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Posts: 38
| Just wondering what you all use for trolling? I need to get a few setups but I really can't spend very much money. Thanks in advance for the info. |
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| You can use the cheaper okuma and diawa line counters and the 20-30 dollar fiberglas catfish rods. I have a setup like this and it works fine. |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Luckily trolling gear isn't all that expensive. You can get rods in the $20-$30 range, and reels anywhere from around $40 up to ???? I would spend more on the reel if you can afford to. From a price standpoint, here's some suggestions,
Shimano TDRs (8 or 9'ers or both if you want to run more than 2 rods). Those will run around $30.
Reels, Okuma Magda's run around $40 I believe. The next step up are the Convectors, and those run around $80 off the top of my head. I've run both, and both have held up good with lots of use for both musky and salmon so they will take the abuse.
Put some 80-100# braid on their and you're good to go. So on the lower end of the price scale, you could get set up with the rod and reel around $70 (especially for starting out. You can always upgrade as you go with the reels, rods won't change all that much).
Another way is to look for some used rods and reels. You can find this stuff in the want adds here, and also on a lot of the great lakes websites. There's some good deals to be found out there.
Edited by tuffy1 7/10/2009 3:24 PM
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Posts: 463
Location: Sw Pennsylvania | I took the advice of some people on here to go with the TDR as far as rods on my 2nd set of trolling rigs, i like them alot. The other rods i use are cabela whuppin sticks in the 8ft heavy action.. also only like 25 a piece. I like penn 209s but okumas seem to be very popular. No experience with them so can't give my advice on them. |
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Posts: 131
| I agree with allegheny river kid on the TDR's. I have no complaints with mine. I'd spend a bit more for a decent reel though if you can. |
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Posts: 295
| will those 50lb test whuppin sticks pull huge baits like plows all day long?? i wont feel so bad if im going to break a $30 rod. also has anyone tried the big water ugly stick 1 piecers?? they make an 8'er with a 6-12oz tip i believe theyre like $75 and i know ugly stik doesnt mind replacing broken/damaged rods may be worth it?? |
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| How can they make the TDR's so cheap? it doesn't seem realistic for a rod, do they last longer then a season? i'll consider these they look good, but you have to second guess your self when you see the price tag |
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Posts: 463
Location: Sw Pennsylvania | bryantukkah - 7/13/2009 12:57 PM
will those 50lb test whuppin sticks pull huge baits like plows all day long?? i wont feel so bad if im going to break a $30 rod. also has anyone tried the big water ugly stick 1 piecers?? they make an 8'er with a 6-12oz tip i believe theyre like $75 and i know ugly stik doesnt mind replacing broken/damaged rods may be worth it??
I'm doubting the whuppin sticks ability to pull plows, i've tried perchbaits and thats pushing their abilities. I generally pull smaller 6 to 8in jointed cranks with them. |
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| "How can they make the TDR's so cheap? it doesn't seem realistic for a rod, do they last longer then a season? i'll consider these they look good, but you have to second guess your self when you see the price tag"
That I don't know...and I haven't used mine all that much yet but from what I have they have held up great. It was almost like reverse sticker shock buying a $30.00 rod though, LOL. Hell, if you're not comfortable with that price Shimano does have one that is a step up and will cost you double. |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Guest - 7/13/2009 2:51 PM
How can they make the TDR's so cheap? it doesn't seem realistic for a rod, do they last longer then a season? i'll consider these they look good, but you have to second guess your self when you see the price tag
They aren't graphite rods, they are made from composite materials, so that keeps the cost down. Most of the trolling sticks that were designed specifically for trolling have smaller price tags that what we're used to when buying casting sticks.
I've got 6 TDRs in my rotation and they do musky and salmon duty and in the almost 10 years since I got them, never even had to replace a guide on them. They're made to take the beatings of trolling. |
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| Cabelas 8' Depthmaster rod, in the Dipsey Diver action. Their Depthmaster linecounters come in a couple grades and are good too. You can get into an excellent trolling set-up for under $200, they run sales on the Depthmaster combos alot, with options to upgrade to better reels like Daiwa Sealines too. That Dipsey Diver action handles stuff like Plows, big Hookers etc no problem. It's also a great board rod, can be used in a pinch downrigging (a little tip heavy IMO) and of course, it one sweet rod for pulling Dipseys if you fish trout, salmon or walleyes. I have a pair that have a lot of miles on them from lake trout to muskie, they're good rods. They're a 2piece rod and I'm pretty sure you can get the Dipsey in a 10 footer too. I've found Cabelas to be A1 to deal with also. Their house-brand stuff (from rods to rubber boots) is better quality than Bass Pro's, in what I've experienced. |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | Like Joel said, get yourself some TDR's and a few Magda's. You'll be good to troll for years. |
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Posts: 311
Location: Ontario | That was me posting re: the Cabela's rods, I must've been logged off. They're all fiberglass, too. I have 2 TDR's and they're a super rod also. |
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| I will second the Cabelas trolling Combos..
