Up until last winter I had never ice fished before. I had the opportunity to go out for a weekend on the ice with hooknhunter and I had a blast. Im hoping to get into some more this year and was wondering if anybody knows a good site to order rods and reels from. I have decided for my first season I will probably just stick with a hand auger and spend the money on a set of poles and such. If anybody has any recommendations that would be greatly appreciated.
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[url "http://www.dakotaangler.com"]www.dakotaangler.com[/url] - an awesome little shop based out of SD. Todd has an online store and can get you ANY ice fishing gear/bait you are looking for.
[url "http://www.tunedupcustomrods.com"]http://www.tunedupcustomrods.com[/url] - THE best custom ice rods made. High end, but well worth the cash. My stick of choice.
[url "http://www.thornebros.com"]http://www.thornebros.com[/url] - Another custom ice rod builder. I also own these. Additionally, they sell a full line of ice gear and bait.
[url "http://www.fleetfarm.com/"]http://www.fleetfarm.com/[/url] - A large chain out of MN that sells about ANYTHING ice fishing and open water. If you ever get out that direction, stop in. You can spend hours looking around. Its like a super walmart, a home depot, and a cableas all under one roof.
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[url "http://www.reedssports.com/"]http://www.reedssports.com/[/url] - Another neat little shop based out in MN. They also have everything.
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[url "http://www.fishusa.com/Ice-Fishing-Rods"]http://www.fishusa.com/Ice-Fishing-Rods[/url]
[url "http://www.fishusa.com/Ice-Fishing"]http://www.fishusa.com/Ice-Fishing[/url]
[url "http://www.fleetfarm.com/category/fishing/ice-fishing"]http://www.fleetfarm.com/.../fishing/ice-fishing[/url]
Seems that some of the ones I've bought stuff from in the past have either changed their name or gone out of business. I've purchased from both of these and have been reasonably pleased.
I recommend light to medium-light rods for most fishing situations. I look for cheap rods with the kind of action I want and don't worry too much about the reels. Most of the combos I've bought had major crappy reels. I use them until they don't work any more and then upgraded.
My favorite reel out of all of them that I have right now (ice fishing, that is) is a Shimano Sienna. I believe it is SN500FD. Nice smooth reel.
P. S. Can't wait for ice. Remember, it's all fun and games until someone sprains a wrist......[
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If y'all don't mind a post from down South (Okay, just Utah, but it IS south of you folks...)
I'm planning to buy a hand auger this year for perch fishing. I read reviews of augurs and find both good and bad comments for each. So, what's a decent brand - and what ought I shun?
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I started ice fishing two seasons ago and tried an Eskimo and a Nils USA and the Nils is kicka**! Cuts through the ice on Rockport and Starvy like a warm knife through butter! [cool]
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Nils is the best manual auger one can get. Have had the others and no comparision to a Nils. Lesson learned on that bought them other brands and tossed them in the garbage after I got the Nils. I don't think you'd be disappointed one bit. [
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Strikemaster, hands down.
The new Jiffy's and Eskimo's use engines built in China. Jiffy use to be the workhorse of the auger industry, but once Techumseh went under, they brought in a Chinese engine that is not overly impressive.
Strikemaster uses Solo (German) and Honda (reputation speaks for itself) brand engines. Very light and reliable. Blades are readily available at most any sporting goods store. I converted several guys this past winter from thier Eskimos to Strikemaster. I have 2, If anyone wants to give one a test this winter, let me know.
The Nils is also a nice piece. It uses a Tanaka engine. The only issue with the Nils is that the blades are a nightmare to have sharpened, and you'll have to order online to find a replacement. They do cut very nice, however.
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He's talking hand augers, so the engine thing is a moot point. I believe I've used all brands of hand augers over the years and some work very well, and others are terrible.
My experience for hand augers says to get either a Strike Master or a Nil's. IMHO, they work about the same, but the SM is cheaper, and I personally prefer the handle better. Many others will disagree, so between the 2, it depends on if you can afford the Nil's or not, and handle preference. I would not buy any other brand at this point.
I will add this too. Unless you expect to catch a very girthy fish, it makes no sense to get anything bigger than a 7 inch. I've pulled 12+ lb lakers through a 7 inch hole. I have hooked ones that wouldn't fit, though, so if you plan to catch biguns', then go ahead with an 8, but know that an 8 is a lot harder to turn than a 7. 6's are a dream for fish up to about 5-6 lbs.
I love that it is 80+ degrees outside and we are talking ice fishing! It won't come too soon for me......
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My bad, I did not notice the "hand" part, haha. [
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Thanks, folks. I likely won't go out enough to justify a Nils, so it looks like a 6" Strikemaster gets the nod.
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Hooknhunter is right. I take reels that I am ready to retire from spincasting and trolling with and move them over to ice rods. Most of my ice fishing setups have Shimano's on them. Still have enough bearings and drag for ice fishing, but not quite enough to land a steelhead.
