Ice Rod ?

[castnshoot]

Hoping for some advise on a ice rod for 18" to 24" fat rainbows, coming from water not more than 20' deep. 4lbs to 6lbs line. Mostly for use with jigs, no bait.

I was looking at a 28" Ugly Stick.
http://www.basspro.com/Ugly-Stik-GX2-Ice...260626445/

Any other/better suggestions?

Thanks
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[Flyfishinglover]

I bought a medium action ugly stick at sport mans warehouse and I love it. Caught 18-20" rainbows on it and just great. Works amazing on jaw jacker for how flexible they are.
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[DKStroutfitter]

I own several ice rods and my Ugly Sticks are my favorite.
If you want a stouter rod, get an Eagle Claw and be sure to use it with an indicator. Plenty of back bone but it lacks sensitivity without the indicator.
I like the 3 large guides on the Eagle Claw.
They don't freeze up like smaller guides do.
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[fishfighter91]

I have a couple of the eagle claw rods too. They work great with a jaw jacker, and as already mentioned the eyes don't ice up as much.

As for the sensitivity, I just add a small wire bobber to my rod tip and it even works for perch ( though you lose a lot of the fun at that point as far as fight is concerned). 7 bucks for just the rod at Sportsman's.

My favorite would have to be my Frabill Ice hunter 38" med rod. Really sensitive tip but good solid backbone for large fish and hook sets in a little bit deeper water. Little bit more pricey at $40 at sportsman's, but worth every penny.

Where are you going that you'll be fishing those classes of rainbows consistently?
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[Duckbutter]

Not all ugly stick ice rods are created equal. I have one that I really like, and looked at buying more this year, but the action of the rods I felt this year felt different. The greatest flex of the rods I felt were in the middle of the rod, and the tips weren't sensitive. The two medium action rods I have found were some Genz rods, and the less expensive Berkley lightning rods. To get more uniform for my ice burbot rods, I picked up 3 of the latter, and love them. Picked up a couple of the medium 28", and one of the medium heavy 32" for smaller lakers and pike.

I recommend you go into Cabela's, sportsmans, or another retailer and fiddle around with them a little bit. Bend them a bit, compare the flex and action between the brands and see what you like best for your price range.

For me, the ugly sticks just didn't cut it for me, despite having one that I like. They felt different for whatever reason this year.

On any rod you will catch fish without an indicator, but if you haven't iced with an underwater camera, you have never seen how many hits you cant visibly detect on all tackle. Blew my mind. A sensitive indicator will always help detect more hits and help increase your catch rate.
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[Duckbutter]

I will add, if you have the coin, the Dave Genz and St Croix rods are the fashizzle.
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[FattyGreens]

If you don't mind spending the money Thorne Bros rods are the best currently on the market IMO
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[castnshoot]

Thanks for all the advise. I am going to take a look at some of your recommendations.

Thanks.
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[doggonefishin]

If they are still available, one of the best ice rods I've ever used is a South Bend "Black Ice" medium heavy action 30 inch rod. I bought 2 of these on an end of season closeout a while back. They have been awesome and I wish I'd bought another one or two. They are sensitive enough to catch a pile of jumbo gills (like yesterday) but strong enough backbone to handle bigger fish like slot buster trout. I really like that they have the backbone to deliver a strong hookset to hard mouthed bigger fish at depth like Strawberry cutts and Fish Lake splakes. I'm not sure they are still available though. I bought mine about 7-8 years ago.

In general, the biggest mistake I see anglers make is that they use these flimsy ultralight ice rods for either big hard mouthed fish or fish in deep water. Sure, they can detect the bites, but they wonder why they can't hook up anything and why they always get off part way up. If you need more sensitivity, use a tip indicator, bobber, or a myriad of other ways to detect bites better, but IMO you are better off with some rod backbone if you are after good sized trout or deeper fish like perch 45 feet down on the bottom.
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