Posted by:
roger wilson
(---.hsd1.mn.comcast.net)
[
www.jannsnetcraft.com]
These common fly guides work very very well for ice fishing. The tips are easy to obtain in sizes that will fit pan fish rods as well.
Very light and easy to knock on the ice to knock out any ice that may accumulate in the guides.
It makes no sense at all to put on guides that have ceramic liners in them for ice fishing.
There is little to no fish running activity when ice fishing, so no need for expensive and or ceramic lined guides.
Tough to beat the very light weight and toughness of the standard single foot wire fly guide for ice fishing.
Here Schneider's have tips down to 2.5 - which is pretty common for fine pan fish ice rod tips.
[
www.schneidersrods.com]
Again, here is a nice listing from Schneider's for one foot simple fly guides that work very well for ice rods:
Batson Standard Stainless Steel Wire 1 Ft Fly Guides
Hard Chrome Plated Black Chrome Double Coated
Part Number Description Price Part Number Description Price
HSFGP2/0 1 Ft Fly Guide Sz 2/0 $ 1.05 BLSFGP2/0 1 Ft Fly Blk Guide Sz 2/0 $ 0.75
HSFGP1/0 1 Ft Fly Guide Sz 1/0 $ 1.05 BLSFGP1/0 1 Ft Fly Blk Guide Sz 1/0 $ 0.75
HSFGP1 1 Ft Fly Guide Sz 1 $ 1.05 BLSFGP1 1 Ft Fly Blk Guide Sz 1 $ 0.75
HSFGP2 1 Ft Fly Guide Sz 2 $ 1.05 BLSFGP2 1 Ft Fly Blk Guide Sz 2 $ 0.75
HSFGP3 1 Ft Fly Guide Sz 3 $ 1.05 BLSFGP3 1 Ft Fly Blk Guide Sz 3 $ 0.75
HSFGP4 1 Ft Fly Guide Sz 4 $ 1.05 BLSFGP4 1 Ft Fly Blk Guide Sz 4 $ 0.75
HSFGP5 1 Ft Fly Guide Sz 5 $ 1.13 BLSFGP5 1 Ft Fly Blk Guide Sz 5 $ 0.83
HSFGP6 1 Ft Fly Guide Sz 6 $ 1.20 BLSFGP6 1 Ft Fly Blk Guide Sz 6 $ 0.88
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As you can see from the list - there is really no need or reason to spend a lot of money for ice rod guides. The fish don't run, and you don't cast. So, guide friction is a non issue. But it is nice to have very light guides. Tough to beat the weight of these single foot fly guides.
One thing that is fairly important is to have the first or butt guide of a height that matches the reel. i.e. it is nice to have the height of the butt guide of a size so that the top of the guide comes to the center of the reel. That way, when reeling in a big fish and the rod is bent double, the line pulls off of the reel and as you wind, there is smooth winding on the reel, no matter the bail position.
If you use a butt guide that is too low, you will find that you have a low angle of line to the blank when the bail rotates close to the blank, but then has a very acute angle when the bail rotates away from the blank. This low guide height results in a very jerky line retrieve. After the first guide, the guide size can be quickly reduced. You are only trying to smooth out the line retrieve under high tension with the higher guide height of the butt guide.
One guide that works well with the fly guides for a butt guide is the PAC bay minima match guide in a size 8 for example.
Roger
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 08:46AM by roger wilson.
