I’ll be fishing the Iowa circuit, should be a good time.

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You forgot the probably ridiculous price.

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Yeap its pricey alright at $109

But if its quality and does what it supposed to it’ll be worth it. Still cheaper then my open water spinning reels and baitcasters.

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The black Betty was $99 and wasn’t worth a crap unless I stripped it and did some machining work to it. Doubtful this one will be any different. 13 fishing needs to keep better tabs on its quality control.

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The revamped version took care of the issues from what I was told. I have yet to put mine on to test it.

As for the Tear Drop, its been one of the harder secrets to keep. When I was shown the design photos a couple months ago, I knew it had to be kept quiet or else we would start seeing $15 dollar imitation plastic copies pop up everywhere, like what had happened last year with the 6061 design.

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Raft reels were around long before the 6061 hit the market last year.

No the hooks aren’t made of tungsten.

The hooks are a higher temper than your standard Eagle Claw/Mustad hooks so they will break before they bend.

Sunny, which bait shop do you work at?

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Here is a post from when I did mine.

Also, terminate the unused leads if you buy a new power cable.

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x2. I also purchased the plastic covers which go over the data, Ethernet, etc plugs on the back of the unit. I didn’t want any condensation/roadsalt/etc to contact those.

The difference is in the additives they add to the formulas of each line. One might have more water repellants, etc then the other.

I think they really dropped the ball on branding when they called their multiplier reel the Black Betty 6061. It’s creating way too much confusion for consumers.

My two cents.

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I like fly reel backing. It’s cheap, lasts forever and you can fill up most of your spool with it and fish 50′ of your good/premium line in most applications. If you hook a big fish the fly reel backing is very easy to work with in cold temps. A big plus is because you’re only fishing 50′ or so of your premium line you can change it out frequently without wasting much money doing so.

You can usually find spools of fly reel backing for $4 – $9 depending on quantity and it comes is different colors so you can customize your setups so you can tell them apart from your buddy’s rods/reels.

Fly Reel Backing on Amazon

Tip up line also works well.

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I couldn’t agree more; 20-30# test is what you’re looking for. Don’t get gel spun as it’s a thinner diameter line and that’s not what you want. You want a larger diameter line for backing so that it requires less line to fill the spool.

As James mentioned, fill the spool almost completely full of backing and then add a shorter amount of your actual fishing line. 50-70′ would be about right, depending on how deep you are fishing.

Spray some Reel Magic or what ever line conditioner you like on the backing and you’re all set.

Damn nice crappie! Congrats

I asked one of the Frabill reps at the TB event as well and he wasn’t sure either. I do agree that the 241 was noticeably heavier than the other fly reels present.

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Chris I’ve yet to fish with you and even get in the Otter !!! 65 degrees in March on Rainy ??? WTH

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That’s true bud!! Actually thinking about talking to Otter to see if they might have a line on some aftermarket AC units. LOL!!

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Chris, that’s not ice fishing, it’s a dang vacation! Nice photo

If you add their L bracket, the weight of the auger head is carried on it.

The reason I chose the Digger was because of it’s ability to carry a StrikeMaster Strike Lite auger in the correct position. Obviously that won’t be an issue with the new Honda 4 stroke or any 2 stroke auger, but it is important for the Strike Lite.

I used this last year and really liked it.

http://www.diggeranchor.com/augercarrier.html

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what you talkin bout willis? you callin me fat? lol. anything have got to be better than nothing anderson, but i will definitely check that out…..

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No need to get all sensitive on me, Suzy.

Just something to consider is all I’m saying. I would hate to see something bad happen to yah!

Shane, check the weight requirements for each brand. I don’t recall how heavy a guy they can float. I want to say Arctic Armor is 250 or 270 pounds; but don’t quote me on that. I don’t know how much the Striker can.

Neat looking reel, a few thoughts though
1. The prototype doesn’t have an elongated reel foot like it does in the schematic. Like you mentioned James, it’s only a sample and not the finished product.
2. I hope they tighten the space between the spool and the frame. Your line can get caught in there and can create a headache when fighting fish.
3. I wonder why they went with a dual handle?

Quiverstick sounds like what you would want then. Give the boys at TB a call and see if they concur.

Do you want to feel or see the bite?

