Fleet Farm Ice Combos

[DTro]

I ran across these Lakes and River combos a while ago and thought they seemed very nice. Large arbor spool reel, push button folding handle for convenient storage, 5BB, smooth drag, and angled reel base. The rod looked very similar to the new Fenwick rods with the tacky cork handle and hidden reel seat and nice action. They were originally around $45 and I almost bought one then, but I decided to wait.

Well the other day there were (and still are) on clearance for $30 and I couldn't pass that price up.

I bought the light action and spooled it up with 4lb Gamma and took it out for a test drive this past weekend.

Unfortunately, the reel is a big pile of you know what. The rod actually felt pretty nice although the guides were on the small side. But the reel was stiff, made excessive noise and I had multiple issues with line twist and even line finding its way underneath the drag screw when I was reeling.

I never buy combos, but this seemed like it might work out, especially since it had a lot of features I was looking for (especially the large arbor spool and push button folding handle). I was wrong and I will be returning it and buying something I am more familiar with.

[DTro]

Well, I returned the combo and was just going to maybe get a decent rod and reel (separately). FF didn't have much left in stock so I ran over to GM.

Funny, the Gander GSX combos are pretty much identical to the Lakes and Rivers I just returned, but they are $50 over there.

Everything was pretty much picked over there too.

[harvey lee]

I love the smaller micro guides on my spinning reels. They perform well and really keep the weight down on a rod.

[harvey lee]

I love the micro guides on my rods, or at least some of them. Could cause issues if one is ice fishing outside as they can ice up rather easily.

Here are a few advantages and disadvantages of the micro guides. I know I have shown them to some that have not seen them and they saw woo, they are small.

- Increased sensitivity by less add weight to the rod blank

- Increased sensitivity by less added build weight (less rod finish and thread)

- Increased casting distance by reducing the amount of line slap through the guides

- Increased durability by providing a smaller lever for bending

- Smaller "footprint" on the blank - this decreases the amount of influence on the rod blank's natural flex

- Fewer wind knots

- Less tangles on deck and in rods lockers

- Easier entry into rod lockers and tubes

Disadvantages include:

- Can clog easier with dirty water (cottonwood blooms, heavy slime in water, etc)

- Can ice over easier in sub 32 deg F environments

- Smaller sizes may have trouble passing knots between main line and leader

- Larger sized micros (5s, 4.5s, 4s) may be needed for larger diameter fishing line (ex. 25# monofilament)

[CJH]

Not much left anywhere. Spoke to a guy from GM about two weeks ago and he said whatever was left in the warehouse was all they had left. He also alluded to the fact due to the bad season, they didn't order any more than the beginning of season order. They've had a hard time moving bigger ticket items with the warm weather.

I bought one of the GSX combos you mentioned in M for my LOW trip every year (March), hope its not as bad as you say.......

[DTro]

Well I actually really liked the rod, but man that reel was not good at all. When you lose fish because your line finds it's way under the drag screw, it's not good.

Plus it was louder than it should have been for that price.