2019 Ice Reel Review

The combination of the St. Croix CCI Search Bait Rod and this reel makes for a dynamite Jigging Rap/Walleye setup! - Photograph by Matt Addington

2019 Ice Reel Review

Over the years, I’ve owned a pile of ice rods, each of them with some type of reel strapped on for about any species that swims under ice.  Most perform quite well to be honest, though there’s increasing competition in the space for who is top of the heap.  All of which is a bit mis-leading, because it’s hard to crown any-one reel brand or size the true “winner,” as it all depends on what kind of ruler you use to do the measuring.

With that in mind, here’s what I look for in a good ice reel.  Note that these criteria are solely my own, and you may have a different litmus test for what’s the best.  I tend to focus on the following attributes, in this order:

• Cold Weather Performance – An ice reel needs to operate on, well….ice.  You’d be surprised how many ice reels gum up in extreme cold, and how many more have drag issues when taken back and forth between warm and cold.  Of course, these scenarios play out on ice daily, and because so many manufacturers like to freezer test then slap approval on a product, there’s plenty on the market that don’t operate well.  Ball bearings be damned, I’ve had some high count ball bearing reels that goo-up when it gets cold.

• Price – Especially with ice reels, few species require you spend up the chain to get a quality performer.  There are specialty exceptions, but the price vs. performance curve really starts to plateau at $60-70.  There are also some great reels at half that price, so you really don’t have to break the bank to get a great ice reel.

• Drag – Better drags are what you tend to get for more money, but you can tweak drags with aftermarket carbon fiber discs, so even poorer drags can be upgraded pretty cheap.  For the most part, I’m concerned with quality drag when it comes to large perch and up.  Trophy caliber predators like walleye, pike, lakers, and the like require a really good drag.  You’ll simply pay more for better reels with better drags, and if you’re targeting these species, you should.   

• Weight – Most ice reels these days are all within a few ounces of each other, but with the increasing sensitivity and weight-savings of custom rods these days, every ounce matters.  It affects the balance of the rod, where I’ll mount them, and ultimately can make or break any combination of rod and reel you have. 

• Ball Bearings – I don’t care.  There, I said it.  To be more accurate, I care, but there’s so much misleading information on what ball bearings do for you, location of quality ones matters more than sheer number of them placed inside of a reel.  That’s information you get through supreme nerdery and lots of experience, and even then, the above criteria tend to sort the best from the rest before we ever get down to ball bearings. 

Here’s a few of my favorites:

The Panfish/Value Play –

Shimano Sienna 500 – Let’s start with the O.G. of lean/mean ice reels in the Sienna.  Mind you, it’s not the best, but it was never designed to be.  It’s a good reel, for a decent price, that’s been proven for most of my panfish setups.  Can you do better?  Oh yeah, and the drag should be updated too, as it’s sluggish in extreme cold, then too forgiving back in the shack.  Still, it’s a volume over quality scenario if you’re putting numbers of reels on a pile of panfish rods.  To achieve quality, I probably wouldn’t look to spend less than the price of a Sienna.

Okuma Ceymar C10 – You get a lot in this reel, and it’s performed well for me on ice with a few upgrades from the Sienna.  I especially like the oversized bail, as I can be pretty tough on my stuff like most ice anglers.  The drag is just like the Sienna’s – oiled felt – though I didn’t think it benefitted from a custom disc drag I put in it as much as the Sienna did.  Advantage Ceymar.  That said, I haven’t owned these as long, so I have no idea how well they’ll hold up over time.  Advantage Sienna.  Call it a push?

Sportscar Edition

If you’re looking for the best of the best, and cost isn’t as much a consideration, consider the Tatula in the 1000 size, especially if your whole game is about performance on big predators.  This is an open-water reel that’s found its way on my biggest and baddest rods, both on account of its extreme weight-savings (it’s lighter than almost all other 500 series reels), but also because of its buttery smooth drag and bigger frame.  You’ve got the size without the weight, and I’ve got fat hands so this thing isn’t a tiny knuckle-buster, but rather a dream to fight big fish with.

