Ice fishing is one of the major and popular recreational activities most people in the United States engage in during the winter. It’s a whole different fishing activity that provides exciting and memorable experiences. It’ll be vital to get the best ice fishing rod when having your ice fishing activity as it’ll be essential for enhancing your activity and experience while fishing.
Nevertheless, with the growth in complexity, power, action, and the need for different rods for certain ice fishing grounds, choosing the appropriate rod for most people becomes challenging. If you’re looking for the best ice fishing rod for your activity, we’ve compiled the important things you need to consider to get the right one.
1. Power and action
When checking for the best ice fishing rods for your ice fishing activity, it’ll be good to consider the action and power. The rod’s power determines the size of fish you’re targeting to catch; the power of the fish may vary from ultra-light, light, medium, to heavy rods for fish like the muskie. Alternatively, the action tells you more about the sensitivity, where the fast and ultra-fast rods with a bend at the tip are the best ice fishing rods.
These rods will be essential in helping you to feel all the fish’s nibble even in the cold weather when most fish are less distinct and sluggish. Some individuals will go for the medium rods having middle bends. Despite offering the best action and properties, you’ll find in the general-purpose rod, such as getting a clear, strong bite indication, these rods lack flexibility. Nonetheless, the spring bobber (an attachment) makes these factors an exception as the ice anglers might have them on both medium and heavy rods to identify any small bites.
2. Length of the rod
The ice fishing rod’s length can be one factor that has a huge impact on choosing the appropriate rod to enhance your ice fishing experience. For example, if you go for shooter rods, approximately 24 inches, you’ll enjoy the portability and compactness they offer, but they won’t offer you many functionality advantages. If you pick these rods for your ice fishing activities, they won’t be appropriate for handling large fish because, most likely, the line ends up breaking.
It’s important to check the size of the fish you’re going to fish before considering the length of the rod to go for. If you’re going for larger fish, a longer rod will be the best one you should choose because they’ll help absorb the striking impact resulting from the larger fish. This rod will also be essential to allow you to play with it successfully without breaking the line. Therefore, the most appropriate rod for your ice fishing needs is a long rod approximately 30 inches.
3. Materials
When making the ice fishing rods, the designers use two types of material to make the rods effectively. The main materials they use are carbon fiber or graphite and fiberglass. These materials can guide you to choose the right rod for your ice fishing needs. When opting for a fiberglass rod, it’s essential to understand that they are more cumbersome than carbon fiber rods. While using them, it’s quite hard to feel their sensitivity when they bend, especially where they get thinner towards the tip’s end.
However, when based on the materials, the carbon fiber rods are the best fishing rods. They have a higher sensitivity than fiberglass, a feature that makes them enhance your ice fishing experiences. The rods are also strong and light along their long length, making it appropriate even when fishing large fish, as they won’t have issues of breakages between the lines. Nevertheless, these rods become more fragile, especially if you strike or drop them, and they are more susceptible to temperature changes.
4. Eyes or line guides
Checking the line guides and eyes is an important step in choosing the best ice fishing rod suitable for all your activities and preferences. Importantly, it’ll be good to choose the line guides or eyes that have stainless material. The stainless material on the rods enhances durability and functionality by preventing rust on these rods. You can also check and ensure the rod’s inserts have got Zirconium, a material that also prevents rusting.
Before landing the appropriate ice fishing rod, you can also consider checking on the high-end rods for the titanium. Titatnus helps the rod run smoothly, as they provide a better alternative for resisting any abrasion wrestling from the braided line. The smooth running of the ice rod is vital for reducing friction during your activities in both salty and freshwater. Thus, having these features on your rod makes it the appropriate option, resulting in longer and exciting casts.
5. Rod Butts
The fishing ice rods come in different types depending on the rod buttes on them. Most rods have a plastic rod butt, while the others have cork inserts and rubbers, as they are essential for adding more comfort. However, those who like fishing with gloves on their hands can’t experience the full differences between rod butts.
When choosing your ice fishing rods, experts advise the ice anglers to choose cork rod butts. These rods are more beneficial than the others because they provide the ice anglers a proper location to set the hook temporarily easily. You can set the hook temporarily while changing the lures or sorting the bait to enhance your ice fishing experience.
Final thoughts
Ice fishing is a popular and interesting recreational activity for most individuals in the United States during the winter, increasing the need for fishing rods. If you want to have an enjoyable and memorable ice fishing experience, it’ll be important to have the best ice fishing rod. With the various types of fishing you can use, it becomes daunting to choose the appropriate one.
The locations of your fishing activity and your preferences are the key considerations when selecting the right one. Additionally, you can consider the rod butts, the right material, rod’s length, power, and action when choosing the right fishing rod.