Reels/rods for trolling lake ontario

[perchhound]

I am new here because I finally got  a boat big enough to fish Lake Ontario safely.  I had a small 14 foot perch killing machine in PA.  I saved enough money asie for about 8 outfits and some flies and stuff. I plan on using a copper rig, wire dipsy rigs and downrigger outfits. My research shows that Okuma and Daiwa are on most boats up here. what about reels from Penn and Shimano.  I don't mind spending more money on the reels knowing that they tend to last better than cheaper reels.  I also saw on You Tube an Abu Garcia Alphamar line counter reel that is new with some cool features.  Has anyone used them?   It looks like I will go with the shimano wire line rod and probably some Ugly Stick Tiger Lite rods.  Do you think that i am covered on the rods?  I would like to hear feedback on reels and how they performed for you.  Eight outfits is a lot of money so I want to do it right.  Thanks 

[LongLine]

I've been using Penn 320 GT2 for a long time.  They're great for me.  Smooth drags and easy to rebuild by Do-it-yourselfer.  What ever reel you get, make sure it has a smooth dependable drag.  Reel is more important than rod on the Big-O.

 

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Captain Jim]

 You can save a ton of money on rods and reels on ebay. I run Daiwa 47H reels on my downriggers, and Daiwa 47 line counters for my dipeys and planer board rods.

[bottom-feeder]

if your gonna be around the east end of lake O (mexico bay-Oswego area )

 

If interested I have a 400' copper on a okuma CL55 reel on a 8'6 okuma copper series rod I would sell.....message me here if interested

Edited April 5, 2014 by bottom-feeder

[perchhound]

Thanks guys for the input.  As stupid as this sounds, i am more concerned about getting the right reels and rods as opposed to finding cheap ones or used ones.  Thanks Bottom Feeder and I will keep that in mind if I decide to go used.  I put enough aside to buy rod and reel outfits up to $300 each so I think i am good there.  Just not sure if i should go Tekotas, Penn, saltist by Daiwa.  I was hoping that someone on here used the Abu Garcia Alphamar. They look perfect for downrigger reels but too small for copper.  I plan on putting my boat in oswego and mexico so i will probably buy from the local tackle shop around there like the one in Oswego.  I live in rural PA where we used to have two decent shops and now they are gone and I can't get perch bait too easily.  I would rather support the shop and hopefully get good reports and bait if needed in return.  Driving from Tamaqua Pa to Oswego is long and expensive so hopefully that shop helps me because I am supporting him.  maybe I am naive.   Thanks guys for your input.

[tlr426]

I don't have a abu rigger reel but I do own 5 abu reels, and use my one bait caster in the spring on lake O and up north for lakers. I like all of the reels that I have from them and can only assune that they would build a quaility product. That said okuma makes a good rigger reel in many different modles I have 3 diffferent ones and they all work well. The catalina and the covector are a little nice then the magda pro and personally I don't like the cold water reels. I also have a rapala hydros reel that seems to be a very nice unit. Best of luck with your purchase

[finsntins]

if you think about going used,i have bought stuff from"the bottom feeder",his stuff is top notch.if you are looking for a local shop to buy from,i recommend jons little salmonn tackle shop in mexico,he is a great guy and has alot of product and has always been very helpful,as i am a newbie with alot of questions.

[thefrenchman]

Hey there

i try not to spend a ton of money on my gear

but one good expensif reel is better then buying a new cheap one every year

the worst thing or weakest thing you have to check IMHO on reels

is the drag system

for line capacity you got tons of trolling reels you can choose from

for every aplications

 

i use daiwa l47 for my riggers 6 years now  arround 90$can

tekota 700 for copper and lead set-up 2 years now arround 240$can

rapala hydros for dipsy set-up  2 years now going on third and the drag is still good arround 120$can

 

ALL my rods are ugly sticks  different lenghs for different aplications

cheap and so far never broke one

except when one of my kids close my bimini top on them  LOL

 

i fish an average of 30 days a year on the BIG O

 

thefrenchman

[MikeyP]

This is a question that will generate tons of feedback. Daiwa SG47LC are great workhorse reels for wire dipsy, downrigger, and planer board applications. Great leadcore reel too. For copper, you need a large capacity reel able to hold 300 ft of backing (typical amount) with 300-600 feet of copper as well. Tekotas are great for this purpose. You are better off buying new and good quality reels. Last thing you want is for it to fall apart when you have a big salmon screaming drag lmao. Hope this helps.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[hawkeye625]

I run daiwa salitist's for copper and wire dipsys.  Shimano charter specials for down riggers.  Lever drags on the charter specials are very nice for the riggers.  Also run ugly sticks for riggers and copper.  So far my saltist's have been flawless as have the ugly sticks. 

[hammer's down]

Ditto on jon' s tackle

Sent from my XT907 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Knotlost]

I like the size of the saltiest reels drag, they are big, one of the biggest, that's what I want, they are in my opinion are great. I sent a bunch of reels to a pro (older penn reels) to have the drags rebuilt and he told me the saltiest was one of the greats on the inside.

 

Anything will work for a while, but as far as lasting, they size of the surface bearing portion of the drag washer is important, the bigger the better, there is no way a washer with .5 inches of surface will work as good or as long as a washer that has 1.5 square inches of face. Some of the others have big ones as well, that's what to look for.

 

Wire and lead take a  long time to reel in, so i like high speed on those lines as well.

[perchhound]

Thanks Everyone.  decisions decisions

[BAZOOKAJOE]

Saltist reels on ugly stiks.