Best Inline

This may be blasphemy to some, but my pick is a <$30 Eagle Claw.  In part because the category is still developing in my opinion.  You’ve got cheapos and nearly $100 reels that perform very similarly, so price vs. performance is all over the board.  I’m a huge fan of the idea and theory of inline ice reels, but in practice, many I’ve tested are cumbersome, poorly balanced, and promote rather than prevent tangles.  The Eagle Claw inline is no worse than the rest, with a great price tag to boot!

Best Walleye

Shimano’s been doing this part of the category really well for a long time, and I’ve owned Sedona 500s for just as long.  Step up from the Sienna, and you get some much better drags, and a reel that performs well with little fuss.  You pay more for this reel than most, but you go into the deal knowing what you’re going to get.  You could even step up the lineup to Sahara and Nasci, but the Sedona is my pick for all around walleye as I own a few.

Live Bait/Deadstick

Baitfeeder reels are really nice for hanging a deadstick, whether in the house or on open ice.  The idea is that fish can run without feeling the reel/rod (you adjust the pressure with a tensioner knob), then when you’re ready to set the hook, flip the switch from bait-feed mode to anti-reverse and drill ‘em.  These are new on the market, and though I’ve used previous editions, I have no first hand experience with these actual reels.  I’m going with four brand new Okuma Avenger ABF-500’s this year for what it’s worth.

Best Bang for the Buck –

I had a chance to use the Daiwa Q-series 750 reels last year and was impressed with each of the models.  Most importantly, the 750 size is a real sweet spot that allows slightly larger spools, meaning less ice-line memory.  Best of all, it does that without being overweight.  Speaking of, heft is comparable across the board with Shimano and others, though the quality at the lower price points was especially notable when put head to head vs. other manufacturers.  Not to mention, the handles have a push-button fold, so you can easily compact them for storage in a rod case.  Sounds simple, but it’s a luxury to have your rod case shut well!  Drags are pretty smooth for reels $50 or less, and the high end version is sharp looking and a performer.  I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them, and would pair the QR750s on panfish setups, with the QG750 and QZ750 going on my walleye setups.

Again, these will likely edge out the Sienna for price vs. performance, as Daiwa’s track record has been damn good as of late, but with no durability testing over time we’ll have to see. 

Honorable Mention –

The Pflueger President is a good reel, but IMO gets somewhat lost in the mix of quality Shimanos, up-and-comer Okumas, and the new Daiwas.  If you’re a Pflueger fan, buy with confidence, it’s a good reel that I’ve had ice success with.

Online Fishing Tourneys - The Future of Competitive Angling?

Online organized tourneys like Shack Slam have plenty of advantages over traditional formats. Click here for more information - https://catchcover.com/shackslam/

Whether you’ve ever fished an actual tournament, or have casually followed the many series of events that happen nationwide, chances are your own fishing has been dramatically impacted.  Traditionally, fishing tournaments have been a way for the best and boldest anglers to showcase their talents, all while under pressure posed by everything from fellow anglers to ma nature.  The result has been an incredible string of product innovation that follows in its wake, born from incentive and driven need to outcompete.  Of course, fishing tournaments can be smaller club or less serious affairs, providing anglers another excuse to hit the water and get better.  They exist for almost all species in a variety of formats, from kayak-only, to catch and weigh, all the way to ice events that dot the hardwater landscape. 

With the act of catching a fish being so…well…hands-on, it’s tough to imagine bass-slinging or walleye-netting that’s online.  Yet, web or app format tournaments are gaining popularity for their simplicity, among other things, mostly in the way that they organize tournament proceedings and bring people together.  Darren Amundson, founder of FishDonkey – an app-based automated tournament software – discussed with me some of the reasons for this surge in online tournament growth.

