Hey Guys

My neighbor wants me to build him three ice fishing rods. I have used CRB brim blanks to build some light action rods in the past but want some input on some good quality blanks for this guy.

He wants a light (perch, crappie), medium (trout, walleye) and heavy action (pike, lake trout) rod; all in the 30" range, give or take.

What, and who, do you all recommend for a good quality blank to build on? Graphite? Glass? Solid? Etc.

Your input and expertise is appreciated!

Thanks!

Rod

Check out the NFC LMX ice blanks- I've built quite a few of the Hybrid IP 342-1 (Fast/Heavy) for the trophy lake trout fisherman at Flaming Gorge (Utah/Wyoming). They're 3'4" long and rated 8-17#, 3/4 to 2 oz. Customers have been very pleased with the blanks/rods.

Jann's Netcraft has some decent blanks. I built one for a guy last winter on one of their Microlite composite blanks and he loved it. He wanted one about 30", and the blank I used was 31". Only problem is that they don't have any in stock right now.

Thanks guys. Found the sportsman direct info last night. Anyone try the mhx ice blanks? Thoughts?

I've got some MHX ice blanks I haven't built on yet. My initial impression is they are nice blanks, but stiffer than I would want for pan fish. I'm going to try a mock-up to see if they are OK as is, or if I'm going to have to sand them.

The very nice thing about solid fiberglass blanks is that if you have a blank that is too stiff for your application; it is a pretty straight forward matter to sand down some or portions of the blank to change the action and power of the blank to exactly meet your specific needs.

Best wishes

What is the target species. For pan fish, there are economical and work fantastic - [www.mudhole.com]. I built 7 ice rods on them, and never had one fail. For bass, and walleye, I like these - [www.jannsnetcraft.com]. Again never had one break on me. For large game fish, such as lake trout, salmon, musky, etc. I'd opt for something more durable, like this - []. I've also built on the economy fiberglass blanks from Mudhole with great success. I find that customers prefer the blanks with fluorescent tip, that are fairly light, and so work with strike detectors.

Tight Lies and frisky fish

RJF

One tip on the length. Find out if he is fishing in a shanty and how space he has. Seen it more the once where a guy has too much rod and cant set the hook without running the tip into something. Don't have a specific recommendation but I would strongly lean towards a solid carbon if you can find one meeting your desired specs.

Michael,
In past years, I used to use solid carbon rods. They do work very well.

However, for many applications, it is nice to have a visual strike indicator that is easily achieved by having a noodle tip on the end of the rod blank. Again, this is easily achieved with the use of a solid fiberglass blank.

So, for the applications where I am using a set line with an active bait on the hook I much prefer the use of the fiberglass rod with the slender tip for a few inches to have an integrated strike indicator on the end of the blank.

For this application, carbon simply does not work. i.e. the carbon is too stiff and if it is made small enough to soften the tip - the tip becomes too fragile for rough and tough ice fishing use.

I know that when I make ice fishing rods for a large group of walleye fishermen that fish Lake Winnipeg from snow mobiles with no shelters in temperatures as low as -30F - I use only glass rods. For these rods, I also use no guides smaller than a size 10 with a size 10 tip.

The reason for this is that in these extreme conditions, there is a significant amount of icing going on. Then, when the ice gets too thick, the hardy fisherman take their rod and smash the tip of the rod against the ice to break off the ice and go back to fishing. With a size 10 tip and guides as large or larger, the fishermen get a significant amount of fishing, before having to bash the rod against the ice again to free the guides of ice.

This is why I also use only braced - no insert guides and only fiberglass for the rod blank. Guides with inserts and graphite rods would not hold up to the abuse. But, these are extremely hard fishing, very successful fishermen as they hunt the large extremes of Lake Winnipeg for big fish.

Best wishes.

I build 200 Ice rods a year and have tried all the ice blanks out there. My favs are Bass Khang and V-line. Both sell solid carbon and glass noodle blanks. The come 36" long so you can do outside rods at that length or cut them down to what ever you want. They both sell guides and handles. Any questions let me know



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2021 12:47PM by Brian Gross.

Roger, I am familiar with the troubles of solid carbon and noodle tips. I am not a fan of a noodle tip rod of any material, either to build or to fish. Would much rather build a durable rod out of good materials and add a spring bobber to the tip.

Read and understood.

Yes, spring bobbers work, but I simply prefer to have the bobber be part of the rod via the noodle tip.

Both work just fine.

Best wishes

Be nice if someone offered ice blanks with a extra tip section like many fly banks offer. Or go one better and offer a couple tips with varying sensitivity. Do a solid carbon blank with just a short tip section as a tubular noodle.

Michael,
A very simple solution to your statement about ice rods with different tip sections.

Go pick up a dozen fiberglass rod blanks in a 40 inch length of a medium action or so.

Then, with a good belt sander, a good dust mask ventilation and a chop saw you can create a dozen ice rod blanks with your choice of taper and power by wise use of the tools.

Or simply pick up a dozen or two dozen fiberglass ice rod blanks that are close or perfect for your fishing needs and build up the dozen rods.

The blanks can be had for $5 each.
A set of guides can be had for $5 a set
A grip can be had for $5 a grip.

Take 30 minutes to build a rod, and put it into your quiver of rods and when ever you wish to have a rod with a different action, just pull it out of your quiver and go to work.

Best wishes.

Michael, write your own book on rod building..it,s fun..