What to do with your extra rods? Ice Rods!

[slappy]

Sounds like a lot of us have extra rods in the scrap pile.

They can very easily be turned into ice rods. The best ones to use are freshwater spinning rods.

Process:

Cut the rod a few inches above the handle: Wrap 2 turns of masking tape around the rod and cut it with a hacksaw.

If it is a 2 piece rod, use a razor and cut the first guide or 2 off. 2 guides for a 30" rod is ideal.

Slide the tip section into the hollow blank of the handle section to measure how long the rod will be. (30" is good) You may need to cut a bit off the bottom of the tip and you may need to cut the ferrule off. Leave plenty of blank to slide into the handle.

Use masking tape and build 2 arbors on the tip section where it will slide into the handle section. Make them big enough to fit snugly, but not too tight.

Take 5 minute epoxy and coat the arbors and bottom of the tip section and slide in. Make sure you line up the guides and the reel seat!

5 minutes later you have a useable ice rod.

Rod quality isn't a big deal with bait ice rods. Cheap fiberglass rods can be better than graphite for bait because they flex more on the take. For jig rods, use graphite.

[Mark]