how keep eyelets from freezing

[slamminsam]

I haven't checked the history on this site about this topic, but any suggestions you all may have on how to keep your eyelets from freezing over I'd love to hear....I don't know of any product that is made to do this, but I'd buy it if they made it....I river fish in the winter and Ice fish as well, and its always a pain to keep sucking the eyelet or break it off with fingers (gloves)...

[stripernut]

Loon Outdoors Stanley's Ice-Off Paste, works, it is not perfect, but it goes a long way to helping...

[DrewFlu33]

I learned/tried a lot of different ways of keeping ice off of line and eyelets while cutting my teeth on the steelhead tributaries of Lake Erie.

PAM or reel spray (like Reel Magic) works, but ends up getting everything greasy.   One advantage of Reel Magic is that it'll reduce memory in your line if you just spray the spool with it.  Chap Stik and Vaseline work, but get a little "gunky" in the cold and need frequent reapplication.  There are also problems with petroleum based stuff destroying fly lines and some rod finishes, though destroying fly lines isn't as big of a problem for ice fisherman and I think destroying rod finishes is overblown.  The biggest issue with these is the scent that they end up putting in the water, I think.  Reel Magic is purported not to have any scent, but I take that with a grain of salt.

There's a product made by Loon Outdoors marketed towards fly fishermen called Stanley's Ice Off Paste.  It works pretty well, and doesn't seem to have that petroleum smell of Vaseline and Chap Stik or the propensity to chunk up as much.  It comes in a little tub that resembles the rub-on lip balm containers.

One take away from all of this should be that you can never eliminate icing of your eyelets (unless you invent a heated rod), but there are a lot of things you can do to help.  We as ice anglers are also lucky that we don't (generally) have to deal with the snake guides that are on fly rods that tend to ice up much easier than standard eyelets.

I'm interested to hear if anyone has tried anything else with success!

EDIT: Stripernut beat me to the Ice-Off Paste 

[squ1rr31_]

This stuff here is amazing;

http://www.basspro.com/Kevin-VanDams-Line-and-Lure-Conditioner/product/66168/

[slipperybob]

Best way, pinch the line with your gloves as you reel up.  Bare hands if its not too cold.

[panfishman13]

as someone who uses braided line, icing up can be a real problem for me. i used to use reel magic, but i used the non-aerosol stuff, and once the bottle broke and spilled everywhere, i didn't really want to shell out the cash for another bottle.

so far the only real solution i've found is to use monofilament (flourocarbon works really well) on all my outside rods, and just use the braid inside the shelter.

[littlemelon]

Try Hoppes gun grease (not as messy as vaseline)
Or Remington Teflon oil.

[Icenutter]

Buy rods with Recoil guides.  If any ice build up occurs just a little tap  of the rod and the ice falls off.

[Townie]

Buy rods with Recoil guides.  If any ice build up occurs just a little tap  of the rod and the ice falls off.

X2

[matzilla]

carnauba wax

[Mr.Seaguar]

Flip the shack over

[chilly-willy]

Vaseline?

[WyoMinFisher]

I put several coats of turtle wax on my eyelets last year.  Worked good for one day, 2nd trip had minimal buildup so I reapplied after each trip. Worked well!