An online tournament works like this says Amundson, “A tournament organizer works within an app to roster anglers, manage entry fees (if any), and determine tournament logistics.  From there, anglers connect via a smartphone, and manually photo and video each catch to verify length.  Catch statistics are entered on the water, and managed within the software to give all anglers a sorted, running tally of real-time results.  If there’s no cell connectivity, catch information is collected and stored in-app to be sorted later.”  The process sounds simple, but there are other benefits to running a tech-based tourney.    

Amundson started their app in response to some negative bass tournament press they learned about in Austin, TX.  “The equivalent of Texas’ DNR did some studies on catch and immediate release vs. catch and weigh bass tournaments to find nearly zero mortality in those quick release versions.  The same wasn’t true for fish that were put in a livewell, driven around the lake, weighed both in the boat and off, then released later.”  From experience, there are plenty of species in warm water like walleyes, that simply aren’t able to be released after a traditional weigh-in.

Amundson continues, “While there are other catch, measure, and release formats, an online tournament can take place on a number of water-bodies, over any length of time the organizer chooses.”  Spreading the pressure then over time and space then, definitely impacts individual resources to a lesser degree, which is something that tournament critics have long been concerned with. 

Online tournaments also give anyone the opportunity to organize and carry out a fishing competition, provided local and state guidelines are still followed.  “That usually involves that spreading out of opportunity, holding a tournament over a broad area over a longer length of time,” says Amundson.  A group of buddies can hold their own event and use software to sort and compare catch real-time.  “We track weather, news, stock prices, and everything else via our smart-phones,” mentions Amundson, “it only makes sense to use the technology to allow competition in a smarter, more responsible way.”

However, tournament cheating is a problem as old as the sport, and web-based tournaments are not immune to deceit.  For that reason, most online based tourneys require in-app photos and video.  “If they alter the photo, or measure the same fish twice, the tournament organizer is notified immediately.  No outside images or video is allowed to interface,” says Amundson.         

For organizers and anglers who spend large amounts of time and money on day-of logistics, online tournaments are a way to fish competitively with less costs.  There are even ad-supported means of funding prizes, and fishing companies may grow to value the content derived from it.  “At the end of the day, partner companies get photos of real people enjoying their time on the water, which may be of interest in fueling social media content for brands that participate,” mentions Amundson.

It’s a whole new world out there, and each year sees new events, series, and formats run the rollercoaster of tournament popularity.  To me, real-time tracking and organizing, along with the ability to compete with anglers across the country over less-restrictive times and areas sounds interesting.  Whether it will replace traditional formats remains to be seen, as huge bass fishing events are more popular, yet volatile, than ever.  Still, as the tech improves, I see this being a way for anyone to hold a tournament or compete in one, all while giving anglers the choice to harvest or release within the bounds of existing fish and game regulations.  Surely, that flexibility will garner more attention from more interested anglers. 

Ice Plastics Closer and Closer to the Real Thing

My first experience with ice-bait of any kind wasn’t a wax-worm, euro-larvae, or or silver wiggler, it was with a humble goldenrod grub.  Each fall we’d collect goldenrod bulbs in a cardboard box from around the farm, then sit in the basement and pry them apart.  Holes in the bulb would indicate the grub had left, but an intact pod would be split just up until the center.  After which, you’d extract the tiny white grub from the center and put it in small jars with corn meal.  It was free and plentiful, but took some time to pull those little buggers out.  It also led to a few scars and plenty of frustration, though the panfish certainly appreciated them.

Fast forward a decade or more, and I began to fall in love with plastics for ice.  Anything with a flicker tail could be threaded on your favorite jig with the greatest amount of customization.  I had color, shape, length, and rigging choices galore to fully experiment with, day-in and day-out.  Ice plastics made me a better angler then, as I was able to spend more time fishing, less time re-baiting, and ultimately learn to fine-tune a presentation with utmost detail.  You could adjust the angle of the plastic, rigging backwards, curling it up to cover the hookpoint; whatever the situation needed, you had a way to mimic or stand-out. 

