Ice fishing reels.

[mowin]

I've been intrigued by the inline reels that have become popular over the past few yrs.  Some of the videos I watched make some good points why they use them.  No Line twist seems to be the biggest advantage. 

Anyone using one, and do they make a difference in the amount of fish your catching? 

[crappyice]

I've seen those too.  Seems to be fitting with the rest of the world's philosophy...the more you pay the less you get. Such a simple setup up---why so expensive (relatively speaking to ice spinning reels)

[Otto]

I have used inline reels that were designed for ice fishing and fly reels.  I could never quite get the hang of it.  The line (I usually use 2 or 3 LB test) seemed to always get caught inside the reel seat or just never would stay on the reel.

I prefer spinning reels overall.  Don’t ever reel when drag is going off, and change your line frequently - that helps a lot.  Depending on the lure, I might add a very small swivel 3 feet up from my lure.      And I bring 4 or 5 setups with me, so if one is twisted or giving my problems, I just change rods.  

I do have a bait caster setup for lake trout but have not really used it very much.  

[Otto]

BTW, my favorite ice fishing spinning reels are the Shimano 500 and the Okuma Baitfeeder.

[Buckmaster7600]

In-line ice reels have one niche, super light baits with light line “1-3lb”  in shallow water. For dropping a micro tungsten 6-10ft  for finicky gills there’s nothing better. For everything else there’s a spinning reel that will do the same job better.

[Keith Nehrke]

I'll play devil's advocate and lobby for inline reels in deeper water. I've noticed that finicky perch in 30 ft don't like to see a spinning pimple, and deep water crappie love to hit a slowly falling bait. If I mark fish on the graph, I let it drop using the free spool option, and I don't even wait for a hit, just drop and set. Fish on. The best combination of cost/utility that I've found is the 13 Fishing Ghost - it's composite not metal, but the drag is great and the line doesn't get caught in the spool. I put 6 lb main line on all my inline reels, with a top shot of fluorcarbon suited to presentation. I've also used cheaper inline reels with less success.