basic question

[Ragenald]

Got a new thorne bros. rod this weekend at the ice show. This is the first rod that I have had without a reel seat. What do you all use to attach the reel to the rod? Thanks for helping out a newbie!

[Crestliner-fever]

Black electrical tape, is all you need to use.

[msm1018]

I use white hockey tape, stays on well, I use electrical tape all day at work and I knwo it doesn't stay on well after a while, but it works in a pinch.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Black electrical tape.

Cliff

[BigDaddy]

If you take your reel off of your rod yearly, you may damage the cork when removing the tape. Try putting a layer of masking tape on BACKWORDS first. Then use hockey, athletic or electrical tape to mount the reel.

[H20fowlr]

Even if you don't remove your reel every year, the adhesive in electrical breaks down(that sticky mess). Using masking, or painters tape under it will help eliminate this.

It's my belief the only mess that is ever allowed on my Sweetheart is "Northern Slime"

[skunked_once]

This has been discussed in previous posts and the consensus was to get some silicone tape from your hardware store. I found some called Wrap-Fix tape in the electrical section. It's spendy but it sticks to itself and works great!

[huntingmaxima]

also in the electrical dept. they have shrink wrap. all you do is heat it with a hair dryer. it comes in different diameters also. i use it quite a bit.

[Troublehook]

be carefull though, because that heat might not be good for your line

[JohnMickish]

If you want to use electrical tape make sure you purchase the 3M stuff. Model #33 in black or 35 in colors. Do not buy the junk made in China, they use inferior adheasives and here is also small amounts of lead in the color, and the colors are not very vivid.

The cool thing about using 3M #35 color tape is that you can color code your rods. One color on pannie rods, another for crappie rods and so on.

[fhsww48]

I make my own wooden handles. They are slippery because I use a wax finish. I first locate where I want the reel. I place 2 individual thin wraps of the soft stretchy rubber 600v insulating tape on first. Cheap version of tennis racket handle tape. Then wrap over the reel a few times with Scotch 33. No slipping at all and ya dont have to put a giant wad on to hold the real steady.

[CrappieJohn]

fhsww....Welcome to FishingMinnesota.com and thanks for the taping tip!

Its good to have you on deck! Again, welcome.

[Woody Erickson]

Tommy Tape is the best tape for attaching reels to cork. It is a silicone based tape that only sticks to itself, no gooey mess left behind.

This is all I use...

[fhsww48]

Thanks for the welcome CT. I've been icefishing since the early 60's and am sure I got a lot to learn from this site. Looking forward to sharing also. Thanks for the opertunity!

[fish..fear..me]

White Athletic tape works well for me. You can also tape up that knee or ankle before heading out to do battle.

[brian6715]

LMAO

[Ryan Berger]

yes this stuff rules,, comes in different colors too I use it to grab the right rod without taking the whole rod out of the bag,, green for 2# pannie rod, yellow for 4# walleye rod ect,,,

[bigbritt]

is wrap fix or tommy tape found in hardware stores? so it only fuses to itself, it doesnt gunk up or ruin the cork/reel at all? does cold weather effect it? is it as strong as electrical tape?

[Ryan Berger]

much stronger than electrical tape,, our farm store in town had it on clearance last year I bought all I could,, should be able to find it at a hardware store or maybe at menards or something similar

[marine_man]

I found Tommy Tape in walmart last year... been using it ever since...

I re-taped one of my rods this year because I didn't strech the tape tight enough when I wrapped it, and when you set the hook on a better fish you could feel the reel pull away from the rod...

So.. be sure to strech it tight and you'll have no problems!

marine_man