Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

Thoughts and opinions on l-o-n-g ice rods....


Uncle Grump

Recommended Posts

Hi all....

I busted the top 2.5-3" off one of my 2 pc light spinning rods this weekend - has a St. Croix blank - can't remember which one.

I am going to have the whole upper section replaced, leaving me with the broken section - which right now is about 43" long.

What I am pondering is wether or not to cut it down? I know I will have to knock off an inch or so to remove the ferule, remove a guide so as to replace the tip-top, and possibly put on a new gathering guide, and a handle and reel seat, but as to cutting it down? I compared the action / diameter of the busted blank to my existing ice rods, and it looks to me like it would approach med. to med-heavy so far as stiffness and action. Probally a "walleye' rod. It is much thicker/heavier than any of my existing ice panfish rods.

My rod bag is 36", so protecting a longer rod is an issue.

I know the In-Fisherman guys seem to like longer ice rods, but they fish outdoors alot. Length would also seem to be an issue in a shelter or hard side house.

Another thought I had was to use it for standing up and hole-hopping, as I hold it in my hand and touch the floor w/ the tip.

UG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a couple rods in the 36-42 inch range. The Professional Plus by Thorne Bros will run up to 42 inches and I'll use that for jigging pike, catfish or even lakers on occasion. The 36 incher is great for all of that as well.

A longer rod is a good choice if you're fishing outside of a portable fish house. You will be able to play a fish better with the longer blank, as well as cushion larger fish easier with having more loading power. Some people will argue that you lose a little bit of sensitivity during really cold days because the rod is longer and the tip is further away from your hand, but I've never really bought into that one. I'm still able to detect bites with a longer rod on cold days when fishing outside of a portable.

I wouldn't frown upon using a longer rod one bit. Great for hook-sets, playing a fish and having control. You can also better equip a longer rod with a larger reel, say like your open water walleye reels and such. This way you don't have to worry about a misbalanced rod because of an overly heavy reel.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good Info Matt.

The things I don't like about a longer rod are if your in a portable or smaller house there is no room and if you get a fish on a longer rod your too far from the hole and can not see in the hole.

I have one rod over 24 inches I use it outside only.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've found a ultra light long rod to be useful outdoors for panfishing. I fish the backwaters with my bro-in-law and some of the water we fish is less than 2 feet deep. It helps to keep a distance from the hole and not be seen by the fish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good advice and tips!

Yeah, especially when fishing the backwaters in very shallow water, like say 2-4 feet deep. Those fish are spooked enough already because of the added noise we make, then you add the overcast shadow (assuming there's sun) and you're in for an interesting combination of fishing conditions. On most days it's a finesse bite out there to begin with, so we need every advantage we can get.

However, me personally, I prefer to leave some slush in the hole to keep out some of the sunlight and overcast shadow, then I can sit close to the hole with a spring bobber set-up like the St.Croix Legend Ice Rod or the Thorne Bros Finesse Plus or Sweet Thing Plus rigged with a spring bobber. Rig it up with 2 pound P-Line Floroice and a size 10 Shrimpo and you're good to go. Sometimes I'll even drop down to a 1/200oz Talon Tear tipped with half a maggot and add a few Dust Shot above it for some dispersed weight. Finesse fishing in the backwaters is a must in most situations in my opinion. Some monster crappies and sunfish to be had out there smile.gif

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • By The way that didn't work either!! Screw it I'll just use the cellular. 
    • It’s done automatically.  You might need an actual person to clear that log in stuff up.   Trash your laptop history if you haven’t tried that already.
    • 😂 yea pretty amazing how b o o b i e s gets flagged, but they can't respond or tell me why I  can't get logged in here on my laptop but I can on my cellular  😪
    • I grilled some brats yesterday, maybe next weekend will the next round...  
    • You got word censored cuz you said        B o o b ies….. haha.   Yeah, no… grilling is on hiatus for a bit.
    • Chicken mine,  melded in Mccormick poultry seasoning for 24 hours.  Grill will get a break till the frigid temps go away!
    • we had some nice weather yesterday and this conundrum was driving me crazy  so I drove up to the house to take another look. I got a bunch of goodies via ups yesterday (cables,  winch ratchet parts, handles, leaf springs etc).   I wanted to make sure the new leaf springs I got fit. I got everything laid out and ready to go. Will be busy this weekend with kids stuff and too cold to fish anyway, but I will try to get back up there again next weekend and get it done. I don't think it will be bad once I get it lifted up.    For anyone in the google verse, the leaf springs are 4 leafs and measure 25 1/4" eye  to eye per Yetti. I didnt want to pay their markup so just got something else comparable rated for the same weight.   I am a first time wheel house owner, this is all new to me. My house didn't come with any handles for the rear cables? I was told this week by someone in the industry that cordless drills do not have enough brake to lower it slow enough and it can damage the cables and the ratchets in the winches.  I put on a handle last night and it is 100% better than using a drill, unfortatenly I found out the hard way lol and will only use the ICNutz to raise the house now.
    • I haven’t done any leaf springs for a long time and I can’t completely see the connections in your pics BUT I I’d be rounding up: PB Blaster, torch, 3 lb hammer, chisel, cut off tool, breaker bar, Jack stands or blocks.   This kind of stuff usually isn’t the easiest.   I would think you would be able to get at what you need by keeping the house up with Jack stands and getting the pressure off that suspension, then attack the hardware.  But again, I don’t feel like I can see everything going on there.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.