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[quote sdhuntandfish][url "http://www.reedssports.com/"]http://www.reedssports.com/[/url] - Another neat little shop based out in MN. They also have everything.[/quote] Careful there. Anyone here who walks into their store in Walker will be in there for hours and hours. The fishing section BLOWS any Basspro, Cabelas, or Scheels store away. Amazing.
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thanks for the suggestions guys. hooknhunter you know exactly what im looking for thank you. just looking for some basic entry level equipment. nothing custom or crazy. when ive been in it for a few years ill start to think of nicer equipment and then ill just make my own custom rods. im a big believer in not paying somebody to do something that you can do yourself. anyways so far the least expensive combos i hvae found have been around $20. anybody have a preference in brand in these less expensive combos?
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i have made all my own ice fishing rods i just make them form broken fishing poles i have broke found or been given it is pretty simple and they work fine the other day at swan i found 3 broken rods and the last half of a 12ft ugly stick dont know what i am going to do with it yet also i was on craigslist today and found a post for a whole ice fishing set up it was 550 i think but it was a seld gas and hand auger 9 rods and reels and tackle pretty good deal really here is a link
http://boise.craigslist.org/spo/4025273282.html
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I love the pro uglystiks gander mountain puts them on sale for 25.00 and free shipping, They work fantastic but i would suggest a medium and place them atop a jigger totter even a tiny perch will move them a few inches and they wont be too light if you go after big fish. I have heard Nils is the best and i wont argue that until you dull your blade and don't have a replacement head , Then i would consider the best something with an offset handle and blades that can be found almost anywhere. The fin bore III is suppose to be a great auger uses lazer blades. If you go with a lazer auger make sure you open it in the store and inspect the blades. Make sure there swed blades not made in china. The Eskimo barracuda also uses lazer blades.
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OMG - is it August and we are talking Ice-Fishing!
glutton!
Ok - never tried a Nils, but hear all the hoopla. Blades can be sharpened. I hear they'll compete with a powered.
7 inches is plenty, especially for a hand auger. drill two holes together and "chip" if you need.
KSL ads - should be lots of "ice" setups coming at end of summer, folks realize "I didn't use this last year, time to go".
Rods - personally I like one with some backbone, and then a real good spring-bobber. ActionTackleProducts has some great spring bobbers, of get some used Guitar strings and beads...
Reels, Line. Ice rod combos are generally crap, especially the reels. I've been swapping in other "small" reels to replace. Some of the super flimsy might be ok for a perch, but even a descent planter-bow can make the cheap reel "skip".
Bigger fish - fatter rods. Not necessarily longer, but . . .you CAN fish outside, and length is not such an issue.
No one has talked shelters. You can get by without. Go with friends . . . but eventually, that snowstorm or wind makes the difference of "comfort" vs "short trip".
Jigger Totters - love em! Just want 'em taller, propped on a "table" works.
Fishfinder - it helps to know what's down there. And there's affordable options. Buddy's and such.
Hey - go Chill Out! Maybe catch that off-season yard-sale!
yes we talking ice fishing gear in august... im a poor college student and need until probably january to save up for some equipment. if i can find some stuff at garage sales i can hopefully get some gear sooner. only thing im looking for is some rods and an auger. i will add to those later such as a shelter and such. i figure i will replace the cheap reels as they wear out. i may look into making some rods out of broken rods if i can get my hands on some
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That is a sweet deal. If I wasn't already fully set up, I'd jump on it!
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[quote flyfish_88]anyways so far the least expensive combos i hvae found have been around $20. anybody have a preference in brand in these less expensive combos?[/quote]
My absolute hands down favorite ice rod that I currently own is a Shakespeare Cajun Ice rod (I have 2 of them). Sorry, but I don't remember the exact action and length and I won't likely have time to dig them out and check for about a month. The reels were pretty crappy, but the rod is very sensitive on the tip and has enough backbone to pull in a 5-6 lber if you have a good reel on it. Consequently, those 2 rods have some of my better reels on them. I'm pretty sure that you can't get them any more, but I know I paid less than $20 for them.
The last one I bought that I like really well are these: [url "http://www.fishusa.com/Product/HT-Enterprises-Ice-Blue-Pro-Ice-Fishing-Rods"]http://www.fishusa.com/Product/HT-Enterprises-Ice-Blue-Pro-Ice-Fishing-Rods[/url]. I believe I have either the light, or the ultra light model, but mine are a bit lighter than I'd like, so I'm fairly confident that the medium will work great. The red tip gives great sensitivity but the medium action will give enough backbone to pull up the bigun's. These are pretty in-expensive too. Then get some ~$20 UL reels and you'd be in pretty good shape. Even better if you could swing a $30 reel for each. If I was going for $30, I'd get the Shimano Sienna I mentioned earlier. If I was going $20, I think I'd try these: [url "http://www.fishusa.com/Product/Shimano-AXULSA-Ultra-Light-Spinning-Reels"]http://www.fishusa.com/Product/Shimano-AXULSA-Ultra-Light-Spinning-Reels[/url], but I admit that I don't have any. The ones I have that I paid about $20 for are Shakespear Prius (not sure they still make it). They are okay, but the extra $10 gets a lot nicer reel in the Sienna.
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