Hey everyone,
I want to start building ice rods, but have no idea on what blanks a person should use. Any advice would be great.
Thanks,
Brandon

what type fish are you after PAN size or Lakers ? or bigger ? in a tent / house or on the ice ?

William Sidney
AK

Brandon,

1. If building the shorter type ice rods like 17 inches to 30 inches, do yourself a favor and use only solid rod blanks. No tubular blanks please.
The problem with tubular blanks in short versions as we mention, is that they can not bend enough before breaking.

I know that one winter, I had built 20 rods for clients. Before that winter was over, every single one of the group of 20 rods had broken.

They did not break because of abuse. They simply bent when the folks fished with the rod in the same way that they would fish - with a longer rod. In the cold weather and the short length - led to a deadly embrace that resulted in the demise of the group of ice rods.

After that point, I have moved 100% to solid rod blanks in either graphite or fiberglass - depending n what you need for a blank.

In a couple of words. Glass blanks are heavier than carbon blanks. If you want to change the action of the rod blank, the solid glass blanks are easy to machine and can thus give the client exactly what he r she may wish. The carbon rods, are much harder using the ame methods and tool as one would use for glass blanks.

By the way, in addition to the sponsors listed to the left of this post, you can do on line searches for ice rod equipment and blanks. sometimes you will find that an on line supplier is the only one that can give you the exact blank that you wish to own.

Take care

Hello Brandon - Here is a link to the complete array of Ice Rod Building Kits we offer at Mud Hole Custom Tackle [www.mudhole.com] Thank You

Bob McKamey
Mud Hole Custom Tackle
bobm@mudhole.com

Thanks for the advice