Open water fishing and ice fishing have some things in common: the same lakes, the same fish, and they use similar baits and lures. One thing that isn’t the same is the delivery method or the way you get your bait in front of a fish.
On the open water, you repeatedly cast your line over the water’s surface to land your bait or lure where you suspect the fish to be. Using the right pole, a strong cast can go over twenty meters. An ice fishing pole, however, is not the right pole to produce long casts or fight the more energetic fish in warm water.
In this article, I discuss why the design of ice fishing poles is perfect for fishing on the ice, and less than ideal for casting. Read on to learn more about this, and how an ice pole may be a good fit for a few small niches in open water fishing.
Contents
Why & How Are Ice Fishing Rods Different?
A quick glance at an iced over lake or river you plan to ice fish on tells you, you’re not in Kansas anymore, and all you need to know about is why ice fishing poles are different. Where you once saw boats on a lake, you now see ice houses, pickup trucks, snowmobiles, and ice anglers huddled around little hoes in the ice.
The environments of ice fishing and open water fishing are so radically opposite one another, they demand different equipment and techniques to catch fish and why ice fishing poles are different.
They make an ice fishing pole to keep you close to your ice hole because there’s no casting in ice fishing. You simply drop your line through a hole in the ice and let it drop to the bottom, reel it up a few feet, and jig (bounce) your bait or lure to attract fish.
1/ Anatomy of an Ice Fishing Pole
We’re going to look at a pair of typical ice fishing poles:
The Frabill 6984 spin-combo
- Frabill | Trusted By Anglers Since 1938
- This panfish system is engineered to maximize performance, strike detection and a solid hook set
- Rod Features: Ultra-sensitive micro-spring bobber | Blank-through construction | Custom reel seat with cork | Solid fiberglass composite blanks |...
- Ultralight, total length 24 inches.
- Micro spring-bobber
- Rod is solid fiberglass through the handle.
- Handle, cork with reel seats.
- Lightweight micro line guides
- Ultra-light spinning reel included.
This ice fishing pole is a 24 inch, fiberglass stick, with cork for a handle, plastic reel seats, light wire-guided, and a spring-bobber. This is the perfect setup for crappie and perch through the ice, but you can’t cast with it.
The next ice rod is,
The 322-inch Ice Hunter Predator from Frabill
- Frabill , Trusted By Anglers Since 1938
- Land the big ones with the Ice Hunter Predator Spinning Combo , Length: 32" , Action: Medium Heavy , Application: Large Walleye/Pike
- Rod features solid graphite rod blanks for superior sensitivity to ensure you feel the slightest of movements and hits , Full-length reel seat adds...
- Medium to heavy action, total length of 32 inches.
- Graphite composite rod through the handle.
- Rubberized cork handle with reel seats.
- Stainless steel guides.
This pole is heavier than the last, and it’s meant for bigger fish like walleye or northern pike. But it’s still only 32 inches long and useless for casting.
2/ Anatomy of an Open Water Pole
There are many types of poles for open water fishing. To keep it simple, we’re only going to look at one of the most popular, and that’s a spin casting pole.
Shakespeare Ugly Stik Spinning Rod and Reel
- Ugly StikGX2 spinning rod
- 3 ball bearings plus one-way clutch instant anti-reverse bearing for smoother gear feel and instant hook sets
- Machined double anodized aluminum spool with oversized bail wire for improved durability
- 6-foot graphite fiberglass rod, medium action.
- Stainless steel guides.
- EVA rubber grips
- Clear rod tip
This spin casting rod is 6 feet long, an average length for spin casting rods, many longer models are out there to produce those long-range casts, but they would wreak havoc in an ice shelter or around your ice hole.
Can You Use a Regular Rod for Ice Fishing?
Open water poles are great for what they’re designed for, casting your baits and lures to attract fish. These rods are also stronger and constructed to control the more active fish encountered in warmer water.
But, as stated above, if you use open water poles at their full length, they’ll be clumsy and problematic in an ice shanty or around an ice hole.
The spring-bobber tips common to ice poles are ultra-sensitive to read the softer bites of sluggish cold-water fish. Open water poles lack these tips and could lead to you missing many hits.
If you were desperate and used only the first half of your open water pole, it would be the size of a longer ice pole, but it would be stiff and inflexible. If you hooked a big lake trout or pike, it wouldn’t bend like a medium-action ice rod. As a result, it would be easy to break the line and lose the fish.
So, for these reasons and more, I can’t recommend using an open water pole for ice fishing.
Open Water Niches for Ice Fishing Poles
Not to contradict me, I still feel it’s best to use an ice pole for ice fishing and an open water pole for regular fishing. There are a few places ice poles can be of use on open water.
Teaching Kids to Fish
Think of those poles your kids used to catch fake fish from a pool at school festivals. They are about the size of an average ice pole. Ice fishing poles are the perfect size to teach your kids to fish, with supervision, from a dock or the shoreline. Bluegill and sunfish bite anything, and your kids or grandkids will have a blast.
A second use for ice fishing poles on open water is for kayakers or even hikers. An Ice pole is a perfect size for a kayak and is simple to use. It also can fit in your hiking gear for the small lakes and streams you encounter. They are the perfect tool to catch dinner when backpacking.
FAQs:
Is Ice Fishing Easier Than Regular Fishing?
Ice fishing is a popular sport and a great way to get outdoors in the winter. But it requires a lot of gear and takes more work to get a line in the water. So, I would have to say warm water fishing is easier. All you need is a string, a hook, a worm, and water, and you’re ready.
Wrapping It Up
My Dad always said the right tool makes the job easier, and ice fishing is no different. The poles used for this popular pastime are just what they need to be to get the job done when ice fishing.
But, they don’t really work for open water fishing, and regular poles don’t work for ice fishing. So in the end, it looks like Dad was right. It’s best to use an ice fishing pole for ice fishing.