Now, as plastics designs have moved forward, we’ve gone much further than adjusting shapes, colors, and sizes.  Attractants “baked-in” to the design of these plastics are all the rage, though simple scents have been a part of the plastics routine from day-one.  Anise scent is commonly used in a variety of soft plastics, but the new breed is going as far as making them out of actual organic materials.  You guessed it, fish food for lack of a better term.  That said, you may see them expressed as “fish proteins,” “amino acids,” and even “donkey-sauce.”  All of which would seem like a good thing to both entice fish into biting, but also keeping them on the tasting menu. 

While you’ll see plenty of plastics labeled as “infused” or otherwise coated with scent, here’s a few of the more interesting varieties with actual fish-food as part of the bait’s construction:

Northland Impulse – I’ll start with the plastic most similar to, well, plastic.  Northland’s Impulse formula has some organic materials and natural products as part of its makeup, and though the proprietary formula is a secret, they’ve certainly done their due diligence.  Major university research showed in repeated experiments that fish retain the bait in their mouths 143% longer than the leading competitor soft plastics.  Moreover, it won’t firm up or be rendered un-usable after some time out of the water.  Softness in the plastic/organic blend allows for more undulation in a variety of popular shapes and sizes, making it a go-to for those looking at the benefits of a hybrid. I’ve used these for years and have always been successful with this bait.  

Eurotackle Mummy Worms – Next, we’ll cover the real thing, literally. Euro’s mummy worms are real wax-worms, but mummified.  While the process is closely guarded, the key is that these things are well-preserved and ready to go in a variety of colors.  What’s dead already can’t stink up your ice-bibs, and it’s obvious that fish can prefer live-bait only at times, making this a great option on the go.    

Beavertail Baits – Perhaps the most interesting item in the category is a series of completely organic ice baits from Beavertail.  Based on the name, you might be able to guess the actual makeup of these ice baits, which begs the question, why beaver-tail?  Andrew Gullickson, owner/operator has a few reasons.  “First off, it has the traditional appeal, taste, and feel of live bait,” says Gullickson, adding “natural oils in this product last all day compared to lures that are dipped in scent and can get diluted.”  He also mentions the durability of the product, which is always an issue with live bait.  “This stuff is ultra-tough compared to bait and even your average plastic, making it a great for fishing gills and perch that are notoriously rough on bait,” says Gullickson.  It also comes in various color options, allowing for different looks in different water clarity and color.  Similar to the mummy-worms, Beavertail baits are preserved through a special process that allows shelf life and no stink.   

The beaver-tail product shares another unique quality in that it is neutrally buoyant.  Iowa guide Darrin Jones of Big Fin Guide Service uses these baits to fool the famously finicky gills of the gin clear Okoboji system.  “I can fish these baits with extremely light jigs and get better kick out of them than traditional plastic,” mentions Jones.  He also echoes Gullickson in describing how long they last on a hook.  “I can catch 25 plus gills on a single bait, which is important for these clear lake gills in a shrinking bite window,” says Jones.  More time in the water than out of it is important, but to Jones, so are the adjustments he can make to these baits.  “I like taking the scissors to these and modifying them, with my favorite shape being a simple split tail created by cutting one lengthwise from one end nearly to the other,” says Jones.  “They’re infinitely adjustable, giving me more options when fish are in a funk.”

I think we all could agree that more options out there is a good thing, especially when they are getting closer and closer to live bait.  That said, these options with all of their other favorable qualities are giving the real thing a run for its money.      

When a Picture is Worth a Thousand Lures

Ever lost a tackle box?  I’m pretty good at it as it turns out.  So are my kids I’ve come to learn, they’ve got too many of my own genes.  I’ve lost them tragically to a canoe capsize, which is a rough story I’d not like to recall.  I’ve lost one to theft, and of course it was a box full of crankbaits.  I’ve left them on the banks of rivers, in buddy’s cars and boats, and even lost them in my own messes.  Those are the worst, when you lose an ice-fishing box in some other coat you rarely wear, only to find it a few years later.  If you’re like me, you know the lump-in-your-throat feeling that comes with not just the initial loss, but the cost and time it takes to reassemble what you own.

