Abu 4600

[simple1]

Has anyone ice fished with the Abu 4600 or 5500? I have both and I am thinking of adding these to a Thorne bros walleye sweetheart or a professional plus for pike and LOW walleye trips. Any thoughts how this would function because I have only used spinning for ice fishing.

[Esox_Magnum]

Use them for bouncer reels for summer walleye trolling should work for what you want...

[simple1]

Well I hope it will work fine. I just ordered the Thorne Bros 36" professional plus to go with my 4600 or 5500.

[Jim Almquist]

I have the 5600 on 3 of my laker rods and they work great. They would seem a little heavy for me as a walleye reel in the winter but they would work. I like a smaller spinning reel for my winter walleye gear.

[simple1]

Thanks Jim,

This rod will be used for mostly pike and some walleye until I get another walleye sweetheart. Then I plan on relegating this 4600 or 5500 combo to Pike and Lakers. Do you think the 4600 is too small for Lakers?

Thanks

Simple1

[Jim Almquist]

I don't think it would be a problem is you don't fish too much deeper than 150' but if you went to the Apostles Island you could run into problems. There you could be fishing 200' down and hook up with a 20# and get spooled in a quick hurry. I see it will take 170 yards of 10# test but start bumping that up to 16 or 20 pound test and it fills up a little quick. Good Luck on your trip it should be a blast! Love getting up to LOTW!

[simple1]

Thanks Jim,

I did not even think about the line capacity. That would be funny to watch all my line get stripped from my rod

Thats why I post on these forums.

Simple1

[delcecchi]

Thanks Jim,

I did not even think about the line capacity. That would be funny to watch all my line get stripped from my rod

Thats why I post on these forums.

Simple1

170 yards is 510 feet so even in 200 feet of water you would have to have the trout run several hundred feet to take all your line.

And if you want stronger line there is always braid or fused.

[simple1]

Have you guys that used bait casters like the abu 4600 or 5500 had to do anything special for the cold. I keep hearing about putting Quantum Hot Sauce on to keep it from getting sluggish.

Simple1

[Jim Almquist]

Del the reason I mentioned line capacity is most avoid braid in the winter and mono really start eating up capacity when it is 16-20 pound test. If he was in a warm house then he could easily go to Power Pro or something similar. I have used Hot Sauce in my reels but not really sure if it was needed.

[delcecchi]

Have you ever used the fused stuff, like fireline in the winter? I can see where braid could be a problem.

Although I can't really imagine needing more than 10 pound test for lakers. I have caught lakers out of a canoe and they don't typically run that far. And there isn't anything to snag on usually.

[TruthWalleyes]

I don't think it would be a problem is you don't fish too much deeper than 150' but if you went to the Apostles Island you could run into problems. There you could be fishing 200' down and hook up with a 20# and get spooled in a quick hurry. I see it will take 170 yards of 10# test but start bumping that up to 16 or 20 pound test and it fills up a little quick. Good Luck on your trip it should be a blast! Love getting up to LOTW!

Dang! I've never fished lakers, and would love to canoe around the apostle islands sometime - looks like a beautiful area. I'm just amazed that pulling a fish from 200' it doesn't explode before it gets to the ice. Sure sounds like fun though!!

[delcecchi]

Trout burp as they come up since the swim bladder has a connection to the throat. No problem.

[Jim Almquist]

Have you ever used the fused stuff, like fireline in the winter? I can see where braid could be a problem.

No I have not but I guess there is some new stuff that is suppose to work great in the winter. I thought it was a Berkley product.