky but…
The video stated it was a barrel swivel..
Was it a good swivel or a cheap one?
Ball bearings ? 
If fishing something 1/64 oz or lighter it’s irelavant from my tests. I ran sampo and a Japanese finesse swivel that’s $9! Does not matter just not enough weight to counteract the slow spinning. The in lines are the best way to minimalize spinning.
I bought into the Black Betty 6061 craze last year as well and the only real complaints I have are the drag system and the fact that the line could get caught inside the spool, which can be a pain to untangle.. Other than that, I loved the feel for fishing deep suspended crappies and bluegills.
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