So it was this past week when my youngest son was granted my primary open-water panfish box, and lost it.  It was loaded with stuff, which to a casual observer may look to be only a couple bucks, but careful examination and the rising price of tackle meant a few hundred dollars in every kind of panfish rig under the sun.  As you might imagine, reassembly of 30 some years of panfish tackle is like telling a baseball card collector to just go out and replace his coveted McGuire and Griffey Jr. rookie cards.  Some of that stuff they just don’t make these days.

I’m lucky to work in the industry and at times am privy to deals on select tackle and brands, which certainly makes reacquiring tackle easier, but rarely is anyone showered with free goods just for being who they are.  Usually, anything free is really payment for services, or with an expectation of services later.  The same is true for discounts.  Which of course, turns a simple jig into currency; a thought not lost on someone who just misplaced said jigs.     

Life goes on, and crappies and gills still call, so I went about putting that box back together.  Step one was a nearly forgotten photo I’d taken a few years ago.  I’ve been convinced by a buddy or two in the insurance industry to photo catalog everything I own at one point or another.  Sage advice for a number of reasons, and while I was never planning on using those shots, I’m sure glad I had them.  It was pretty easy to see each of the lures, colors, quantity, and other items in the box.  It was even a great way to take inventory on what I “thought” I had vs. what I now feel like I could use some extras of.

These days, it’s easier than ever to catalog your tackle.  Most of us have smart-phones, and whether we know it or not, access to cloud storage.  That could mean Dropbox, Google Drive, or any other number of storage solutions that don’t involve having those photos only on your phone or point-and-shoot.  Those pics are subject to any form of chaos like fire, water, or simple loss as well, so just having them on your phone isn’t the best way to ensure you’ll always have them.   

Start by laying out all of your tackle boxes at once, or in groups, and snap an overhead photo of everything.  Then, get in close for multiple photos of the same box each.  It’s amazing how different angles and shuffling the tackle a bit can reveal some new items previously unseen.  Then, make sure at the end of the session that you move those photos offsite somewhere.  I use Dropbox and with an app on my phone, can easily shift the photos I’ve taken to Dropbox online storage.  It means I can access them from my phone again, but also from any other device should I need to look at them on the fly or when buying more tackle.

Of course if you never lose anything, and can completely rule out fire, water damage, or any other general form of destruction, by all means forgo this step.  I’m not that lucky, and also have a way of putting my stuff in harms way from time to time.  That makes me (and my family) prime candidates for a photo-everything day. 

At this point, I’ve nearly restocked all of the panfish tackle save a few items that have been discontinued or I otherwise haven’t purchased yet.  I put everything in a newer, larger box, and though I dreaded the task, my oldest who has lost his fair share as well did some penance and helped.  We had fun dumping out the tackle here, there, and everywhere, generally playing fishing as we went. 

Fast forward to last night when I received a call.  The old tackle box has been found.  All of which means that this has simply been a training exercise, but it’s good to have that now and again too.  It’s also good to know that it’s worth the time and effort to take a few photos, should (when) this ever happen(s) again.  That and I have at least twice the amount of panfish tackle I’ll need for years to come.   

Spinners for Bluegills?

It’s pretty easy during the dog days of August and even into September, for bluegill and crappie anglers to lull themselves into a rut.  Fishing can be tough during the hot, sunny part of the day, and the productive times are usually limited to early and late.  Admittedly, if I’ve only got an hour or two to fish, I’ll take dawn or dusk as well.  Still, panfish are at their most active during the summer peak and will usually eat better than most species, especially if you put the right baits in the right places.

