Lake trout ice reel

[Fadetoblack188]

What spinning reel are you guys using on your lake trout Ice set ups.

Looking for a spinner for my 32 inch mh Jason Mitchell Mack rod.


Would a Sedona 1000 be good?

[DucksAndDogs]

Turn it upside down and use a casting reel.

 

[kpd145]

Depends on depth and line weight i guess

1000 is on the small side but can work.

It may look a bit small on the rod you want to use.

2500 arent bad if your targeting bigger lakers or deeper water.


Or switch to baitcasters 

[Skywagon]

I use Okuma bait casters with line counters rigged up for lake trout only, they are a tough reel, inexpensive, but have been trouble free. I use 2 of these when trout fishing and keep two spares for when friends from the States come up that don't have trout gear. 

[Sharkbait22]

That will work ok, 2500 would be better. I find the line roller on Shimano reels too small for reeling in a inline swivel.

[POk3s]

Pfleuger president for me. Smooth drag that doesn’t break the bank. I tried bait casters and I haven’t found a drag system I love. They either don’t want to seem to reel or the drag is jerky...or both. Those big long runs you need smooth drag!

[Fadetoblack188]

Pfleuger president for me. Smooth drag that doesn’t break the bank. I tried bait casters and I haven’t found a drag system I love. They either don’t want to seem to reel or the drag is jerky...or both. Those big long runs you need smooth drag!

What size president reel you use?

[Fadetoblack188]

What size president are you guys using on your lake trout rod? 25? 30?


Also what rod are you pairing it with for lake trout

[HWeber]

Here is another reason why I strictly use Presidential reels.  Two of us were jigging for walleye and perch this fall, on Saginaw Bay.  I was using my medium sized reel on a 7ft rod.  At the time I was using 6lb. test.  I felt a bite and swiftly set the hook.  Upon doing so, I heard a loud crack and the rod went limp.  My buddy says, what the hell was that?  At first I thought my rod had snapped, then I looked down and my reel was in the water.  I grabbed the reel and started hand over hand a 4.5 lb. fresh water drum, "sheephead", into the boat.  After getting the fish into the boat I looked at the reel and one of the legs that goes into the reel seat on the pole had snapped off.  On the way home I stopped and bought another Presidential, of the same size.  I sent the reel into the company with a letter.  In it, I told them my story and that I purchased the reel about two years ago and realized that the warranty was way passed expired.  But that I wanted them to take a look at it, to determine if it broke out of some kind of default in workmanship.  Three weeks later I received a new reel in the mail.  How is that for standing by your product?  They knew two things, first that the warranty had expired and second, that the reel shouldn't have broken under those conditions!  Now that is customer service!

I only hear stories of pfleuger reels breaking this way. 

[stripernut]

Most of the time for lakers I use my open water reels; Shimano Stratics 2500, worth every penny. A few are getting old enough that I will sell them soon and get over half of what I paid for them in the first place (some are over 20 years old). I never reel a swivel into the reel except for storage, so that has never been a problem for me.

[tswoboda]

A Sedona 1000 will match up very nicely on that rod and do everything you need. 1000 size reels balance and feel much nicer on smaller Laker rods.  I personally think 2500 size reels just feel too bulky and heavy on rods less than 48".

Sedonas are also generally faster reels than presidents, I.E. more inches of line retrieved per crank of the handle. That is useful for lakers since you are usually fishing deep water.

One last note. I've caught a lot of lakers on reels from $30 to $300 and I think that $50-$60 price point gives you PLENTY of reel to handle any Laker you're fortunate enough to tangle with. A $200 Stradic is a great reel, I own a few, but absolutely not necessary for ice fishing lake trout. You can upgrade a $30 reel to carbontex drag washers for $10.

[stripernut]

A $200 Stradic is a great reel, I own a few, but absolutely not necessary for ice fishing lake trout.

tswoboda is right you don't need a Stradic to catch lakes thru the ice, but if I own them for my open water fishing (where they are worth owning IMHO), why wouldn't I use them?

[Fadetoblack188]

Ok I own a president 30 and a Sedona 1000 already for regular season. So I won’t run out and buy a reel.

[tswoboda]

Ok I own a president 30 and a Sedona 1000 already for regular season. So I won’t run out and buy a reel.

You're set then.  I would mount both reels on the rod and pick whichever one you like the feel and balance of better.

tswoboda is right you don't need a Stradic to catch lakes thru the ice, but if I own them for my open water fishing (where they are worth owning IMHO), why wouldn't I use them?

Trick question... you would use them!!  Ha I do the same, have an older Stradic 1000FI and 2500FI both rigged up on laker rods.

[Fadetoblack188]

Do you guys switch out your line between regular season and Ice? Or use same line for both.

What line you using for the ice lake trout

Thanks

[tswoboda]

Do you guys switch out your line between regular season and Ice? Or use same line for both.

What line you using for the ice lake trout

Thanks

I'm using 15lb braid with a roughly 4' leader of 15lb fluorocarbon connected via FG knot.

[xiaolu]

Here is another reason why I strictly use Presidential reels.  Two of us were jigging for walleye and perch this fall, on Saginaw Bay.  I was using my medium sized reel on a 7ft rod.  At the time I was using 6lb. test.  I felt a bite and swiftly set the hook.  Upon doing so, I heard a loud crack and the rod went limp.  My buddy says, what the hell was that?  At first I thought my rod had snapped, then I looked down and my reel was in the water.  I grabbed the reel and started hand over hand a 4.5 lb. fresh water drum, "sheephead", into the boat.  After getting the fish into the boat I looked at the reel and one of the legs that goes into the reel seat on the pole had snapped off.

I am too almost exclusively using Pfleuger President series reels for both softwarer fishing and ice fishing!
 
And exactly the same thing happened to one of my Pfleuger President reels, too: Two months ago I was fishing for whitefish on some quite deep water, and after I set hook, and was half-way fighting and reeling in the fish, the reel leg that goes into the reel seat on the rod snapped off! Then I had to hand bumb the line until I landed the fish on my kayak!:-)... I didn't contact Pfleuger for the broken reel, as I had that rod for over 3 years, and I thought it was well over its warranty time so forget it:-)

[DucksAndDogs]

Call me crazy, but I’d rather have a reel that doesn’t break, regardless of the warranty.

I think it was the movie Tommy Boy where someone mentioned taking a dump in a box and marking it guaranteed.  That warranty does me no good when I’m fishing.  Give me something that’s tougher than Superman’s kneecap AND has a warranty...

[slipperybob]

If I was really fishing for lake trout, I'd fish a Shimano 4000 size spinning reel.  That's just me.  I like to winch that fish in, cuz my short pole ain't going to do much leveraging.

That's why I use bait casting reels.   It's sort of cheating.  Well I do like to adjust the brakes.

[Fadetoblack188]

I already have the president 30. So I’ll just use that until it breaks

[POk3s]

Sorry I hadn’t checked back fadetoblack. Honestly I don’t know what size I have. Probably the big one.

I also have broken 2 custom rods over the r years so I stick with a medium light ugly stik in 48” I think. Hell it may be over 50”. I like the forgiveness of a having a bit of a longer rod than most folks (insert joke here). I use the same rod/reel combo for ice and boat jigging. I’m comfortable with it.

[Bucket Rump]

I already have the president 30. So I’ll just use that until it breaks

That 30 is plenty of reel IMHO, especially if using braid line - I've used 25's and even 20's in some situations.

[Adironzach]

My laker reels are 2000-2500. I find their balance the best with the rods i use, generally 36"-40".