good cheap ice reels?

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apz245

apz245

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Joined
Nov 15, 2012
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Location
toronto
so i just bought my first ice rod, and the reel fell apart after 3 fish, the ugly stik ice combo with the shakespeare reel

which reels do you guys find are reliable that will last me a few seasons at least? thanks i don't want to spend too much money as I won't ice fish much
 
I picked up one of the Abu Garcia reels for 20 bucks and its held up well to a good amount of Lakers and lots of smaller fish. You could also pick up a nice ultra light reel thats useful in the summer as well. I have the medium ugly stick and like it
 
Okay maybe I should rephrase the question, i know im not gonna get anything "good" for cheap, but can I at least get something that works?

new question,

what ice rod/reel combos do you guys find have been reliable for under 40 bucks?

clam has a few combos under 40, so does frabil, and so does berkely, so are all of these garbage basically? I mean the reels
 
I like the Avocet's too, although they don't make em like they used too...I just use old beater regular reels, a reel is a reel and the minature icefishing reels can be too small for heavier line and 100+ FOW with big fish trying to go for huge runs
 
it honestly all depends on what species you're fishing for.

for example, for under $40 i wouldn't use anything for lakers. that's not me being snobbish either.
although i'm sure you could land a decent lake trout on a $30 combo, i've never had a $30 combo in my hands that felt rugged enough to land the fish of a lifetime.

sure you can get away with it, but do you really want the one time your reel seizes and blows up, to be when you're fighting your personal best 22lb laker through the ice? at the end of the day, it's money well spent and the good gear you buy will outlast the cheap stuff 10:1, so your return on investment is far greater.

shimano sienna 2500 ~ $30
st. croix premier - $30

for $20 more than your intended budget you have a combo that will catch you quality fish, day in day out, for years and years to come.
 
O.My.Buddy said:
I like the Avocet's too, although they don't make em like they used too...I just use old beater regular reels, a reel is a reel and the minature icefishing reels can be too small for heavier line and 100+ FOW with big fish trying to go for huge runs
Click to expand...


I have an avocet on my regular rod and its pretty good so far
 
christotheashto said:
it honestly all depends on what species you're fishing for.

for example, for under $40 i wouldn't use anything for lakers. that's not me being snobbish either.
although i'm sure you could land a decent lake trout on a $30 combo, i've never had a $30 combo in my hands that felt rugged enough to land the fish of a lifetime.

sure you can get away with it, but do you really want the one time your reel seizes and blows up, to be when you're fighting your personal best 22lb laker through the ice? at the end of the day, it's money well spent and the good gear you buy will outlast the cheap stuff 10:1, so your return on investment is far greater.

shimano sienna 2500 ~ $30
st. croix premier - $30

for $20 more than your intended budget you have a combo that will catch you quality fish, day in day out, for years and years to come.
Click to expand...

I think you're right when it comes down to it, right now I threw an old mitchel reel on this rod, so it should be good for lakers, and I'm looking for another combo so I can have a second rod.

the st croix premier you mentioned, the combo is 50$, seems like a pretty good deal if it can handle lakers, il just have to bite the bullet probably and buy some quality stuff that won't break.

so for my next ice rod il either grab that st croix premier or a fenwick and find a seperate reel, something for 30$ like an abu garcia cardinal maybe (have had good experience with this one).

thanks guys
 
yep I second the sienna 2500 or something similar to that. But if you are buying a reel for ice fishing and don't have a great spinning reel for the soft water season you might as well get something a little nicer that you can use all year round. Something along the lines of a Shimano Sahara or something similar in that price range.
 
NADO said:
yep I second the sienna 2500 or something similar to that. But if you are buying a reel for ice fishing and don't have a great spinning reel for the soft water season you might as well get something a little nicer that you can use all year round. Something along the lines of a Shimano Sahara or something similar in that price range.
Click to expand...

hey, I have a decent reel for spinning soft water, it's cheap but I like it (mitchel avocet 4), I use braid on it and won't want to use that for ice fishing though, So i'll probably have to get another reel.

right now im even tempted by the shimanofx200 rear drag, for 50$ i will have the combo with a fenwick rod, and I've had the reels before and they last forever, i like the cardinal S too, the sienna is just a little too much for a rod i will be using twice a year

i will probably be flamed for being so cheap but im trying to save for a boat and for now just need gear that will work and not break on me, once I have a house/boat etc I can buy the top of the line stuff. (not saying a 40 dollar sienna is top of the line)
 
apz245 said:
hey, I have a decent reel for spinning soft water, it's cheap but I like it (mitchel avocet 4), I use braid on it and won't want to use that for ice fishing though, So i'll probably have to get another reel.

right now im even tempted by the shimanofx200 rear drag, for 50$ i will have the combo with a fenwick rod, and I've had the reels before and they last forever, i like the cardinal S too, the sienna is just a little too much for a rod i will be using twice a year
Click to expand...

I only use braid on ice, I generally keep to a hut but 6lb diameter 14lb test for 100ft+ of water is really nice, I use it out side as well.
 
apz245 said:
hey, I have a decent reel for spinning soft water, it's cheap but I like it (mitchel avocet 4), I use braid on it and won't want to use that for ice fishing though, So i'll probably have to get another reel.

right now im even tempted by the shimanofx200 rear drag, for 50$ i will have the combo with a fenwick rod, and I've had the reels before and they last forever, i like the cardinal S too, the sienna is just a little too much for a rod i will be using twice a year
Click to expand...
I bought a Shimano Sienna rear drag not too long ago fot 50$ love the reel! I put 8lbs nanofil on it and have iced both my lakers on that reel. Found the nano doesnt stretch like mono in the deep water when setting the hook! I also used it down on the Niagara and got my lakers on it down there too.
 
CanadianAngler87 said:
I bought a Shimano Sienna rear drag not too long ago fot 50$ love the reel! I put 8lbs nanofil on it and have iced both my lakers on that reel. Found the nano doesnt stretch like mono in the deep water when setting the hook! I also used it down on the Niagara and got my lakers on it down there too.
Click to expand...

i find rear drag easier to adjust while fishing, used the old mitchels with rear drag for most of my childhood, doing the math though it seems more cost effective to just buy a higher end combo, like frabil or the st croix premier combo chris mentioned earlier.

edit:though those combos still don't seem as reliable as just buying an ice rod and cheap full sized reel, so i think im leaning towards this option, we'll see when the time comes, if i go again ice fishing for march break il grab another rod/reel and let you guys know how it goes
 
No reel that comes in an ice rod combo is ever worth the money spent. They all self destruct eventually. Buy separately and spare yourself the headache!
 
the HT tundra is a great ice real IMO, that and the rapala squall have worked great for me soo far this year although u dont need an "ice reel" to ice fish ive caught splake pike and panfish on a 10 dollar zebco reel ive had for about 6 years lol
 
redneckchromer said:
the HT tundra is a great ice real IMO, that and the rapala squall have worked great for me soo far this year although u dont need an "ice reel" to ice fish ive caught splake pike and panfish on a 10 dollar zebco reel ive had for about 6 years lol
Click to expand...

might grab a rapala squall and try it out, 25 bucks for a 36" MH rod is worth it imo, so I'll think of it as gettingg the reel for free (saw this deal at wal mart with a quick search). thanks
 

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