Sorry, another 'which TUCR rod is right for me' thread…!

Been hovering the boards for awhile, pretty good community. Anyways, I’ve in the market for a nice rod, only been ice fishing a few years now (this is my third ice season) using HT Ice Blues, which do get the job done. But I’m ready to make an investment.

I’ve emailed TUCR, and got some answers, but the more I research the more confused I get!

So I mostly fish for crappies. I don’t know if that’s because that’s what’s predominantly in the lakes we fish which out south of the cities here in MN or what. We do plan 2-3 walleye weekend trips a season, 1 up to LOTW, 1 to Rainy lake and 1 random. Last year was my first trip to LOTW to so I went out and got a St Croix Premium, which did the job. But I’m anxious to see what it does now that I know a little more. I don’t recall being able to really finesse the tight bite. Being new to LOTW, they were either hitting or they weren’t, and when they weren’t I didn’t really know much about light bites.

So that means I probably do 75/25 crappie fishing to walleye fishing. My plan for now is to only invest in one rod. And maybe next year grab a second. My thinking is that since I only have 2 walleye trips planned, that I should focus on a crappie rod first. Use my st croix this year, then get a walleye rod next.

So, which TUCR is best for me? I think I am developing into a tip watcher. I’ll focus on the vex to bring them in then start watching my tip for the bite. Now I also like to feel the bite. But we are big on hole hopping, we put in a lot of work, and when those temps drop, I won’t be holding the rod bare handed.

My response from TUCR was, if I get one rod, get the Precision. If I get two rods, get the Precision and the Bullwhip.

I’m just confused! I was going to try and map out the limitations of each rod for a better understanding. We use 1/32 and 1/16 for crappie, and 1/8 and 1/4 for walleyes. I usually use a little big jig, or something really like when they are finicky. Sometimes rat finkies, sometimes buckshots.

Looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say!

Thanks for listening!

Power Precision target range 1/4oz Fast action

Precision target range 1/8oz Fast action

Quicktip faster action carbon rod for panfish 1/8 much fast than a Precision. Very good rod for fast action Perch. Extra Fast action

Bullwhip visual bite rod for heavier tungsten and windy days where a noodle is too light to detect bites.

Noodle is the lightest rod with still a good backbone.

From the man himself, thanks John.

All that said, what would you recommend. Those are the specs I was looking for, but I don’t know that I understand how to use that information!

What type of tip does a precision have when it comes to seeing the bite?

And if the Bullwhip is for heavier tungsten and windy days, does that mean there’s a more universal rod for panfish?

Or, maybe it sounds like that Bullwhip, because of the bigger backbone, would give me more support if I’m finding bigger fish? Can you pull in smaller walleyes with the BW?

For crappies I would go the noodle rod…I don’t own one(I will before season end) but heard they are ridiculously sensitive and you need a sensitive rod for them light biting panfish..For how much you fish eyes you can get by with a factory rod(But once you go custom you dont want to use any other rods haha)..Once you fish eyes more then I’d get the precision, I love that rod. ..

That’s kind of what I was thinking, Precision as my second rod. Do you use your Precision for Crappies?

I was eyeing that noodle until I heard the about the Bullwhip. Seems to give about the same scenario as the noodle just with better backbone.

I’d say since TUCR makes a custom or a “production-custom” lines that your best bet is to call them and get their advice.

Part of a custom rod is trusting the builder or telling the builder what you want and having them build it.

You can catch huge fish on light tackle if you set your drag right.

You can catch bluegill on a surf rod too.

If you want a TUCR trust TUCR to give you the specs and guidance to get the rod in your hands that you need. I think you’ll end up happiest that way.

My $.02.

I have use my Precision for crappies. Works well on more aggressive bites.

For the super finicky the Noodle is the only way to go. Bullwhip is the heavier type noodle for heavier tungsten.

The last weekend out chasing crappies they would not take the smallest tungsten jigs I had while using my ST Croix UL spring bobber rod. I tried some Bro Bug Blood Worm 1/64th (led heads) and lighter was the ticket. Crappies also would only take it on the chase, and watching that spring bobber while rasing was tough so long story sort….I just ordered a 32″ noodle from TUCR, now the tough part is the three week wait. I can’t wait to get it!

I think you cannot go wrong with the Quick Tip. I enjoy the way it feels with 1/16-1/8 spoons. Plus can feel gills and play bigger walleye.

I’d probably go with the bullwhip. I just had one order for me for Christmas and my reason behind doing so was because I wanted a rod where it was a visual bite instead of a bite that you feel for. With gloves, cold days, and wind, feeling the bite on even the nicest rods is almost impossible, especially if they aren’t aggressive. But with the bullwhip you can fish outside on those nasty days and still see that bite. This is what I’d do based off of your fishing style.

If recommend the Quicktip given what you said. You can see and feel most crappie bites with it and it has plenty enough backbone for eyes just a slightly lighter tip than what you’d want to jigging big 1/4oz baits for eyes.

I think I’m just going to have to call John up this weekend to figure it out. That’s the problem with all the research, everyone basically recommends every rod, which means every rod they make is good!

