Rods, Reels, and Line

With this year's Lake Erie boating season just a little over a month away for us, it's time for me to start buying new setups for this year. Last year, we only trolled with a two rod spread all year, both were Downrigger-rods. This year, we're adding in some new track systems on the boat and we plan on also fishing with a pair of dipsy-rods and planer-rods. I've been looking at various rods, reels, and line options over the past 6 months or so and have narrowed it down to a few options, though I think I know what I'm planning on buying. As of now, my plan for setups includes the following:
-Dipsy Setups: 9'0" Medium Power Okuka Classic GLT Rods with Shimano Tekota 600-LC reels spooled with 1,000 feet of 30#/test Wire.
-Inline Planer Board Setups: 7'0" Heavy Power UglyStik Tiger Lite Rods with Okuma Convector CV-45D reels spooled with 100 yards of 27#/test Leadcore, 150 yards 30#/test braid backing, and a 50 foot leader of 20#/test fluoro.

As I mentioned right above, the planer boards are going to be inlines that clip directly on to the line as opposed to conventional ones that are attached to masts. The ones we're going to be using are Offshore OR12s which a friend of mine uses for musky fishing and recommended to me. One thing I realized when fishing with him was that these boards (at least his) put tremendous stress on the rod and just reeling them in even without a fish on was a workout. That is why I'm wanting to go with a heavy power rod instead of a medium one as I fear that a medium power rod would snap like a twig using these boards. But then again, it may have been such a pull when I was fishing with him because he was trolling 4.0-4.5 mph with large musky crankbaits on the end of the line, so I'm not sure. Feel free to chime in on what power and length rods you guys use for inline boards.

From what I've been hearing, the setups I listed above seem like they'll be able to handle the species we target (Spring and Fall we go for primarily Lake Trout but also Northern Pike and occasionally Steelhead and Browns. In the Summer we target primarily Steelhead, FW Drum, and White Bass but will occasionally fish for Browns and Walleye), but I'd like to hear what your opinions are and what type of setups you guys use for these fish and applications.

Thanks for your insight, everyone.
-Sean

Purchased my first ever Okuma rod/reel lead core combo(s) and can't wait to get em back in the water this spring.  Gotta say, the Okuma reels are very impressive for the money as are the rods and I wouldn't think twice about buying additional rod/reels should the need arise.  Which of course, there is always a need.  
 
Rumor has it, you may find some really great deals on combos at a place called http://www.fishusa.com/  
 
 
Tried planer boards too, them things is a hoot to play with.  Mine are light weight compared to some of the 'surf boards' I've seen the 'Wally Big Riggers' running on Erie and I just run mine off the fishing line from a heavy action 6' UglyStiks.  Biggest problem I found, even though they float, they disappear really really fast when they pop off the line.
 
I wasn't so worried about snapping the fishing rod(s) as I was pulling the light weight rod holders from the boat gunnels.  Fixed that so we did and now, we await, the arrival of ice free boat launches.
 
Good luck DM we will be waiting for those big water pictures.
 
PS. Boat docks too!!!

BeenThereDoneThat.
Purchased my first ever Okuma rod/reel lead core combo(s) and can't wait to get em back in the water this spring.  Gotta say, the Okuma reels are very impressive for the money as are the rods and I wouldn't think twice about buying additional rod/reels should the need arise.  Which of course, there is always a need.   Rumor has it, you may find some really great deals on combos at a place called http://www.fishusa.com/    Tried planer boards too, them things is a hoot to play with.  Mine are light weight compared to some of the 'surf boards' I've seen the 'Wally Big Riggers' running on Erie and I just run mine off the fishing line from a heavy action 6' UglyStiks.  Biggest problem I found, even though they float, they disappear really really fast when they pop off the line. I wasn't so worried about snapping the fishing rod(s) as I was pulling the light weight rod holders from the boat gunnels.  Fixed that so we did and now, we await, the arrival of ice free boat launches. Good luck DM we will be waiting for those big water pictures. PS. Boat docks too!!!

That's where I'm thinking of buying the Okuma stuff off of. I've got a bunch of cabela's gift cards to use as well but they don't have Okuma products there so I'm at least going to get the GLTs and Convectors from fishusa. Have you ever bought any prespooled reels from them? The leadcore setup with the mainline, backing, and leader sounds like a real pain to spool up at home and they only charge a few extra bucks for it.

When buying trolling reels just remember, you get what you pay for. Don't expect to get years of service from a $40 reel and $18 rod. Get the better stuff now and you won't have to upgrade next season.

