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The 24 inch Frabill panfish popper combo is a really good rod, but a terrible reel. It's worth the price to me, just make sure the spring bobber isn't closed off. I can't compare it to other rods, but its sensitive enough to feel a 3 inch gill bite, and strong enough to handle a 2 pound trout. There is a combo for sale on Ebay for 20 bucks, but they will pop though from time to time for less.
Years ago I bought the Shakespeare Cajun Ice in UL model... awesome power noodle...it the rod I hoist an awesome Sturgeon under the ice that I couldn't make it fit through my Ice hole.
Had these as well Slipperybob in the 24" model. The most flexible rod I have ever used...loved the big guides on them. However, a little too flexible for me on gills but perfect for fishing smelt out of a shack...no bobber/indicator required.
i have had 3 of those 4 mentioned, and if i can make a recommendation, spend 10 bucks more on the beaver dam noodle. while not as great as a custom higher end noodle blank, its got plenty of backbone as opposed to those others where the bend in your rod is at the handle and the 2/3 of the rod is just straight down. they obviously still all catch fish, but it made a world of difference for me.
I make some custom ice rods and I'll admit it's hard to justify spending all the time on one when there are several pretty good options for such a small price tag.
Agronomist, I have anHT ice blue noodle rod that I am not using. Lost 2” off the top so it is now a 28” rod. The tip is solid. I will send it to you. Just picked up the box from the post office
I got a 13 fishing tickle stick last year and I can say that 9/10 times I grab my Shakespeare 28" noodle that I found in a clearance bucket for $8. I found a 24" one towards the end of the season last year and love it! Cannot beat them for the money
Thanks man. I heated the guide and replaced it with a new tip top. It looks a tad big in the pic due to the angle of the pic., but worked well. Rod is a nice action for panfish yet. Should make a good crappie rod.I was shooting some more plastics today. However, I didnt get many made. I had a full injector and went to push down the knob to fill a mold......I must have been off the hole.......it blew plastic all over the wall, microwave, stove and back splash......took me over and hour to get it cleaned up before the wife came home. Lol
holy crap! From the sounds of it, it must have been one hell of a mess! any pics? LOL! I cook fish in the kitchen and I get yelled at!
Same here on cooking fish.....no pics of the mess didn't want any evidence.
We all prefer different things. IMO the way these cheap noodle rods work on panfish is what a person wants. With the light 1-3lb test line I want that entire Rod blank to bend like it does. The reasoning behind it is the blank keeps the light line taunt so the fish can't throw the lure and get away when I'm slowly reeling it in..........
but the entire rod doesn't bend on any of them. I still have the 3 in a bucket and put a line on them to make sure i wasn't mistaken. the last 1/3 of the rod to the tip isn't bent its pointed straight down on any of them. and a stiffer backbone doesn't cause line to be less taught at all. the point of a noodle rod is for the tip to act as an indicator without the need for a spring bobber. Most of the cheaper noodles do not allow this to truly happen. i've missed and seen other guys who swear by them miss tons of fish on them. i also know guys that can probably outfish me with their. nothing is ever a guarantee.i put a beaver dam noodle that was 23 bucks into the hands fo my brother and his father in law who had ice blues and shakespeare noodles due to them sayign on the side they are noodles and they know thats what i use for panfishing, and were about to go back to spring bobbers. Now they both love the beaver dam because it gives them a much better indication of a strike. trust me i'm about as cheap as they come. i paid 65 bucks for a custom rod and it was the most painful purchase i've made ice fishing because i'm so cheap.
Just picked up a couple of 36" Schooley Arctic Ice rods...tipped them with Ice Strong indicators ( .014 and .016 ). Tied on a 3mm and 4mm Wolfram (Fiska). In a word...impressed.
Lol I've made the argument before, the best evidence I've seen is the double up iceassin did. Couldn't see anyone doing this to the beaver dam noodle. We all do have different preferences tho or we wouldn't have a reason to argue about it