Really nice, and very cheap!! |
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Posts: 358
Location: London, England | Would the TDR 8'6" MH action rods pull big musky baits? Plows etc, or do you need a heavy action? |
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Posts: 311
Location: Ontario | I don't have the 8'6 TDR's, mine are 8' meds and they'd be light for Plows and stuff, in my opinion. Those 8'0 Depthmasters are nice for the larger baits. Lots of the time with larger, deep-running baits we crawl below 3mph and walk them thru the rocks, the Depthmaster is like a Great Lakes downrigger rod with a thyroid problem and works really well for this application. Super rod for 14" Jakes, 13" Believers, 13" Grandmas etc fishing off bottom/suspended. If you like the TDR's I'm betting Shimano would have a similar action for you and the bigger Plows and stuff. They're a popular rod and priced right. Good luck Tim. |
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| so well the TDR's second as a good sucker rod? aren't trolling rods and sucker rods about the same? |
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| What kind of power do you want in trolling rods? I understanding you want a meduim fast action to help with the vibration and movement of the lures. For example, would I want a Heavy Power while using a 10" believer and a MH for a depthrader? what is the recommendation on the power of trolling rods, i have only learned and read about casting rods? |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Guest - 7/14/2009 2:04 PM
so well the TDR's second as a good sucker rod? aren't trolling rods and sucker rods about the same?
I wouldn't use them for sucker rods as they don't have enough backbone to get a good hookset. Most trolling rods have moderate action, so the rod bends pretty much from tip through the lenght of the rod. If you were using circle hooks, that may work, but I personally hate circle hooks because I don't have the patience to wait for the fish to eat the bait. |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | CollegeMuskyHunter - 7/14/2009 2:50 PM
What kind of power do you want in trolling rods? I understanding you want a meduim fast action to help with the vibration and movement of the lures. For example, would I want a Heavy Power while using a 10" believer and a MH for a depthrader? what is the recommendation on the power of trolling rods, i have only learned and read about casting rods?
I'm not quite sure of the power breakdowns for trolling rods, but like was mentioned above, the dipsy rods tend to have more backbone than other trolling rods. The dipsy rods can run pretty much anything (if you've ever seen how much a dipsy pulls, you'd understand why). The TDRs to come in a heavy action, that may be good for pulling bigger baits, but the TDRs that I have are all medium action. I've run baits up to 10" jakes on those with no issues, but I love running bigger baits on the dipsy rods (I use an Okuma Mooching rod that's 10' for this). |
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| I have used Bass Pro Catt Max Rods for years and they have handled plows and legend perchbaits great. I use 9ft MH 12-25lb or 10ft H. I have seen them on sale at 49.99 on many occassions. If you want a really good rod Shimano Talora rods in Dipsey actions and excellent too. St Croix has always made a great trolling rod too, but very pricey. I like Daiwa Accudepth as a good entry linecounter for about 59.99. Daiwa Sealines for around 95 are very good too. Use 80 or 100lb superbraid w/mono backing. I actually prefer the 27lc series over 47lc since I seldom have more than 100ft out for muskies. |
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Posts: 132
Location: MN | So where does a person buy Okuma Magda's or Convectors? Any retailers have them, such as Gander? And suggestions for locating TDR's?
Thanks. |
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Posts: 311
Location: Ontario | Yep a mag Dipsey pulls about as hard as any musky crankbait will.
Any rod that'll do a Depthraider will also do a ten inch Jake, ten inch Beleiver, Perchbait, G&M Hooker, Outkast, Shallow Invader, 2-4oz spinnerbaits etc etc etc. Mostly anything under about 10/11 inches or about 6 to 8 ounces . Once you jump to 13" Beleivers, 14" Jakes, Plows, 10" Hookers, Parry Winkles, Lunge Lockers, Hose Baits, Franky's, Ferris Baits, big Slammers and spinnerbiats from 8oz to 16 or 18oz you're into another weight class of rod again. Then there's your wire rod...
I carry three trolling set-ups that cover those classes of lures roughly. I don't do any of the Great Lakes-style fishing, its all Shield stuff...propwashing shallow hazards, trolling suspended and grinding bottom. We troll from June thru end of Dec. They're all pretty basic combos that get worked hard all year. To step up a bit on a trolling rod look at Croix's Premier 8' glass comp. A nice step-up reel is the Daiwa Sealine LCA47. Boys and their toys.
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Posts: 358
Location: London, England | Thanks guys. I'm thinking TDR 8ft Heavy dipsey rod should cover things nicely. |
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