I haven't invested the same in my ice fishing reels as I have for my open water ones. I have only Shimano's for open, they are pricey, but well worth it and seem to last forever if you take care of them. Ice fishing (for me), I'm not catsing, only opening the bail, so I look for smooth action, smooth tight reeling, and a good drag thats also smooth and easy to adjust. I just went to Gander and got a Cardinal reel that's really smooth on a Berkley Lightning Ice rod as a combo, and a Guide series that was comparable, not as smooth, but 5 bucks cheaper for the combo and I like it. $20- 25 for either. I also have a Silstar that's my oldest and withstood a swim for about an hour before I got it back along with a cheap Panfish Puller combo reel that took a dunk. Still using both (Berkley Hot Sauce, great stuff). I also have a Shakespere but it's my least favorite. Not very smooth at all. I fish for panfish with my jigging reels and I don't need large line capacity and that is a part of it too. I used to just hand over hand on an old wooden handle rod with a plastic reel thought for years. It took me a while to even use the reel without putting it down and hand reeling out of habit. Lots of choices out there, I've looked at the Tica's, they look good for the price. Ice gear does get beat up over the years too, another thing to think about.