I fish Erie when limit of eyes came quick 80's- 2002. Shimano reels,Diawa line counter
Shimono rods shimano. I still use these antique set ups,when I get invited to go to Erie to this day. I never went heavier than 12 lb mono 20 lb on the dipsy rods. Never ran leadcore,but ran steel. Unless you count passes on the reel,linecounter are a must to have. There's a lot of set ups,but this work very well for me.

BTDT, 18 pound braid? That's got to be so thin to try and tie anything with, worse than dental floss haha.

Chauncy, That's what I figured I'd do. The rods aren't that expensive but they've got lots of good reviews. As far as reels go, that's why I'm wanting to spring on a pair of Tekotas for my dipsy lines so they don't get busted in a single season or two.

fishfighter1, I've never heard of Spro swivels, I'll have to look those up. I've used those small floating rings for fly fishing to attach leaders to tippets so I guess there should be a counterpart for conventional fishing too.

Big Tuna, Yes I plan on using line counter reels. I tried to use a big thick stick spinning setup last year to get an extra line in the water and it was annoying having to count how many times I pulled the line out two feet, especially with mono! That's some pretty light line, but I guess if you're going for eyes. When I'm fishing for lake trout I'm nervous using anything less than 20 pound mono, last year there were a few fish I thought were going to snap 25 pound test!

Porktown, I'll be buying the setups soon so hopefully that Okuma stuff is still on sale then.

So, then, does everyone think that the setups I listed will work well? I changed the models and types of rods/reels I want to get several times over the past two months but I think I finally found some good rigs for the things I want to use them for.

Thanks Ironhead, that looks to be a knot I could tie in low light conditions rocking in a boat without fear of poking myself in the eye.
 
 
Yeah DM I spool my line counters using 25 lb "Eagle Claw" mono for backing (less chance of breaking and losing my leadcore" when sinking my hooks into a submerged boat, followed by 90 to 100 yds of 18lb leadcore (90 if the spools are cheaper) tied to 6' (if using swivels) - 20 ft (without swivels) leader of 6-8 lb "Eagle Claw" clear mono.  
 
Fishfighter I agree, Spro swivels are great http://www.fishusa.com/product/SPRO-Power-Swivels and I also find VCM to be another good swivel for the job. http://www.fishusa.com/product/VMC-Stainless-Steel-Rolling-Swivels 
 
 
I sure appreciate the 'heads up' on swivel damage to the eye guide/level wind, I have stainless steel eyes on my lead core rods. I have the equipment, including the rod dryer but, I am terrible at replacing damaged eye guides on fishing rods. 
 
I also use VCM for other applications such as my worm harnesses.
 
Need to know Fishfighter, do you 'eye splice' or tie your swivels to the braided?  I found latch back needles guaranteed to work with ease using 18 lb braided lines but, the dang things come from the UK and shipping is twice as much as the cost of the needles.  The UK anglers use lead core for carp fishing and use the 'eye splice' a lot. 

Gotcha..... thank you.
Did you see where the VCM # 12 is rated at 40 lb?

I run 8 okuma rod combos from poor richards on my boat for lakers, steelhead, and walleye.
I run 30# braid on my dypsy rods and 10# mono on my boards and have never lost a fish to broken lines or a rod or reel problem. 2 solid years of service I estimate over 100 days of use. Over 600 eye's and 50 or more salmonids and several large cats.
At $60 a combo very resonable and completely replaceable if something happens to them.

zippyduck
I run 8 okuma rod combos from poor richards on my boat for lakers, steelhead, and walleye.I run 30# braid on my dypsy rods and 10# mono on my boards and have never lost a fish to broken lines or a rod or reel problem. 2 solid years of service I estimate over 100 days of use. Over 600 eye's and 50 or more salmonids and several large cats.At $60 a combo very resonable and completely replaceable if something happens to them.

What model reels are those? 10 pound mono, for inline boards? I guess I'm just paranoid, I'm planning on downgrading to 20# mono on my downrigger rods this year from the 25# I was using last year and that alone seems to low to me. At the same time, we just started trolling last year and my biggest fish was 16 pounds so it's not like it comes that close to the force needed to break 20# line. That 30 pound Lake Trout I'll be searching for in the spring might though :).

Also, what are you catching the cats on? I saw your picture from last year of that one off of one of the Tribs but I didn't see the lure. I caught a 21 pound one from shore last May on a 3/4 ounce daredevle so I'm starting to think lures are a good way to filter through the smaller fish! It'd be nice if we can develop a method of reliably catching these guys through slow trolling (maybe crawler harnesses trolled like 0.5mph ?) but I'm not sure if that'll catch many fish. I know I've found a few good speeds and lures for targeting Drum at least!