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I need help deciding a handle. is the 4″ handle to short or is it long enough to hold. Should i go with the 5″ handle or is the 4″ one long enough. BTW this is going on a 30″ quiverstick.

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I wouldn’t go with the 4″ handle on a 30″ rod. Nothing against the shorter handle, I have it on my shorter rods and love it, I just don’t think you would be pleased with it on a 30″ rod.

Call Lonny, he can help you out with all of your questions.

The text you have them put on the rod is not out of thread, rather a sticker.

There are numerous color options out there, see which two colors appeal to your personal preference the most and go with it.

Go with the outside Recoil guides, you won’t be disappointed. I have both kinds of guides and prefer the Recoil.

My SL2 started and ran like a champ all last year. Started on the second pull every time.

Might be worth a trip to the store and see it first hand before you place an order.

I have a few of their rods and really like the action and quality.

Awesome memory, thanks for sharing!

Well, i went ahead and bought a Marcum LX-5 at Cabelas last weekend. I had them ship in the marcum as well as a Vexilar FL-20 19 degree so i would have both options to choose from. I dont think i could have gone wrong with either and i cannot wait for the icefishing season to start. Thanks for all the input fellas!

I havent used a Thorne brothers rod yet nor a Scott Mitchell rod but i heard that both are very good.

I do own a SC Legend rod and love it for panfish. Im going to try to find a MH spring before the season this year so i can use heavier jigs with it and still have great sensitivity. I would stay away from Ugly Sticks unless you are deadsticking; just dont have the sensitivity. Southbend Blizzard rods are cheap and suprisingly very sensitive. SC Premiere is a very nice rod as well.

I havent bought the product yet but have done a little research on them. I guess one of the factors holding me back is the price of them. It seems a little too pricey for something such as it.

As others have menioned, the reel weeds arent going to make the fish bite your presentation much like the flasher wont. All it is going to do is potentially congregate fish to the area and keep them there a little bit longer then if there wasnt structure there. A lot of insects, plankton, baitfish like to reside in weedy structure as well as it provides cover from larger predators. Im guessing these are the factors as to why fish would be interested in the reel weeds. Plus some fish are very curious (perch/bluegill) and introducing something new into their environment will peak their curiosity.

I think this product would perform the best in a lake void of vegetation or with little structure available. Putting a string of reel weeds right in the middle of a shallow bay with ample vegetation probably wont produce great results considering they already have a lot of cover available to them. The product would probably do really well late in the ice season when all of the exisiting vegetation starts to die off and brown.

Just my two cents

Im fishing various lakes in north central and central iowa. I figure i will rig up one of my pike tip ups with a leader. Suprisingly the 10 pound Vanish has held up really well thus far. The largest fish i caught on it was a 32.5″ pike and it put a real hurt on the set up but it still worked flawlessly.

I have the Duck Bib with Artic Liner (same thing but different outer shell) and they worked great for pheasant hunting and icefishing. But as many have said prior, if you dont treat them with somekind of waterproofer they are going to be ice blocks by the end of the day icefishing. They are a little bit stiff too, so if you are a hole hopper most of the time they might not be the bib for you.

I bought a pair of Cabelas insulated, waterproof bibs and i found them to be a lot more waterproof then the carharts and about just as warm. Only drawback is that i really liked the side pliers pocket and chest pockets on the Carharts. Easy access to pliers and the ability to but my cell phone/ear piece close to my body when ice fishing for easy access and keeping it warm so the battery wouldnt lose it’s charge as fast.

Thanks for all of the input fellas. I was able to check out an LX-5 this weekend and i can say that im not in love with how large the transducer head is. 95% of the time im icefishing i have my transducer head placed right below the ice-hole and the cord running up the edge so having a float really makes little use for me. I do it this way to reduce the amount of hang ups i have with my line and the cord. Im wondering how a large transducer head will affect the amount of hang ups i get.

My vision isnt the greatest anymore so having the larger screen on the fl-20 is a distinct advantage. Has anyone tried the magnifying lens that vexilar makes on an lx-5?

One other concern of mine is that im pretty mobile on the ice and really dont run the heater all that much unless it is bitterly cold out. I worry a bit about how the battery power will hold up on the lx-5 since it is drawing so much power.