Reel/line setups?

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Just thought I’d see what guys are doing.

Who sets up with lighter line and a very solid/smooth drag system? Like 4#-6# line for walleye with a lubed up smooth drag.

Who sets up with heavier line with a tightened down drag or jumpy drag system? Like 8#_12# line with a very tight or jumpy drag?

What is everyone’s preference & reasoning?

[zcm_82]

Just thought I’d see what guys are doing.

Who sets up with lighter line and a very solid/smooth drag system? Like 4#-6# line for walleye with a lubed up smooth drag.

Who sets up with heavier line with a tightened down drag or jumpy drag system? Like 8#_12# line with a very tight or jumpy drag?

What is everyone’s preference & reasoning?

I run lighter rigs with a smooth drag. None of my ice rods have line over 6# test.

I do the same thing open water fishing. My main rough fish rod is a 5'6" light with 8# mono on it, and I have pulled up a whole dollop of 10-15# carp on it over the years. It makes the fight a lot more fun than just horsing them up on a heavier rig.

[HWeber]

Nothing over 6# lots of 10# plus rough fish through the ice fishing walleye on the river. Longer rods seem to help with light line. Planning on looking into carbon drag washers this year. Felt ones can be frustrating if you are in and out of the house cranking your drag back and forth. Seems some companies use different oil then others, not all drags tighten way up when cold. I've heard carbon can me ran dry which hopefully would limit the effects of temp changes

[slipperybob]

I generally only need a lightly set drag.  It's just panfish I'm fishing for.  Even when I'm catfishing, it's still set pretty darn light.  The reasoning is that I want my gear to last, so no need to button down the drag just to warp the spool shaft.  Then probably just to prevent the line from snapping unnecessarily.  If a pike wants to burst run and snap the line, then that's just what's gonna happen.

[Hobie-Wan Kenobi]

Early ice, I like to fish around shallow weeds for walleye. I find the greenest weeds and pound spoons. That takes heavier line with drag locked. Usually 8-10lb mono.

[Hatandboots]

For main line and leader, does anyone else use a heavy mainline and then change your leader depending on what you target? I don't have that many rods, so I put 20lb braid on all of them, and then for pan-fish I use a 4lb fluoro leader, and lb for walleye etc.. Because the mainline is heavy I do use a very long leader too, like 5 feet. There doesn't seem to be a downside to this as far as I can tell, and I can switch species really fast, just by using a different leader.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

For main line and leader, does anyone else use a heavy mainline and then change your leader depending on what you target? I don't have that many rods, so I put 20lb braid on all of them, and then for pan-fish I use a 4lb fluoro leader, and lb for walleye etc.. Because the mainline is heavy I do use a very long leader too, like 5 feet. There doesn't seem to be a downside to this as far as I can tell, and I can switch species really fast, just by using a different leader.

Do you ever hole hop outside? Doesn’t the Braid just ice up terrible?

[Hatandboots]

Do you ever hole hop outside? Doesn’t the Braid just ice up terrible?

Yeah it for sure does. I don't do a ton of hole hopping, or if I do I just deal with the freeze up. I can usually reel through the build up, but I have to pull line off the reel when I'm dropping. I tried using fluoro mainline once but the line memory killed it for me.

[slipperybob]

For main line and leader, does anyone else use a heavy mainline and then change your leader depending on what you target? I don't have that many rods, so I put 20lb braid on all of them, and then for pan-fish I use a 4lb fluoro leader, and lb for walleye etc.. Because the mainline is heavy I do use a very long leader too, like 5 feet. There doesn't seem to be a downside to this as far as I can tell, and I can switch species really fast, just by using a different leader.

I used to do that sort of a long time ago.  Although it was more or less like adding like 20-30 feet or so of light fishing line since I didn't want to respool the reel.  The line will catch onto the line join knot every once in a while. 

[skifisher]

I run a straight spooled 4# and/or 6# test Yo-Zuri Hybrid on all of my ice rods with no issues. Since I normally fish outside of a shelter, braid, and all the issues connected with it, is a no brainer for me. A good reel with a smooth drag is the key for landing big fish with this set up.