In-line reels

[eyeguy 54]

Grabbed mine for 24 bucks last year when gander had a deal on them. took the SUL back. I liked it but didn't like the memory on the tip. Stayed curved after using it a while.   Didn't use the 27UL till this summer in the yak and I liked it. Will play with it to see if I can feel those light biting gills.  Should be great for jigging crappies with forage minnow type jigs around 1/32 oz I am hoping. Cant say yet if its worth 50 bucks. 

[Rick G]

4 hours ago, AlwaysFishing23 said:

Those of you who have used the tickle stick do you feel it’s worth the $50? There’s plenty of other noodle type rods out there for half the price. I do like the ultra sensitive tip but wanted to cheak you folks of your thoughts.

Good for larger type baits.  Not super sensitive on light bites or small baits. Has good backbone though, nice solid hooksets

[kunzi26]

On 11/12/2017 at 12:31 PM, KadenBear said:

Thinking of purchasing an in-line reel. Want to know everybody's thoughts,  pros vs cons, favorites.

I started using in line last year and love it. Not line twist and super easy to control. I snagged a super cheap clam combo for $20 before Gander in St. Cloud shut down and it worked all season for me. Had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket so I picked up my first geared inline reel and decided on the 13 Fishing Blackbetty "FreeFall". It has a trigger to allow you to drop your lure quickly without having to reverse reel like on my older clam reel. Very excited to test it out. Hooked it up to a little tickle stick with the flat tip. 

FreeFall Video from 13 Fishing

Specs on the reel

If you're going for panfish I have to say that inline is the way to go, I don't think I'll ever go back to a spinning reel unless I'm targeting larger fish through the ice. 

[Bass Thumb]

On 11/30/2017 at 9:05 PM, AlwaysFishing23 said:

 Cant decide on the tickle stick or the beaver dam noodle rod I like both but the beaver dam is cheaper and feels nice. It feels like the tickle stick would be easy to break with the flat tip but haven heard of it happening yet.

Between my dad and I, we have 5 of the flat-tip 13 Fishing rods. Three Tickle Sticks and two Widowmakers. We haven't broke any yet. I've stabbed them into canvas on hook sets, dropped them, etc. They're more durable than they look.

The first generation has really tiny guides and broke like a wishbone. The second generation, what I have, is tougher. The third generation with the white handle is what's available today. Those sales you refer to were blowouts of the Gen 2 rods.

I think the Ticklestick is a good buy at $40-50. They're quite a bit better than anything I've seen in the $30 range, easily worth the 10-20 extra.

[AlwaysFishing23]

Good to hear! Ending up getting one last weekend for $40 and paired it up 13 decent seems excellent and pretty durable like you Stated can’t wait to try it out tomorrow.

[AlwaysFishing23]

Well for folks wondering about the new 13 decent here it is. Spent all day on the ice with some buddy’s and had a jolly time today. Nothing big but not bad. So I’m running 4lb micro ice with a VMC tubby jig 1/32oz on the 23 SUL tickle stick we fished a small lake full of dandy gills and perch and ended up catching a few hundred perch a few in the 11-12 inch range and it handled them quite well. The tip is very sensitive and even the slightest bites can be seen and some what felt. The guides freeze quick but thaw quick with a few minutes in the heated shack. About 2/3 though our day I noticed the tip looked cracked thank good it wasn't but the yellow paint is peeling of the tip. Not very happy about that as I had buddy’s fishing with $10 rods and my $50 rod was falling apart. Over all the reel seemed great free spooled nice drag seems good but didn’t get to test it much. It’s extremly fun to fish with and my buddy’s were drooling over it after fishing with it. Over all I’d give the combo a 8 out of 10 the reel seems like a good buy and pretty much the same as the CGI just updated. Can’t complain for getting the reel for $25. Good luck out there.... please be safe the lake we were on was “supposedly” was froze up but upon arrival the Lake was a third open we didn’t get even close the open water but stayed in areas with 4-6 inches of good Ice and stayed within distance with fellow anglers. Herd from locals this lake opened and closed 4 times this year!

[eyeguy 54]

fun rod just dont store it with the tip curved. 

[wallyhunter66]

I have a few of the less expensive ones, the eagle claws and a CGI and one more, can’t remember the brand. They all seem to wrk really well for me, especially for pan fish. Seem to work well for eyes as well. I’ll never go back to spinning reels for the ice again.