Matt Johnson

[harvey lee]

Matt:

Iam looking at buying a new panfish rod and have a few questions for you.First,I want this rod to be used inside and outside for pannies and crappies.If I go to Thorne Bros will the Panfish Sweet Thing work for this? Im wondering if the eyes are large so it wont freeze up outside? Also can this rod be fished without a spring bobber or will I need to add one?

Last question for you is should I go with a Thorne Bros. rod or a Midwest rod,as I have been very happy with thier rods also?

Thanks for the help

Tom

[Matt Johnson]

I've been using the Panfish Sweet Heart OUTSIDE version this year. Thorne Bros came out with a new line of ice rods designed especially for those who choose to fish outside of a portable as well.

These rods have over-sized guides that freeze-up much less than your typical guides. However, you still get the same features of the Panfish Sweet Heart, so you're not losing anything by going with the larger guides.

I had one made in a 29-inch version and I've been using that everytime I hit the ice. A great rod!

Only problem with this is that their spring bobber won't fit in these over-sized guides. The spring bobber will however, fit in the regular Panfish Sweet Heart.

The outside version will freeze-up less when fishing outside of your portable, but the regular version can be used with a spring bobber. So you have to pick your preference. Depends on how much you fish outside I guess.

As far as needing to have a spring bobber, I'm not going to say no, because they really do help, but I've been doing just fine with my 29-inch outside Panfish Sweet Heart without a spring bobber. The sensitivity is still there, and you really do feel a lot more with a Thorne Bros rod then you do with your standard factory rod.

As far as picking between Thorne Bros and Midwest, I personally go with Thorne Bros, just because I've never felt the need to buy another custom ice rod after using the Thorne Bros rods and they provide everything I look for in an ice rod. I've used the Midwest rods and they are indeed nice, so I'm not knocking them in any way, but the Thorne Bros rods still take the cake in my opinion...