rod/reel/line combo questions

[chowder]

The question about using the walleye rods for trout and salmon made me question the way I have tried to set myself up for this (my first) trolling season. I am set up as follows: Trout/Salmon (4) 8.5 med rods with the 27lc reels spooled with 400 yds of 15# Stren High Impact. Walleye (4) 7.5 med rods with the 27lc reels spooled with 450 yds of 12# Stren High Impact. I figured that once I was comfortable with more than 2 rods per side ,the walleye rigs would work ok untill later in the summer, but now I am begining to think my line is too light all the way around.

[Shade]

Everyone has there preference on types of poles and line they use. It's all on how much you want to spend on your gear.

I use 4 -81/2 foot poles with 17 - 20 lb line for spring time on my downriggers. They are medium to light action. Two are Shamono and two are ugly sticks and I like the vanish line. I have had zerro problems with this line for the past 3 years. I have 2 - 12 foot poles that I run Steel on and 2 - 10 ft poles that I have one on lead core and one on Mono. I run the 12 footers outside and the 10 footers inside. They all work well on my boards and dipsys'.

Summer I use 30lb clear on 81/2 rods off downriggers and I use the same poles in summer that i use in the spring for flat lining.

Both spring and summer I run sliders as well. Of course I have a couple of poles for quick change or if I break or loose a pole which so far, knock on wood, I have not had that experiance.

I have McCoy, Vanish and Cajun line on various reels as well and all my reels have counters and hold 350 - 400 yards of line.

[Billy V]

It depends on what you're targeting Chowder. If you're going after browns in the spring on the east end of the lake, you're fine with the 12 & 15# line. If you're going to be down at the Bar for the spring Kings you might consider bumping up to 17-20# mono.

Once the fleas show up in the summer you're probably going to want to switch over to something heavier, like 30# Big Game. The fleas stick to the lighter line pretty badly, but they don't stick to the heavier 30# and up diameters too bad. Some guys still run the lighter line during the summer and just deal with the fleas. It's up to you.

The 27 size reels will be fine for browns, but you might want to consider moving up to a 47 size reel for Kings, and you'll definitely want to move up to that size if you decide to go the 30# route for the fleas as the 27 won't hold enough line and you'll probably get spooled pretty quickly.

You should be fine with your rods.

[Big Dave]

The lighter line will give the spoons great action with the lighter snaps. Flashers and flies it might be to light. I run 15 to 17 on the spoon rods and 20 on the other.