Frabil ice rods

[RedCat]

Does anyone have any experience with this rod? I am looking for a heavier than normal rod for big fish through the ice. Huge walleye, pike and lakers.

ICE HUNTER SERIES GUSTAFSON 38" HEAVY-DUTY ICE ROD

http://frabill.com/rods-reels/rods/ice-hunter-series/ice-hunterr-series-jeff-gussy-gustafson-38-heavy-duty-ice-rod.html

 

[apz245]

Does anyone have any experience with this rod? I am looking for a heavier than normal rod for big fish through the ice. Huge walleye, pike and lakers.

ICE HUNTER SERIES GUSTAFSON 38" HEAVY-DUTY ICE ROD

http://frabill.com/rods-reels/rods/ice-hunter-series/ice-hunterr-series-jeff-gussy-gustafson-38-heavy-duty-ice-rod.html

looks awesome for pike.. sorry i can't help you.

 

[RedCat]

I ordered one already. Got the combo so apparantly the rod has a reel seat, great option imho. For a rod to work for me it has to have good feel, I need to feel the bottom in current with certain size jigs. As small as 3/8oz but if I can feel with 1/2oz I can get away with it.

Guess I will have to do a review on it when it finally gets here. It says on there website that they only ship to US. I have to ship it to the border then pick it up.

 

[apz245]

I ordered one already. Got the combo so apparantly the rod has a reel seat, great option imho. For a rod to work for me it has to have good feel, I need to feel the bottom in current with certain size jigs. As small as 3/8oz but if I can feel with 1/2oz I can get away with it.

Guess I will have to do a review on it when it finally gets here. It says on there website that they only ship to US. I have to ship it to the border then pick it up.

nice, im curious to see how you like it.. I noticed on the site its only available in US, maybe someone will start to carry it in Canada.

I don't ice fish much but it looks amazing for ice fishing (imagine being able to land big pike without a tipup, sorry, i hate tipups)

 

[RedCat]

nice, im curious to see how you like it.. I noticed on the site its only available in US, maybe someone will start to carry it in Canada.

I don't ice fish much but it looks amazing for ice fishing (imagine being able to land big pike without a tipup, sorry, i hate tipups)

With you there, tip ups can be annoying. I have seen a variant that is a tip up but uses a standard rod of your choice. If I can find one I will post it up. That is part of the reason for getting this rod as well. This set up in with a quick strike and a 10" herring would be deadly on big northerns.

I have some decent rods for ice fishing, but I would like to have one more suited to handle big fish. Even a decent 28"med action rod will bend right to the handle with even a 10lbs walleye, this makes the reel feel very rough and easy for fish to pop hooks when fishing barbless. I also plan to head into NW Ontario to do some lake trout fishing wirth heavy bucktails

 

[iamnickevans]

I have used several frabill rods in the past and they are very nice to fish with, they seem to be good quality and well built for the money........................... There reels on the other hand are probably the worst reels on the planet. They are cheap as hell and made like crap, to be honest with you I would take that reel and put it directly in the garbage.

 

[apz245]

With you there, tip ups can be annoying. I have seen a variant that is a tip up but uses a standard rod of your choice. If I can find one I will post it up. That is part of the reason for getting this rod as well. This set up in with a quick strike and a 10" herring would be deadly on big northerns.

I have some decent rods for ice fishing, but I would like to have one more suited to handle big fish. Even a decent 28"med action rod will bend right to the handle with even a 10lbs walleye, this makes the reel feel very rough and easy for fish to pop hooks when fishing barbless. I also plan to head into NW Ontario to do some lake trout fishing wirth heavy bucktails

Let us know how it goes, good luck!

 

[RedCat]

Well I was finally able to make a trip to the states to pick up my new rod. I played it safe and got the 38" med rod.

When I got my hands on it I was impressed! A little softer than I expected but it still has good feel. I was also impressed by how it handles, it loads up fast but has a good stiff back bone. This is going to be one of my top rods for sure..... probabley the most versatile I have yet to own that is for sure.

More to come after I get it on the ice, I have 11 days off coming up and lots of good ice.

 

[RedCat]

Safe was not exactly what I wanted but I did get a very good rod. I took it iout yesterday and put it through its paces. Turns out it is a really good deadstick rod, It is very soft and might take some people some getting used to.

I had it out yesterday for pike in the morning...... it never landed one as the spring has forgotten to show up this year. Lows for yesterday were -25 and -38 with the wind chill. I landed one pike one a different rod.

Then to try it out I took it on a small trout lake. This lake is stocked with trout and somehow perch have gotten in there. All of the perch are the same size..... about 6" long. We fished 32' of watwer and need to get to the bottom witht the smallest possible jig. The smallest jig size I had was 1/8oz. Feeling bottom was easy even with 8lb mono. Feeling hits was easy even at that depth.

I have found the use for this rod. Jigging panfish and deadstick for everything else. Surprisingly this rod has a backbone that would by my estimation make fighting a good sized fish farely easy for it. I am going to spool it with 6lbs powerpro. Perhaps I am going to contact Frabill to see if I can get a spare spool for it for heavier line if I go for pike

The reel served its purpose. I see no problem with it at this point. I really never got the chance to run it through its paces.

I would purchase from Frabill again. I had a few issues ordering this rod from retail outlets so late in the season, so I went to Frabill directly. Their webpage is easy to navigate, you must call and order during business hours as they will ship to Canada just not directly from the webpage. Customer service reps were second to none. My next rod is going to be the original on my wish list, The 'Gussy" heavy action

 

[apz245]

good to know frabill makes it so easy to order off them, thanks for the report.. I might want one of those but they might be overkill for the lakers i fish for, maybe if i start going for pike