# the perfect crappie rod



## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Looking for input here as i have some old tip sections and was thinking about cutting them down turning them into ice rods aimed at crappies. 
For starters im thinking about 30" since i like to do a lot of aggressive jigging with long sweeps, a soft action of a full flex rod as nothing worse then hooking and loosing crappies with too stiff a rod. We ice guys are like Roland Martin on our hook sets. Grunts and all. Lol
Next i think some oversize eyelets designed for an inline reel. A larger eye on the tip to accommodate bobber stops , a hook keeper and a nice cork handle with a decent reel seat. I hate taping reels in place 

What am i missing guys?? Tell me your preferences and why..... I might add that i would mostly be jigging twin ice jigs and sometimes have a minnow rig under a micro float

Thanks for the feedback guys! 
Salmonid


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## Stampede (Apr 11, 2004)

That's interesting mark Keep us posted. Got me thinking.


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## bjicehockey (Apr 11, 2014)

I have done this for one and I am making another before ice hits it's some work but a lot cheaper and fun to do


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## capt j-rod (Feb 14, 2008)

My vote goes to the new "recoil" guides. They are made from the same stuff as the flexible eyeglasses. No more broken guides! Glass or graphite? Are you planning on sanding your own tapers?


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Ill check out the recoil guides. Thanks for the tip. At this point im using existing tip sections and just cutting down to what i need. But may build from the blank in the future


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## nixmkt (Mar 4, 2008)

Salmonid said:


> ...A larger eye on the tip to accommodate bobber stops , ...
> What am i missing guys?? .....



Surprisingly you need to consider that for a reel too. Never thought about it until had one reel that the pick-up in the bail was pretty narrow. Line would go thru fine but bobber stop knot would occasionally get caught. Found out when reeling in a fish and had to resort to hand over hand retrieve.


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## revpilot (Feb 10, 2009)

If I were you I'd put a flex lite stripper guide and single foot fly rod guides, instead of recoils , it's 20-30$ cheaper than recoils , and the weight difference can be made up with doing a good job epoxying .


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## Fish2Win (Jan 21, 2009)

Trust Revpilot!!! He's awesome at building ice rods. He built my tournament ice rods for last years ice fish Ohio tourneys. We won everyone of them useing them! He's going to build me some more as soon as I get off my butt and get into ice mode He's got great ideas and knows his stuff!!


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## Fish2Win (Jan 21, 2009)

Rev pilots prices are spot on and quality is top notch.


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## laynhardwood (Dec 27, 2009)

Revpilot is making me an ice rod I can not wait to have it


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## Fish2Win (Jan 21, 2009)

laynhardwood said:


> Revpilot is making me an ice rod I can not wait to have it



You won't be disappointed!


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## laynhardwood (Dec 27, 2009)

I am glad to hear that and I'm sure I will be sending Bob plenty of business


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## capt j-rod (Feb 14, 2008)

The guides are determined by the fishing style. I have two Thorne bros power noodles. A short one with single foot small guides for the shanty. The heater keeps them de iced. I have a longer one with large diameter recoils for bucket fishing to prevent ice up. I use the old chap stick trick to help, but it still ices up the little guides. They make tiny fly rod recoils too. When I have a custom rod built I get it exactly the way I want. The longer Thorne is 29 1/2". It was the perfect balance and still fits in the case. The handle is next... I like cork and I use cold snap reel wraps (super heavy rubber bands) to hold on the reels. There are some sweet rod tips that allow you to add or remove a spring bobber. The sky's the limit with custom, but get what you want... Otherwise just go buy a production stick. Thorne bros is a big back log this time of year... I waited 3-4 mos for the last custom. And that was a few years back. It helps to take your favorite rod to the builder to help him know what you like. My walleye rods are just production stuff. I don't spent the $$$ because the bite is pretty aggressive.


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## Rooster (Apr 8, 2004)

I have no knowledge of rod building, and only started ice fishing last year…but I’m very interested in the idea of building an ice rod from an old tip section.

I’ve been holding on to an orphaned tip section of a Fenwick Feralite. If I purchased a handle kit, is it as simple as gluing the handle on? That is, if I was willing to just use the existing guides (been picking the ice out of them for years anyway).

I’ve always thought that a Feralite would make a great crappie rod, and see no reason that a tip section shouldn’t make a great ice rod.


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