Open water Walleye Reel

[Ice Surveyor]

I just bought a new walleye rod at the local Fishing Expo.  Now I need the reel.  I've got shimanos and presidents already for reels, anything else I should be looking at?  I've seen Deal Ninja mention the Tica reels, never bought one though. 

Three weeks and I should be in business on the mighty WI river for walleyes. 

[IFF]

Why ?  The Presidents and Shimanos should be just fine.  Its not like your going to run into a "Real" river monster.

[Kevin23]

I am switching my reels over to Penn this year. I've had enough of my shimanos breaking after a year, the pfluegers (president, purist, supreme) have been very good for me though.. but a buddy snagged a rod and reel out of the Miss river this past fall and brought the reel over to me to see if I could save it. It was caked in sandy silt and clearly had been there a while, it was a penn battle 2. I took it apart and washed everything in a tub of soapy water, cleaned the bearings with degreaser, then oiled and greased everything and reassembled it. Worked perfectly! Everything on it is zinc, alum, and brass (Except for the bearings and the gear rod which are stainless). I'm sure it was in the river for a year or better, and nothing was corroded except for a tiny corner of the frame.

That sold me, I'll be using Penn from now on.

[Ice Surveyor]

Why ?  The Presidents and Shimanos should be just fine.  Its not like your going to run into a "Real" river monster.

Just looking for other options bud. 

Thanks Kevin23, I didn't know Penn made a good spinning reel.  Did some research, and found that Diawa has a really good spinning reel also. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp-6OtVF4LA

[filetandrelease]

I do a lot of jigging  and fall casting , , presidents work just fine
For trolling I have Diawa sealines

[Scooby31]

Shimano Stradic ci 4 plus.  I love mine super smooth everything from drag to casting.

[Vine Valley]

Last year I switched over from using spinning reels to bait casting reels.
Bait casting reels are far superior for ice fishing than spinning reels.
No memory or line twisting.
Lures drop a lot faster especially when in deep water.
My catch rate has improved immensely.
BAIT CASTING REELS

[bootstrap]

Last year I switched over from using spinning reels to bait casting reels.
Bait casting reels are far superior for ice fishing than spinning reels.
No memory or line twisting.
Lures drop a lot faster especially when in deep water.
My catch rate has improved immensely.
BAIT CASTING REELS

which rods and reels do you like? i have some old bait casters kicking around. will they work? didnt seem like a good thing for the ice to get into the level wind and spool.

i had what seemed to be a high end diawa not last 2 seasons. just bought my first president. seems very high quality. i have several penn saltwater reels have always liked them, just dont use them much anymore. too large for fresh water.

[Vine Valley]

Bass Pro Shops is having a big sale until March 3. I recently bought a couple of Pro Qualifier PQE10SHA. Reg price $99.99 on Sale for $49.97
Any good quality bait casting reel will do the job. Unfortunately as the saying goes "you get what you pay for".
The same goes for rods, any good quality rod will do the job. When fishing in deeper water I prefer a stiffer rod.

[Ice Surveyor]

I went and ordered a Penn battle II from amazon last night, around $75 for a 2500 model. 

I do like the idea of bait caster reels for deep water, but that means I need those type of rods too.  Where does it end!

[wyogator]

I am a Shimano guy, although I do have a couple of Penns. I will say this; Penn makes one of, if not the most user serviceable reel out there.

[IceFishFreak]

i personally have had several presidents start to catch while reeling.  If you are pitching jigs,  reeling super slow,  it's almost like they catch or freeze up.  it totally messes up the retrieve.  I tried lubing them,  no idea why they do that.  That being said,  when i could get them for 40-50,  I thought use on for two years and throw it in the garbage.  well now they are 60 so i'm on to something other.  I been running shimano symetre FJ,  Diawa revros and revros LT and the Diawa regal AB.  so far the all the Diawa cast beautiful,  drag is nice,  they are a smooth reel.  I still buy a stradic every now and again but i'm always chasing that economic reel where quality surpasses cost. 

i has pflueger supreme's as well,  i don't know why,  but they don't cast very well.   The presidents cast way better.   I put them on my vertical jigging rods,  IMO,  they are just line holders.  $100 line holders,  what a joke.