The 10 Best Ice Fishing Reels For Any Angler (2021)

To find ice fishing success, an angler’s gear must be up to the task of operating in a less than hospitable environment and a few such pieces of equipment hold as much value in this sense, like that of an angler’s ice fishing reel.

The vast majority of today’s premium ice fishing reels feature high-quality ball bearing assemblies, corrosion resistant internal components, and robust drag systems.

Additionally, these reels are typically designed in a manner that allows excess water to be shed, in a bid to prevent freezing.

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Body Design

A reel’s body serves as its point of attachment with an angler’s rod, and should therefore be extremely strong and resilient.

The body of a reel is as important as a tree’s root. Without a solid foundation, even the highest quality components will be of little use. A reel’s body must be rigid and durable, as it is forced to endure a significant amount of abuse throughout its service life.

Spool

A reel’s spool serves as the single point of connection between a reel and its line.

The vast majority of today’s reels feature spools of aluminum construction. These spools are lightweight, yet extremely hearty by design, and are more than capable of standing the test of time, even under the most demanding of circumstances.

Handle

A reel’s handle serves as the point of input for any force asserted by an angler.

The exact style and form of a reel’s handle vary from one particular model to the next. However, a handle needs to be easy to manipulate, and offer comfortable grips.

Bearing Number

The number and quality of ball bearings used in a reel’s construction directly affect the unit’s ability to operate in a smooth seamless fashion.

A reel’s bearings facilitate its rotational movement while preventing excess free-play and wobble. Assuming that all bearings are of premium quality and absolute uniformity, a reel with a higher bearing count will operate in a smoother fashion than a similar reel with fewer bearings.

Drag Capacity

A reel’s drag capacity dictates its ability to battle fish of sizable proportions, without line slip or other problematic conditions.

A reel’s drag system uses a series of drag washers to create resistance, which meters outward line dispersal. The resistance associated with these washers is controlled through a reel’s drag adjustment and can be manipulated by an angler at any time.

Anti-Ice System

If a reel’s spool freezes solid while waiting for the next bite, a world of frustration will result.

Many ice fishing reels prevent freeze-up through the use of a specialty designed spool, which allows water to drain, as opposed to collecting and freezing. However, a number of anglers also choose to use various non-toxic chemical treatments on their lines to further assist in these efforts.

Durability

If a reel lacks in durability, it is highly unlikely to stand up to the rigors of ice fishing for any lengthy period of time.

Much of a reel’s durability lies in the quality of its internal drivetrain components, bearings, and drag system. If all such components are built to a high degree of structural integrity, a reel will likely last for decades. If not, there is a good chance that you will find yourself in search of a replacement reel in the near future.

Material

At the end of the day, a reel is only as strong as the base material used to construct it.

The material used in the design of ice fishing reels varies from one model to the next. However, some materials are far more popular than others. Today, graphite is among the leading materials used in reel design, because of its durable, yet lightweight characteristics.

Design

The overall design of any ice fishing reel is vital, as the quality of such plays a key role in operational efficiency, or a lack thereof.

A reel’s design should be laid out in a manner that is conducive to smooth, seamless operation. A reel’s frame must be rugged in nature and all components attached to this frame should be of the utmost quality, for the unit to function in an optimal manner.

Questions & Answers

In the majority of cases, small spinning reels are used for ice fishing. These reels are most commonly within the 1000-3000 size range. This tends to be the perfect size range for wrangling fish of varying sizes, as small fish can be landed quickly, while sizable fish can be played out through strategic frag adjustment.

Additionally, many anglers choose to use ice fishing specific reels. These reels are very similar to standard fishing reels. However, many ice fishing reels are designed to shed water, that would otherwise lead to freezing and poor performance.

A regular reel can certainly be used for ice fishing. Most reels that are used for this purpose are of the spinning type and are rather subdued in size. Most commonly, these reels fall within the 1000-3000 range in size. However, larger reels can be used when specifically pursuing sizable fish such as pike.

The technical differences between ice fishing reels and regular spinning reels are relatively few and far between. However, ice fishing reels are typically built in a manner that allows water to shed from their spool, thereby preventing spool freeze-up in extremely cold conditions. This can be of immense benefit in far northern climates where winter temperatures can dip into the negatives.

Ice fishing reels can be used with standard rods. However, there are numerous advantages to the use of an ice fishing rod that should be given heavy consideration. While standard rods are most often 5-7 feet in length, ice rods are much shorter. These rods are designed in this fashion in a bid to provide greater sensitivity and control, especially considering the relative size of any hole that you will be fishing through.

In the majority of instances, it can be difficult to control your line when standing a full 6-7 feet away from your hole in the ice. This not only complicates lure and bait presentation, but it also becomes more tedious of a chore to keep your line from skimming the rough edges of your ice hole. In turn, line damage can result.  On the other hand, shorter ice fishing rods place an angler within 1-2 feet of their hole, where sufficient line control can be achieved in a much easier fashion.