Mille Lacs walleyes

I’ve been tossing around the idea of getting a new walleye rod for ice fishing. I am thinking either the TUCR Precission or TUCR Commander. Everyone says the Precission is the most versatile, but I’m worried it doesn’t have the backbone to haul in the big girls out on the deep mud of Mille Lacs. I primarily do my walleye fishing there, but will take a trip up to red and fish southern Minnesota lakes for not as big of fish. What should I do?

Commander.

Thorne bros walleye sweet heart. Blows both those rods away

I have the Commander and it is sensitive enough for smaller fish too, I was catching smaller perch on it while walleye fishing before. This season I was looking for a good perch/walleye rod and was thinking of getting the Precision but ended up with the Fusion because I already had the Commander (based on recommendations by quite a few on here). Happy with the decision

It depends on what lures you are fishing with. Either rod will handle any walleye you throw at it.

If you fish with mainly 1/8oz spoons a Precision will be nice.

1/4oz and up Commander.

Commander for that application for sure.

Both would work for that application. There is enough backbone, but in deeper water like that I would be using my commander. Precision is more versatile overall, but a commander shines when you’re going after bigger walleyes and in deeper water. Unless you’re planning on using some very light weight jigs, I’d go commander.

Throne Bros Walleye sweetheart fo sho!

Get them both! If just one, get the longest Commander that your shack can accommodate without brushing the fabric on hooksets. Don’t shy away from that 38″ with 8″ handle if you have a good-sized shack or permanent. It’s also an amazing hole-hopping rod.

The Precision will handle just about anything Mille Lacs can throw at it. I haven’t caught any giant walleyes on it, but I have caught 5lb smallies and 10lb pike. It handled those just fine.

I use the Precision for 1/8 and under, and the Commander for 1/8 and up. I prefer the Precision for most spoons and the Commander for Raps. These are the two rods I always carry for walleyes.

Thorne Bro’s > TUCR, sorry to burst everyone’s bubble

Thorne Bros x4

I used to be a big advocate for the the precision. Lately I find it just doesn’t have the backbone for mille lacs walleyes. A hard mouthed fish like a walleye needs more of a slam to put it home! Also, braid and a floro leader helps with a more solid hook up. I fish mille lacs 4 days a week, so I’m not just blowing smoke. I would go with the Commander, Also the walleye sweetheart is solid. One more rod to consider is the perch sweetheart, it definitely has the backbone to pound through that hard mouth

To those advocating for Thorne:
In the TUCR line-up, what are the rods that best compare to the Thorne Bros Walleye and Perch Sweetheart? What makes the Sweetheart better?

Plus 5 on the Thorne Bros walleye and perch sweethearts. Having said that, I’ve never used a TUCR.

Plus 6 on the Thorne bros. I own 3 Perch Sweethearts in various lengths for my eye fishing. Love the weight and sensitivity and haven’t had any problems iceing big predators with them. To me the Walleye Sweetheart was a little stiff for my likeing.

X7 on the sweethearts. Best rods I’ve built have been on those blanks.

Agreed, Icehawk. 90% of my walleye fishing is with the perch sweethearts. I’ll pull out the walleye sweethearts if I’m in a big walleye fishery.
Al

Thrones great, TUCR’s great! My nephew will outfish you all with an ugly stick. Get what feels best in your hand

I’ve got a couple Thorne custom mediums used for walleyes that are probably 8 years old, don’t think they had a name? Can’t remember, but they are GREAT rods!

Pretty sure they were in the $85-$100 range each

The Commander for sure! it is an amazing walleye blank, it can fish 14″-30+” walleye all day long.

It’s all about personal preference. You won’t go wrong with either Thorne Bros or TUCR. Both make excellent ice rods.

Thorne Bros Perch sweetheart for Mille Lacs!!!

both the wife and I are fond of our Sweethearts!

Get a perch sweet heart for typical walleye jigging. Walleye sweetheart if there is monsters lurking. And a walleye dead stick from Thorne to keep next to it.
( they also have some awesome panfishing rods)
And we all know they have the best open water rods available

Ryan Malo wrote:

I’ve been tossing around the idea of getting a new walleye rod for ice fishing. I am thinking either the TUCR Precission or TUCR Commander. Everyone says the Precission is the most versatile, but I’m worried it doesn’t have the backbone to haul in the big girls out on the deep mud of Mille Lacs. I primarily do my <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye fishing there, but will take a trip up to red and fish southern Minnesota lakes for not as big of fish. What should I do?

The Precision is the most versatile walleye rod TUCR makes in that it can handle the widest weight range of baits. It has all of the backbone needed to handle 30″ walleye. That said, the Commander was designed specifically to target larger walleye. The tip of the Commander is light enough to fish most walleye baits, but the big advantage of the Commander comes on the hookset. The transition from responsive tip to strong backbone is very fast and allows for deep hook penetration (huge in deep water). I have both and love both, but it sounds like a Commander would suit you better.
Dan

Thanks for all the input. Ended getting both, and they performed awesome last weekend! Commander hauled in a 27 and a 24 and the precision caught a 25 and a 25 1/2! There was no right answer, because both did awesome!

Ryan Malo wrote:

Thanks for all the input. Ended getting both, and they performed awesome last weekend! Commander hauled in a 27 and a 24 and the precision caught a 25 and a 25 1/2! There was no right answer, because both did awesome!

That is the most right answer! I did the same thing!!
Dan