No the Cal 1100s are discontinued and are hard to find now. I have been using the gx2s for dipseys and they are holding up just fine, and really they are nicer rods than the old cal1100s but they are 10 bucks more expensive. No problem at all with the inlines. Ive even used 8 oz snap weights on the med rods. The dipseys pull way harder than the inline planers, i run church walleye boards and the same sized off shore model, not sure of the model# off hand. Pick up Ross Robertson's book "walleye trolling", fishusa carries it. I know your more of a trout guy, but he covers pretty much everything that you can do trolling.

freshwaterdrumR
If you are only having 6 rods, leadcore and wire line are wayyyy too specific. Then you have 4 rods dedicated to a certain presentation.  I would go with 4 braid rods instead, then you can run them as dipsy rods or board rods.  Running jet 40's or tru trip 40's off inlines are nice, you can cover from 10' down to 45' down with one type of presentation based on leads.best bang for your buck is the okuma classic 8'6" with convectors. 

I'm fine with presentation specific rods. I figured I'd do wire for dipsies as I've heard it produces some sort of attracting sound to fish and to cut through the water. The leadcore is almost a necessity as we troll at a variety of depths but it seems pretty handy for getting cranks down towards the bottom when we're going for salmonids in 70-150 FOW.

freshwaterdrumR

Divemaster

freshwaterdrumR
If you are only having 6 rods, leadcore and wire line are wayyyy too specific. Then you have 4 rods dedicated to a certain presentation.  I would go with 4 braid rods instead, then you can run them as dipsy rods or board rods.  Running jet 40's or tru trip 40's off inlines are nice, you can cover from 10' down to 45' down with one type of presentation based on leads.best bang for your buck is the okuma classic 8'6" with convectors. 

I'm fine with presentation specific rods. I figured I'd do wire for dipsies as I've heard it produces some sort of attracting sound to fish and to cut through the water. The leadcore is almost a necessity as we troll at a variety of depths but it seems pretty handy for getting cranks down towards the bottom when we're going for salmonids in 70-150 FOW.

Most guys targeting that deep use copper.  I've caught walleye 130' down before.  They were dead by the time we put them in the net. Not sure the survival rate for trout that deep, but if you plan on filling the cooler I guess it doesn't matter. I don't eat the things so I worry about them surviving.  With those specific set ups you are really boxing yourself in.  I have like 40 trolling combos now and my "specialty line" combos wouldn't be in the mix if I could only run 6 rods all year.Just sayin - get the basics first.  Mono and braid rods, since they can be used for a ton of different applications.  Then add the specialty stuff later on.

The AFW brand wire I was looking at is copper. Yeah, eyes don't normally live to see the boat when you're fishing that deep haha. Steelhead normally do all right if you bring them up slowly (which can be difficult as they tend to go aerial within a minute or two...). Lake Trout have some sort of specialized organ that allows them to release gas faster than other deep water species so they're still full of spunk as you're unhooking them and swim away just fine. We don't keep that many fish honestly. Release all of the Lake Trout and Steelhead that we catch and we don't target Walleye that often anymore since I discovered the fighting ability of the various Trout species in open water. Although it is a nice suprise to catch an 'Eye while trolling for Trout and know that I get to break out the frying pan that night! I'll look in to braid again, I suppose it would be nice if I could use the Dipsy setups for Flatlines when were trolling shallow for Drum or Pike.

You have 40 setups specifically for trolling? Geez, I can only dream of owning that many rods, I only have 15 now and that's spinning, casting, trolling, and fly fishing. Hopefully I'll build that number up over the years :). It'd also be nice to troll with an 8 or 10 rod spread after I get the hang of using half a dozen, but with only two people on board for 90% of the time that's sadly not possible.

We use older model Penn LW (I think the 210s), No line counter. They will pull in a horse but won't do it fast. We run 50ft on flouro, then 3, 5 or 7 colors of lead and back it with about 250ft of color coded braid. The braid changes color every 25ft with 5ft hash marks.
http://www.fishusa.com/product/PowerPro-Depth-Hunter-Braided-Fishing-Line?utm_source=google_ps&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_ps&gclid=CLSX4an7oMsCFdhahgodbAMMbw
 
These set ups allow us to exactly replicate presentations without counting spool travel...

With 7 colors of lead and 200 more feet of leader and backer it just takes forever to bring in fish with the lower gear ratio. We use magdapro 35s or 45s with 30lb braid for our dipsy rods. We just have been able to accumulate enough gear we have dedicated lead core lines. The Penns would pull in a dipsy without problem if needed.