TUCR Bullwhip and double-duty?

Specifically anyone use this as a deadstick for walleye? If yes, what are the pros and cons?

It’s such an intriguing rod and wondering what my Christmas present will be to myself this year. Originally I was going to get a dedicated deadstick but not sure.

I use it as a deadstick for perch at times. I’ll just a bigger bait on one rod and let the BW sit with a small tungsten. It works for them pretty well. I have caught walleyes up to 20″ on it and it handles them just fine. I wouldn’t want to be catching much bigger fish on it though.

I don’t do much walleye fishing but when I do I use my bullwhip as my primary walleye rod. If you have a good drag there is no reason that a bullwhip wouldn’t work.

I’m sure it could work for a dead stick, it would just take some time to learn how to read it. The Bullwhip tip is very sensitive, so just the movement of the minnow would likely show. The Bullwhip does have plenty of backbone to handle the fish once you’re hooked up.

I have used my BW on my IfishPro for perch and of coarse the LM bass always think they need to get into the action.. Works Great !!

Pulled several 25-26″ eyes last season with my BW. I like using it for neutral-negative walleye presentations (small swimming jigs).
If you’re purely looking at it as a deadstick option, there are other options that are cheaper and purpose-built as a deadstick that you should consider IMO. If you want a TUCR, then get their deadstick rod (featured on the IDO Leech Lake wheelhouse episode). Otherwise, get a cheapy at Joes/FF/etc.
MANY areas to better invest $120+ in ice fishing that will increase your catch % than a BW as a deadstick.
Just my 2 cents

michaelcfi79 wrote:

MANY areas to better invest $120+ in ice fishing that will increase your catch % than a BW as a deadstick.

Truth in that. As a Christmas present this lets me justify something that may not be on the fully rational side.

At least my overthinking was getting a BW for the reasons it was designed. The bonus would be a secondary use as a true deadstick depending on how well it worked.

Currently I use a Jason Mitchell meatstick as my noodle rod for pannies and perch. Love it. I also get secondary value out of using it as a deadstick. works but not fabulous. I can see the minnow swimming on the tip but would like more backbone.

Original plan was to add a dedicated deadstick rod(no bobber). New thought was to replace the meatstick with the BW and have that do double-duty.

I love my bullwhip to death! If you plan on using it as a primary panny and perch rod and the occasional dead stick then I say go for it. I’ve used it exactly for that and it worked awesome. Just can’t use to big of a minnow for the dead stick. But it had plenty of backbone to catch eater walleyes. And the soft hi-viz tip is perfect for detecting bites. Just my thoughts

Lol Caught my personal best Walleye on my brand new BW and it handled it so well that I know use it dead sticking all the way up to fishing a roach oh also kicked a 35in northern butt last season as well

Edit: 32in Bullwhip in both photos!

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DWSDave31 wrote:

Lol Caught my personal best Walleye on my brand new BW

That there is a beautiful walleye!!

Thanks! It was one heck of a way to break in the new setup! Best tip I can give is get a 1000 or 750 series reel with a really good drag system and the bullwhip could be a perfect dead stick rod to add to your arsenal!

Missing something here? Whats the advantage of a high priced dead stick rod over a cheapo $20 bearkly.
Just asking, because I seem to do fine with the bearkly? Waiting for that special tip down rod.

The biggest advantage I get out of it is I love big panfish and the Bullwhip is top of its class for them so theres only 1 big upside I can attest to and thats it can be your favorite trophy panfish rod and be a great dead stick when need be

DWSDave31 wrote:

The biggest advantage I get out of it is I love big panfish and the Bullwhip is top of its class for them so theres only 1 big upside I can attest to and thats it can be your favorite trophy <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>panfish rod and be a great dead stick when need be

@DWSDave31 Thank you!!! That is exactly what I was trying to find out. The other minor side benefit is it reduces the number of rods to bring for a day. Say panfish in the afternoon and switch to walleye around dusk. Keep it simple stupid, especially when it’s cold.

So how does the new Fusion rod compare? Love my Bullwhip and was looking at another but is a Fusion a Bullwhip on steroids? How does the Fusion handle jigging raps and etc? Sounds like the perfect rod for those types of baits.

The Fusion is very different from the Bullwhip in that the Bullwhip is a noodle rod and the Fusion is not. With the Fusion you get a fast action tip on a backbone similar to the Bullwhip, so it will handle large fish without issue. I prefer the Fusion for jogging heavier baits like the jigging rap or rippn raps, the tip is not a noodle so you have more control over the bait. I have used the Fusion down to heavy tungsten panfish jigs and it works great. I really like it when it’s dark and seeing the tip is an issue. If I’m crappie fishing, I had the jigs on the Bullwhip and small spoons on the Fusion. If I’m walleye fishing, I have large rattle spoons on the precision and smaller silent spoons on the fusion.