Ultra finesse/ice fishing baitcaster

[Nathan.bass.canada]

Hey guys!

 

wondering if any of you guys have any experience with the lews crappie baitcaster WMR5. I'm currently looking for a Ul baitcaster for ice fishing applications. sadly, i havent found anything exept this reel. i know the SLX might be a good contender for this aswell but scared of the line guide being small and freezing over. Any other ideas of brands that make the smallest baitcasters? 

 

Thanks-

[moguy1973]

Can I ask why you would you want a to use a bait caster for ice fishing?  Spinning reels are much more applicable for vertical presentations.

[Nathan.bass.canada]

7 hours ago, moguy1973 said:

Can I ask why you would you want a to use a bait caster for ice fishing?  Spinning reels are much more applicable for vertical presentations.

Actually, baitcasters can offer interesting advantages such as line not coiling and with the right line guide, less ice formation. Thats why I'm trying to find one  I have a ton of spinning reels but would want to experiment with baitcasters!

2 hours ago, BaitFinesse said:

There are a ton of them out there at all price points.  What is your price range?

Pretty open price wise! Ideally i'd like to keep it under the 100$ mark as I would feel foolish spending more on a experiment ha ha! 

[Nathan.bass.canada]

43 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

If you're looking to experiment then get a Tsurinoya Sprit Fox off Aliexpress for $50-$60.

Thanks for the advice! Certainly looks very interesting! Have any experience with this reel? Or any other recommandations in other brands in different price ranges? 

[Nathan.bass.canada]

26 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

I have no experience with that reel but do use some cheap UL spools off that same site for my Daiwa reels.  Do you have any Daiwas?  A current gen Black Max/Silver Max?  Revo4 X or S?  There are $35 spools for all those reels that will cast down to 1/16 total weight. 

Thanks for the tip! Sadly I only have a daiwa zillion tdz, but thats a stout heafty reel. All my other reels are higher end shimanos that I dont really feel like bringing on ice lol. I do have a curado 200 i that i could use but there dosent seem to be a bfs spool available. I was thinking of an slx being a very small reel but then again, no bfs options

[Yumeya]

Shimano Aldebaran or a Shimano Stradic CI4+ 1000 that is what I use the most.

 

But here is a best inline that I have seen

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shimano-reel-black-sea-bream-raft-19-Seihakou-SP-RC83-Red-RIGHT/254399121024?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

 

 

[moguy1973]

15 hours ago, Nathan.bass.canada said:

Actually, baitcasters can offer interesting advantages such as line not coiling and with the right line guide, less ice formation. Thats why I'm trying to find one  I have a ton of spinning reels but would want to experiment with baitcasters!

 

I would think that any baitcaster would work for vertical presentations then if you loosen the spool tension knob enough to let the bait fall freely.

[ec1]

17 hours ago, Nathan.bass.canada said:

Actually, baitcasters can offer interesting advantages such as line not coiling and with the right line guide, less ice formation. Thats why I'm trying to find one  I have a ton of spinning reels but would want to experiment with baitcasters!

Pretty open price wise! Ideally i'd like to keep it under the 100$ mark as I would feel foolish spending more on a experiment ha ha! 

You'd be surprised to find out that the first thing that freezes on a baitcaster is the line guide on the reel. It's typically smaller than most ice rod guides. - No i haven't tried Daiwa TWS reels ice fishing.

More power to you if you fish in a hut and have a snowmobile. In that case, I'd experiment with something you own already before dropping more coin.

 

I've experimented and gone back to the good old spinning reels (IMO the TD Fuego 1500/ CI4's 1000 size is pretty good for everything). Really like the thirteen inlines with the drop lever too.

 

@Yumeya that's a very pretty inline reel, but the price tag...

 

 

[redmeansdistortion]

I'd stick with a spinner for ice fishing.  Like was said above, it's better for vertical presentations.  You won't be using a baitcaster to its potential when jigging for perch, walleye, and panfish.  The only benefit I can see using a baitcaster for ice fishing is if you're jigging for big lake trout on the Great Lakes.

[FryDog62]

44 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

I'd stick with a spinner for ice fishing.  Like was said above, it's better for vertical presentations.  You won't be using a baitcaster to its potential when jigging for perch, walleye, and panfish.  The only benefit I can see using a baitcaster for ice fishing is if you're jigging for big lake trout on the Great Lakes.

I agree on spinning for ice fishing, but I do use the Daiwa 100 I mentioned above for vertical drop-shotting in open water so it is a potential for ice jigging..

[redmeansdistortion]

13 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

I agree on spinning for ice fishing, but I do use the Daiwa 100 I mentioned above for vertical drop-shotting in open water so it is a potential for ice jogging..

Nothing wrong with that.  Back when I was big into ice fishing, there used to be an older fellow I'd see frequently on Lake St Clair.  He was probably in his 80s, and there he would be on a bucket, sitting 6ft from his hole in the ice, jigging with an old round baitcaster.  He seemed to do pretty well.

[MassYak85]

This is more my own curiosity speaking out loud than a criticism....but wouldn't the line guide on a biatcaster freeze up easily? It's not that big and can build up ice quickly. I've had them freeze up OPEN WATER fishing never mind purposefully going out in winter weather with one. 

[Nathan.bass.canada]

On 12/5/2019 at 8:23 PM, MassYak85 said:

This is more my own curiosity speaking out loud than a criticism....but wouldn't the line guide on a biatcaster freeze up easily? It's not that big and can build up ice quickly. I've had them freeze up OPEN WATER fishing never mind purposefully going out in winter weather with one. 

Yeah! My thought too! But ive had just as many spinning reels line roller do the same so I was looking to compare and try. Reels like older daiwa had a pretty big opening so could maybe do the trick but the first reel I mentionned was the lews WMR5 and that dosent even have a line roller. Thats what I wanted but with good quality!

[WRB]

Try searching Shimano Core 50 size reels like MGL7 on eBay, a few listed at $110

Tom