Low-profile baitcaster on ice?

[slick814]

Does anyone use their "summer" baitcasters during ice season?

I'm thinking that I might want to use my low profile for some Laker fishing come January, but am wondering if it'll freeze up the exposed gears, etc. I use my lightweight spinning reels for ice already, and know that the lubrication can make a huge difference, but am htinking that I might want the extra drag & reeling capabilities of a nice sturdy baitcaster to haul a decent sized Laker up.

[Mr.Perch]

Slick

For years I have used My old round C3-5600 for pike so it should work

[Jim Hudson]

Slick

I run Abu C4's on my laker set-ups and have never had a problem... for low profiles, I am going to be using my Pflueger Presidents this year on a few set-ups. Have seen and talked to people that used similar low pro's on the ice and never had a problem. You should be good to go...

[CrappieJohn]

Tackling aggressive winter fish demands that you use tackle up to the challenge. The baitcasters we see in use today have superior drags for this.

Many people "winterize" their spinning reels for ice use by removing all the visible and readily accessible grease from the gears. This may also be a task you will find necessay to have the reels crank cleanly....I use baitcasters exclusively in the boat all winter on the big river and have not had to do this though. And even during very hot bites where the reels tend to get wet from the water carried aboard during the retrieve I have never had an issue with is.

Go for it dude.

[Surface Tension]

I've been using a C3 and Penn 920 on my laker rigs and both work nicely. You might have to change the lube for the sub zero temps. An easy way to find out now instead of on the ice is stick your reel in the freezer for a couple hours and give it a few cranks.

[slick814]

Thanks guys -

One of the main reasons I was debating this is because of the "spray" that I get on the gears, line, etc. that are exposed when I'm using it during the summer months. Maybe a small amount of hot lube or somthing similar will take care of my worries.

SurfaceTension - thanks for the idea. I'll give it a try beofre I set things up for the ice.

Again, guys, thanks for the great input!

[Jim Hudson]

The freezer trick...