Choosing the right rod for Sight Fishing

Recently the icefishing world has started to really change on this front. Ice fisherman are learning from its big brothers the softwater bass and walleye fisherman that the right rod match to the right lure and technique will catch you more fish. The modern sight fishing rod takes much of its traits from the modern virtual jigging rod for walleye.

A sight rod is fairly short in length around 15 to 18 inch long rod. You want it to have a pretty good back bone and an extra fast tip just like the walleye jigging rod. That way you will have enough power to drive the hook deep into the tough mouths of the large sunfish. The reason you want such a short rod is because you are fishing inside a shack with the hole right between your feet. If you use a longer rod your hand will be back behind your leg and it will be very uncomfortable to fish long periods of time.

There is many ice rods on the market that will do the job for you. Maybe the best made ice rod on the market for this is the Sweet Pea Ice Rod from Throne Brother Custom Rods. Other Companies that have sight rods are Clam Corp, HT, Frabill, St. Croix. One of my favorite rods is a HT rod(PLG-25UL) that I customize so I get the length I am looking for. The rod could be made of Glass or graphite that is a personal preference. Seeing that you are looking down the hole at the fish and your jig, the added sensitively of Graphite isn’t as important in this case.