I have a wide array of stuff that I have bought over the last 4 or 5 years. My favorite rod is a Thorne Brothers custom panfish rod and a Pflueger President reel. 2nd is an older frabill rod that has a cut out to feel the blank by the reel seat with a quantum reel. Also have some HT combos, and gander mountain ice combos. To be honest, the Thorne Brothers rod feels awesome, but I don't know that it is that necessary. I would start out with a nice rod for each of you, in the moderate price range, and then a couple cheap back ups. I also move some of my reels over to ultralight rods in the summer for creek fishing. I have never had issues with anything freezing up, but I normally fish in a shanty, and keep all my poles inside.
Some of my best purchases are Jet Sleds. Those things float on the snow, and pull like a dream. It's nice to get everything out to where you are fishing.
Lures, a cheap way to start is at jammin jigs. I have bought some of their kits, and they are pretty good. It gives you something to start with, and then piece in what you like. I normally set aside $50 or so a year to spend in ice lures, and now have a pretty good array.
