Favorite Reel for panfish and walleye jigging

[DRH1175]

I plan on buying a couple reels and rods at the Ice show. I am looking at the Thorne Bros rods. But what about reels what are the best out there for a good price. I have looked at Silstar Tinys , and quantum micros in the past what is the reel to buy now? One will be for about 3 lb test for crappies and Sunfish and one will be for jigging spoons and raps on my walleye setup. Thanks

[Deitz Dittrich]

Its really a personal preferance thing. A lot of people like the Tica series. I use them fo panfish, but I wish the spool was a bit larger. The lager the spool the less you have to deal with loops. Last year I bought a bunch of Shimano Sedona 750 and like them a lot. Heavier than the Tica, but the spool is larger which I like.

Good luck and enjoy the shopping!

[hanson]

Good ice fishing reels are not as hard to come by as they used to be!

One reel that will get hyped pretty heavy is the Tica Cetus line of reels. I have 2 and they are pretty sweet!

Other reels that I like on my ice rods are the smaller sized (500 & 750 series) Shimano reels. The Sahara & Sodona are good reels at a decent price. I'm also running a few Spirex 500s that I've had for nearly 10 years now.

One thing I really like, and most reels have now, is instant anti-reverse. The lower end reels may not have this.

A quality drag I feel is really important as well in an ice rod since we are using really light lines and short rods. Once again, look at paying a little bit of money for a reel with a decent drag.

The reels I've mentioned above have these qualities and will be in that $40-50 range.

[walterking]

i personally like the tica reels but the sedonas or guide series reels are great for the price

[Crappie_ Kid]

I run Tica Cetus SS500 on my legeng rod. I have guide series on my genz stix. Sence your buying a thorne bros. rod, I would go with the tica Or a shimano.

[pathogen]

The first ice fishing reels I purchased were the Silstar Tiny 20s. I came to realize very quickly that the drag system was totally inadequate---and I think a smooth drag is most important. After trying many different brands, I became sold on the Gander Mountain Guide Series reel (I don't recall the model number, my equipment is not here for me to look at). These reels have very smooth drags, and are just the right size for fishing pannies. The price is right at about $20 too. You will find reels equal to these but almost always at a significantly higher price.

[harvey lee]

Tica Cetus.I own 4 and plan on putting another on a new Thorne rod this year.GREAT reels.

[DEADhead]

I've got four Tica Cetus reels too. Definitely a good value for the money.

[Dan Brelje]

Question for all you Tica guys. Do you use the same reel size for panies and walleyes for the ice season? I realize the line size will be different but do you use the same reel model?

[Matt Johnson]

You can get buy with the Cetus for both walleye and pannies. Line capacity is just fine for both species, as you won't need tons of it. I use the SS500 for walleye and the LF500 for most of my pannie rods. When going with the Finesse Plus (19-incher) I'll use the Shimano AX-ULS which is more lightweight than the Cetus and seems to balance much better. It doesn't have a constant anti-reverse, but it suits the shorter rod nicely.

Another reel to consider is the Cardinal 300. It's another smaller-profile reel that matches very well for both pannies and walleye.

Shimano makes a very nice reel, probably one of the best on the market in my opinion, but many of their reels are too heavy for some of the ice rods. For open water fishing, it's very tough to beat a Shimano. However, some of the 750's can balance well on some rods, but not all. At least not for my feel...

[riverrat56]

Well in my ever present search for good gear cheap I picked up a RedWolf rod and reel for 17 bucks 3 years ago, the rod isn't extermly sensitive but for a bobber rod it's the best I've found. I now own 3 of them.

The reels are all the same and have landed a 36 in pike on 4 lb line, a 12 lb pout on 4 lb line, and fought another larger norther to the bottom of the hole where I was bit off after an almost 20 minute battle and 4 times I was completly spooled.

If you can find one, take the reel and just scrap the rod if you have something better, because the rods are not all that great, I've got 2 of the reels on St. Croix rods and still use the UL combo for a dead stick when crappie fishing.

[Bobberboy]

I like the cheap point of view. I've had great luck with Frabil equipment. Landed several walleye over 3# while fishing crappies. To this day I have not lost a fish do to a reel related issue.

"Your bobbers down!"