The fact that the very most active periods are early and late actually presents somewhat of a problem.  If they’re only fired up during low-light, how do you find fish to target during these periods without spending all of your time looking?  For me, it’s with a trolling approach that’s effective during all times of the day, such that you can pinpoint locations of panfish and catch them the way you want to in the early morning or evening.

As a kid running the boat for the first time, I remember being frustrated with the number of crappies we caught pulling spinners on deep weedlines and breaks for walleyes.  Any walleye angler that pulls crawlers will tell you stories about bruiser gills too that inhabit many of the same spaces.  Panfish weren’t “cool,” and bigger, rarer fish like ‘eyes certainly were.  A small spinner rig with crawler pulled off of weed edges can be so deadly for gills, it has given rise to the use of plastics for many walleye folks that are sick of constantly re-rigging bait.  Later in life, I’d be reminded that casting for panfish, with or without live bait, wasn’t always as effective as pulling spinners at a constant pace over variable cover, depths, and locations. 

So it was a few years ago then that I re-discovered, remembered, or otherwise re-visited pulling spinners for crappies and gills on account of a guy we were fishing with who couldn’t keep them off his line.  It’s been a go-to from that day and many others since.  The rig was simple as I remembered it; 1/8 – ¼ oz. bullet-nose sinker above the spinner leader’s swivel, back to a smaller hook or crawler harness tipped with a smaller section of worm or other live bait.  Bigger hooks up to size #6 or #4 mean less hookups and more bait thieves, but overall larger average fish.  Anything size #8 or smaller means more fish hooked up so long as you don’t put too big a chunk of crawler on.  You choose whichever suits you best.

Blade sizes and colors don’t seem to matter as much, provided they aren’t oversized enough to attract more predators and less panfish than they were worth.  Generally speaking, bright colors perform well in murky water and more natural colors do well in clear, but the vibration of a Colorado blade especially I feel does most of the work.  Butterfly spinners have made the technique even more deadly as they offer more flexibility in the speed of presentation.  Slow down to offer nipping fish an easier target, or speed up to clear of weeds or other hazards; it doesn’t matter as they spin at 0.25mph as they do at 2mph plus.  It also means that if you’re snagged or busy unhooking fish, all lines are still performing well for you. 

The presentation part of it is equally simple.  Find a weedline, set your trolling motor anywhere from 0.5mph or higher, and follow a contour.  If the wind is conducive to a good weedline drift, that works well too.  Literally, this technique is all about dragging around until you get bit, and refining from there.  Along the way, depending on the lake, you’ll catch walleyes, bass, and certainly pike mixed in, but the goal is finding crappies and gills to target however you please.  Or to continue to pull spinners on. 

Don’t forget the inside weedline either.  In many systems, especially predator-rich ones, the outside of any weedline can be a scary place.  Cooler water exists for bigger fish that prefer it, and the perfect ambush curtain is drawn to cut down smaller prey species.  That’s why the inside gets little attention, though you’ll have to downsize your weight, and depending on clarity, even consider a panfish planer board.  Without complicating an easy technique too much, I’d likely only consider this in gin-clear water when after trophy crappies.  Gills don’t seem to care as much about you driving over them with the electric motor anyway.

Similarly, don’t avoid the sparse cabbage edges.  These rigs are surprisingly weedless, and both cabbage and coontail can be exactly where you want to target.  It tends to be where you’ll catch the majority of your walleyes mixed in as well.  Along the way, you’ll likely learn a great deal about the layout of weed structure, as well as bottom content changes that are fish magnets during all times of the year.  Don’t hesitate to go heavier on the weight either if you’re trying to focus on the depths during mid-day.  Truth-be-told, many of the crappies I’ve caught over the years this way have been on bottom bouncer rigs tight to bottom.  My guess is that many of these fish were focusing on bloodworms and other invertebrates along the base of the weedline and into the mud. 

Cover some water and take advantage of aggressive, summer spinner-fish.  Find them before evening, and you just might find that the catching is as good during the daytime as it is during primetime.