Last year on all my ice rod builds I use all #6 single foot fly rod guides. I was please with it but I think that adding a bigger stripper guide would result in less line slap and better control. I am not sure what size to use though, I was thinking #6 Minima but I don't know if those will be to big. I will be going to a #6 fly guide after the stripper, or at least that is the plan, unless of course I will need a little bigger reduction guide to get to my running guides. Input?

well being that you just drop the bait / lure down the hole a use a a larger eye as your stripper guide [ insert ring type ] # 8 or # 10 an"' kiss it""
[ keep it simple s&&& ] not to tear you down but the kiss princible has been around for a long time ,
hope it don't affend you , flyrod guids just wire an don't stand up braid or mono. an will wear groves fairley fast , [ I think ]

William Sidney
AK

Scott,
Were these ice rods, spinning rods, or were they casting rods?

Even if they were casting rods, I would certainly be using something like a size 10 or so for the stripper guide.

Then, if they were spinning guides, I certainly be using a taller and larger guide set for the rods.

This is a picture of a batch of spinning guide ice rods built recently.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

They all work very well.

Be safe

roger wilson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Scott,
> Were these ice rods, spinning rods, or were they
> casting rods?
>
> Even if they were casting rods, I would certainly
> be using something like a size 10 or so for the
> stripper guide.
>
> Then, if they were spinning guides, I certainly be
> using a taller and larger guide set for the rods.
>
>
> This is a picture of a batch of spinning guide
> ice rods built recently.
>
> [www.rodbuilding.org]
> /photo/8276/title/ice-rod-drying-5pole-stand/cat/5
> 08
>
> They all work very well.
>
> Be safe

Roger

they are all spinning ice rods. going straight from the reel to a #6 fly guide just to much of an angle and I don't like it, what size stripper are you using? I tried looking at a few ice rod building kits to see what they had but it didn't list the guide sizes. I am starting to think that a #6 will be to big and to tall, that I should go with a #4 low frame minima

william G Sidney Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> well being that you just drop the bait / lure down
> the hole a use a a larger eye as your stripper
> guide [ insert ring type ] # 8 or # 10 an"' kiss
> it""
> [ keep it simple s&&& ] not to tear you down but
> the kiss princible has been around for a long time
> ,
> hope it don't affend you , flyrod guids just
> wire an don't stand up braid or mono. an will
> wear groves fairley fast , [ I think ]

no offense at all, I love the kiss method and since I am still a newbie I use it all the time (heck I use it with everything not just rod building). I will disagree though on your comment about fly guides. I have a rod that is 10-15 years old and has fly guides on it, I use the ever living @#$%& out of that thing, hole hopping chasing perch and walleyes and you can't even tell the guides have been used, where a few of my newer rods with guides that have inserts are already needing to have guides swapped out on them because of grooves getting worn in them.

Scott,
Whenever I make Ice spinning rods, I always use a tall spinning guide for the first one.
I also try to place the butt guide as far from the reel as possible to reduce the line angle.

I use something like a tall 10, then 8 and 6 fly to the tips.Also the tip top is a size 6 as well.

Since there are so few guides and the rods are so short, I see no reason, to go with smaller guides. If the rod is stiffer, I will commonly only have 3 guides on the rod.

If the rod is very light and or soft, I may have 4 or 5 guides on the rod.

I usually use a # 8 stripper guide and then go to light wire # 5 fly guides to the tip.

Scott - we build almost always with recoils and a #12 spinning works really well as long as the handle has a bit of a downward angle towards the rod to help with transition. Otherwise I use a minima #10 if running with minima #6 fly. I've always wondered about using the Minima Match Guides just to get a bit more height but haven't tried, may be an option though.

Andy

Andy,
I have used the minima size 8 match guides for the stripper and it has enough height to work well. If I am using a larger guide set for outdoor fishermen, I will use the size 10 Minima match guide. For the outdoor fishermen who have to worry about ice, I never go any smaller than size 8. For the really hardy ones who have big icing problems I go no smaller than size 10 on anything.

The nice thing about using Minima guides for the outdoor fishermen, is that they whack the rod against the ice to knock off the ice. With no rings in the guides, there are no rings to fall out then the ice gets knocked off the rods. Remember, these are hardy souls who are out to fish and don't have time to take 20 minutes getting ice out of their guides.


Be safe

thanks guys. I think I am going to try using the #10 minima stripper guide with #6 minima fly running guides. We'll see how it goes and what the guys come back and say about them after this winter.

This post make NO sence to me
Your fishing in what Sub Zerro temps No casting Just dropping the lure in the COLD WATER
How many times do you want to beat your rod to get the ice off ???
I am with Roger on this - I don't ice fish To Darn Cold !!
But large size guides would be my choise Unless you got a large can of Pam with you
Don't worry about the concept not needed

Bill - willierods.com

It seems to me that for casting straight down the smallest guides and tip-tops would provide the greatest accuracy.

But you are not casting these rods
Your just Dropping the lure into a hole Into VERY cold water

Or am I missing somthing ???

Bill - willierods.com

Bill,
That is right.
As a matter of fact, much of the time, you simply pull the line off the reel and let it drop down the hole. Ice fishing does NOT involve any casting ever. You are fishing through an 8 inch hole and the tip of the rod is right over the hole.

However, in many areas, folks fish from heated shantys. This means that the air in the fishing area is above freezing and ice on the guides and lines are not a concern. But again, no reason at all to use tiny guides on these very short rods. The reel weighs about 20 or 30 times the weight of the rod, so the weight of the guides is completely insignificant. Also, as I mentioned previously, on some of the stiffer rods, one often only uses 3 guides or so.

But, that is also one of the reasons to use a stripper guide that is tall enough to match the height of the rod. If one uses a spinning reel with a stripper guide that is so close and so short, that the user gets severe line grab as the reel rotates and retrieves the line

Since some of these rods are only 20 inches long, and the stripper guide would only be 8-10 inches from the reel, it makes sense to use a taller stripper guide to more closely match the height of the reel.

Be safe

[www.mudhole.com]

If you look at the ice rod kits from Mud Hole, you see a nice choice for some of the tougher guide sets.
Notice the one tall stripper guide an intermediate guide and a set of running guides.

Conceptually a good guide set that works.

Modify as desired, but the idea of a tall stripper, an intermediate to keep the line on track and a set of runners work very well for both ice rods as well as conventional rods.

Choose the runners, intermediate and stripper that you like. But as long as you use the overall concept you will have free running line with no issues.

Be safe