Suggestions on a panfish ice rod to vertical jig with in open water?

[panfishaholic]

Im lookin to buy a panfish ice rod to vertical jig open water with, kinda leanin towards one a little longer...any help would be great....thanks a bunch

[ryno]

You talking open water like in a boat??  If so you going for something much longer than what most of us use on the ice for pannies.   If you just mean flat basins in deeper water thru the ice I would recommend a 32-36 inch rod.  The type of rod depends on what you will be jign...how heavy?  My suggestion would be call thorne bros and talk with them...if you are looking for a quality rod.

[Skipper]

Anytime the word ROD is mentioned.... someone pops in with a thorne bros plug.

How about some details? Are you planning on fishing on a straight line below a flasher? How deep are we talking?

[TType86]

Not sure exactly what your looking for in length, but I bought a short rod from basspro couple years ago for 20 bucks to toy around with in my kayak. I think its labeled as a kayak rod. I found that its useful when vertical jigging for panfish while using a flasher in my jon boat. It is a graphite rod and i think the length is about 3ft. Really a nice little rod for the price. I actually prefer a longer rod in my kayak though.

[TType86]

I would not want anything too short for open water myself. I myself use a 5'6" rod for vertical jigging pannies in the boat mostly.

[panfishaholic]

Yeah i have a few rods in the 5' to 7' range i usually use but i like to use an ice rod for straight lining off the side of my kayak. It makes for a heck of a fight when you hook into a bull 'gill. Just lookin for the best one for panfish

[jammer icecube]

I use a ice hunter pole off the boat sometimes when playing with panfish and the straight line is always a good time ( use it in quarry off rock ledges above water ). Any retired or brocken pole cut down or re-vamped serves the purpose also. I prefer to keep custom jig poles for the hardwater. Good times....

[panfishaholic]

Anytime the word ROD is mentioned.... someone pops in with a thorne bros plug.

How about some details? Are you planning on fishing on a straight line below a flasher? How deep are we talking?

about 15' to 20' at the deepest just some good ol shallow water pannies...im guessin i should just stick with something a little longer than an ice rod

[TType86]

im guessin i should just stick with something a little longer than an ice rod

I would. The really short ice rods are only beneficial for fishing inside a shanty. Thats what they were designed for. I know i miss some hooksets on my little 24" gill rods when Im standing up ice fishing that I most likely wouldnt of if I had been using a longer rod. For open water your jig is not gona stay perfectly vertical a lot of times (wind, drift, current, etc...) for that reason you really want a longer rod to get a better hookset in my opinion, especially in a kayak. That is why I actually prefer a longer rod in a yak. But hey, its your money, get what you want. Id be getting a light or even medium as opposed to UL though. I like the st croix premier line of ice rods. Very sensitive and reasonably priced. Ya, the custom rods are sweet, but not everyone is made of money, and I bet I catch just as many fish without them.

[mealworm]

36" or 40" ice blue rods things are great rods and the price is usually right....cheap

[panfishaholic]

Okay, thanks for all the input everyone

[mealworm]

forgot to add i do a ton of fishing for pannies out of my jon boat early in the spring, and these ice rods imho are awesome for verticle jigging under my flasher in a small boat

[panfishaholic]

yeah thats what i was sorta goin for, i looked at the panfish sweetheart rods by thorne bros and the looked good price was just a bit high. I also looked into the whipr stick by k&e and i like the looks of that rod and it comes in a 4' length which i think might be a good moderator between an ice rod and a typical 5' open water ultralight. Has anyone tried the whipr stick or know anything about it

[Dark Cloud]

Anytime the word ROD is mentioned.... someone pops in with a thorne bros plug.

Anytime someone mentions ice rods, Skipper jumps in yappin about Marmish... 

Length desired will depend on a few factors - size of boat, jigging with a flasher, ect...
I built a 3 footer for verticle jigging out of my kayak - that distance was the best for keeping my jig under the transducer.
I also built one up at 46inches - that length worked best in the boat for verticle jigging with the transducer hung over the side. Longer 6-7 ft rods worked fine in the boat but it was also a good excuse to build another rod... 

[Skipper]

I had about four members in mind, I knew that comment would irritate one of them.

Marmish would be dumb in a boat, you gotta be straight above the hole for solid hooksets and you need things to be absolutely still for a spring bobber. No brainless brand loyalty here.

The big thing, the real deciding factor that would decide what you want to go with would be the use of a flasher... Are you trying to keep the jig below a flasher? It is tough in a boat to begin with, but a longer rod can make it more difficult. If you can get away from the ice rod idea for a bit, there are some really incredible rods out there. Ice rods at their best ain't really that great... that's not a hack, it's a fact. The blanks are mainly designed to be cheap and you pay a ton for assembly. Open water rods are light years ahead...

There are some fantastic UL rods in the 4'6''- 5' range... Here are a few.

St. Croix, PFS50ULM. about $100
St. Croix, AVS46ULF. about  $140
Fenwick HMXS 49UL-M. about $80
Fenwick EGTS 49UL. about $60

I would take any of these over any ice ice rod out there... If you are going for a lower price point, check into the longer fiberglass ice rods. They are dirt cheap and very durable.

[dkfry]

A 36"-48" rod would be ok for panfish out the side of a kyack.

[jvanness]

i use an ugly stick light (light action) for open water panfish spooled with 6lbs mono or 8lbs floro.  Its got great sensitivity for the little nibblers but enough back bone to pull in a 6lbs large mouth, which i caught on complete wing just fishing a 2" powerbait grup on a jig head.  Make sure the full name of the rod is ugly stick light, other wise, just like any other ugly stick, your arm would be like jello by the end of the day.  Its my "go to rod" if i'm trying a new water and not sure what i'll be catchin, cause i can easily put a hook, split shot, and bobber on for pannies, or a grub on a jig head, or sometimes a 4" powerbait worm weightless.  Best thing is, if you break it, it gets replaced no questions asked.  I had mine for bout 10 years, only thing i had to do, was replace the reel a couple times, rod still looks and feels the day i bought it

[mbart]

Don't want to hijack this thread but, interested in what kayak's members of iceshanty use. I fish out of a Perception Pescador 12, sit on top. Float fish for crappie and bluegill in the spring, then drift, troll and jig for walleye.

[dkfry]

My kayak is a 16' Lund. Smallest boat I go on the water with.

[panfishaholic]

Don't want to hijack this thread but, interested in what kayak's members of iceshanty use. I fish out of a Perception Pescador 12, sit on top. Float fish for crappie and bluegill in the spring, then drift, troll and jig for walleye.

My yak is a wilderness systems tarpon 100 its a great yak and has plenty of room for fishing

[TType86]

http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-3-Graphite-Series-Spinning-Rod/product/10201839/

I have one of these. Works good for vertical jigging panfish with enough backbone for larger fish too. Easy to keep jig under the transducer cone. Its really a nice rod for the price. Im thinking about using it ice fishing for walleye.

[Townie]

I pair my ice reels w/ Falcon UL 4'.6" spinning rod for jigging w/ small blades, marabou jigs

http://falconrods.com/index.php/rods-reels/rods/original/original-ultralight.html