Tonka, wouldn’t the noodle also give you the same sight fishing abilities? The BW was my initial though, thinking it would do the same thing as the noodle but with added backbone in case i needed it. But I don’t fish heavy tungsten jigs and John basically mentioned that the BW is a noodle for the heavier jigs (and wind).

I can say, the HT Ice Blue I’m using right now… is way too noodling at times to really make the jig bounce accurately. At least that’s how it feels at times.

Interesting that two QT recommendations popup within an hour! I could technically use it for the occasional eyes down here in the cities with smaller spoons. But if I were planning on a precision next year for eyes, wouldn’t I want to just focus on a crappie rod?

So if I were to use this thread, I’ve at least narrowed it down to 3 rods, Noodle, Bullwhip and QT.

So, IF i got the Noodle, I’m limited to jig weight. If I got the Bullwhip, I can use a heaver jig, how’s it perform with the really light weights? And the QT, would give me more all around versatility, especially if I wasn’t going to invest in a heavier walleye rod.

Plus one on the Quick Tip.

I bought one at the ice show and have caught everything from light biting Perch and gills to light biting and aggressive walleye. Worked great for all of these applications. Also fished with a Precision for walleye and loved it as well, but wouldn’t use that one for pan fish.

I’d go with the precision noodle this year and get a precision next year. precision noodle can handle fairly good sized tungsten jigs, maybe not massive ones but it doesn’t sound like you use those anyways.

In my opinion, that PN will handle any panfish you manage to hook into.

@Marc Hortsch Best thing you can do is ask for anyone in the area that has any of these rods meet up with you and check them out on the ice. for the majority of people, a rod will have a “feel” when your standing in a store or in someone’s garage. Until you load the rod with which jigs you like and dunk them in the water, you’ll continue to play a guessing game. Its the exact reason why your getting different recommendations. Everyone has a different application on how they fish

Randy Wieland wrote:

@Marc Hortsch Best thing you can do is ask for anyone in the area that has any of these rods meet up with you and check them out on the ice. for the majority of people, a rod will have a “feel” when your standing in a store or in someone’s garage. Until you load the rod with which jigs you like and dunk them in the water, you’ll continue to play a guessing game. Its the exact reason why your getting different recommendations. Everyone has a different application on how they fish

X2. Randy’s got the right idea. Hook up on the ice with some guys that got the rods you want to try. Just like taking boats for test rides.

First off,i have all three rods your considering. And if i undrestand your dillema correctly your wanting one rod now and going to add another down the road. I will tell you if you spend 75% of you time after panfish you should get the noodle first. Then the quick tip. The Noodle will handle any occasional eye that comes along but thats not what it is designed to do. It will handle heavy tungsten just fine, thats about all i use on that rod. It is meant to be a sight bite rod and kicks rear hinney doing it too!
The quick tip will handle heavy or light tungsten and also small spoons too. Would do just fine on the eyes. Its a great feel rod and does ok on the visual bite. I use it with slender spoons and other lighter jigs on perch and eyes.
There are many non custon rods out there that will work on flier jigs buckshots and rippin raps untill you save the money for a precision.
After having tried all three rods and seeing what they are good at that would be my recomendation considering what you fish for mostly.
One more thing to consider is that you could use the noodle as a dead stick rod on your walleye trips.

Sounds to me like the Bullwhip is what you’re after. Light enough for crappies but heavy enough for the average walleye. FYI TUCR is about 3 weeks out on a Bullwhip order.

The quicktip has been my go-to rod for crappie, perch and eyes with 1/16-1/8oz spoons and jigs. I use my precision for heavier spoons, jigging raps and rippin raps as it gives you the best control with those lures. And I use the noodle for small jigs or 1/16oz spoons when the bite is extremely light with crappie. When I get a bullwhip it will replace the noodle for my active rod, and I will mostly use the noodle as a dead stick when using the bullwhip. So what is my advice? Get them all, but to start I think you would better like the quicktip or bullwhip. The QT has pulled up some pike over 10lbs for me this season as well as some walleye in the 5-7lb range. so it should work just fine on your walleye trips

Now I feel like everyone is messing with me! Like some sort of hazing!

I’ve remade my decision about a dozen times now, deciding on the Qt, then the noodle… Then the bullwhip… Then the qt… Wish I had $300!

and I’m over here like should I or shouldn’t I…. good luck man

DWSDave31 wrote:

and I’m over here like should I or shouldn’t I…. good luck man

I feel the same way right now about whether I should order that bull whip or not. Haven’t received my quick tip yet that I ordered from the show. Don’t feel like waiting another 3-4 weeks

Makes me wonder why all custom rod shops don’t have any pics of the rod bends (action) for each of their rods. I mean they have all sorts of pics from design, top to bottom but I’ve never seen a pic of the action. I think it might be a help in deciding factor to buying a rod you’ve never seen or held. I give thorne bros a thumbs up for always having a sample to look at though..that’s if you are near the twin cities. As some say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I called up John… pretty class act. Better customer service in the 5 minutes that we’ve chatted then i’ve gotten in a long time.

And he set me straight within the first 30 seconds.

Anyone on the fence, call him.