Which Rods/Reels For Walleye?

[Todd in NY]

Which Rods/Reels For Walleye?

I'm curious to know which Rods and reels are preferred, or popular, for walleye trolling on Lake Ontario, in the bays and near shore. What fishing line and terminal tackle to use?

 

What length and tension rods, what size/type reels (level wind? with or without line counters?)? Also, what size/type fishing line, mono or braid? Do you use leaders? If so, what size/type line? Do you use swivels, snaps or none? If yes, what type?

 

I'm retired and have a fixed income. I'm putting my son through college, so I have a small fishing budget. I am looking to buy rods and reels that I can use as dedicated walleye rods. I have bass fishing rods with spinning reels, four downrigger rods and two dipsy rods. I spend more money on tackle than on rods & reels.

 

It might take all summer, or longer, to buy the rods and reels, which is why I'm asking questions now. I'm strictly a recreational fisherman. My LOU "Pro" status is to support this great forum. Any information you are willing to share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and best of luck!

[EYE SPY]

I've always preferred daiwa accudepth 27s and ugly stiks

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[jigstick]

I use Okuma Classic Pro GLT "Downrigger" and "Dipsy" rods.  For the price you just can not beat them.  They have plenty of backbone to take king salmon, lakers, and steelhead, while having enough action to see light walleye bites.  I use these rods on Erie and Ontario.

 

I use a mix of Diawa Accudepths, , Okuma Cold Waters, Magda Pros, and Convectors.  All of never given me an issue.

 

I spools my rods with Berkley Trilene 100% Flouro Professional line. It has by far been the best line for me. Seagur was awful

[Todd in NY]

Thanks for the replies! I use Okuma Magda 30's and 45's on Okuma "downrigger" rods for salmon trolling Lake O, and I was thinking the Okuma 20's and 30's would work for Walleye (I prefer the 30's). If I were using Big Game mono, what pound test would be good, 10 or 12lb test? I think I'm running 10lb moss green Big  Game on my bass rods because they are used for all small lake fishing. What pound test flouro are you using?

[FleetTracker]

Ugly Stik 8'3" L rods are the way to go for walleye... your Magda 30 reels will be fine, as long as they are line counters. You want line counters so you can dial in depths on your stick baits and repeat those depths catch after catch. Big Game 10lb mono in clear, 10lb Seaguar Fluoro.

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[John E Powell]

 

 

"I'm retired and have a fixed income. I'm putting my son through college, so I have a small fishing budget. I am looking to buy rods and reels that I can use as dedicated walleye rods. I have bass fishing rods with spinning reels, four downrigger rods and two dipsy rods. I spend more money on tackle than on rods & reels."

 

 

IMO, with a tight budget I would just use the rods and reels you already have and just swap in appropriate terminal rigging for walleye trolling on each rod. Your salmon gear may not be ideal, but it will work well enough for trolling for walleye.

 

 

________________________

Owner John's Custom Rods

Specializing in building Great Lakes trolling rods since 1979

First place winner of the 2016 World Rod Building Challenge

 

 

[Todd in NY]

Thanks for the replies FleetTracker and John!

 

Fleet Track, do you have your Trophy in the water yet? Matt said you were doing some remodelling on it.

[Chas0218]

I have 4 seasons on my Cabelas Depthmaster 2 30 series reels the older style that most people hated. They started as Spring Browns and walleye now just walleye reels. The new depthmasters are made by Okuma if you compare the Okuma Magda to the depth master they are identical. I would pair them with the Downrigger 8'6" Okuma classic Pro GLT rods. I have this setup and have caught a lot of fish without any issues. I also don't leave my gear out in the sun and weather when not in use. 

I regularly fish alone or with my 2 year old so I am netting fish and running boards by myself and these rods are big enough to give me a little extra reach to pull that fish into the net but not too big where it becomes cumbersome.

[FleetTracker]

Thanks for the replies FleetTracker and John!
 
Fleet Track, do you have your Trophy in the water yet? Matt said you were doing some remodelling on it.

Trophy is wet!

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[Chas0218]

13 hours ago, Todd in NY said:

Thanks for the replies! I use Okuma Magda 30's and 45's on Okuma "downrigger" rods for salmon trolling Lake O, and I was thinking the Okuma 20's and 30's would work for Walleye (I prefer the 30's). If I were using Big Game mono, what pound test would be good, 10 or 12lb test? I think I'm running 10lb moss green Big  Game on my bass rods because they are used for all small lake fishing. What pound test flouro are you using?

Don't go with the Magda 20s the drags are sticky. With walleyes you want smooth drags.

[justtracytrolling]

The classic pro downrigger rods are the cheapest I know of and I used the the last 5 seasons on walleye and tigers and never had a problem.  How many combos do you want?  Im getting a new set before my trolling season takes off and I could probably sell off a few.  I use Seaguar Senshi for mono and Seaguar kanzen braid and Seaguar premier for leader, but honestly it doesn't take much for walleye.  As mentioned above your salmon gear will be fine if you leader accordingly and perhaps throw on a 100 feet on mono or braid.  That will get you started

[justtracytrolling]

Magdas and other cheap reels will work for you if you back off the drag a touch and are patient fighting fish.  I agree with chas and I like a good drag, but you can make it work with less...the sealines have very nice drags stock, but they aren't super cheap.

[Todd in NY]

12 minutes ago, FleetTracker said:

 

Trophy is wet!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Lake Ontario United mobile app
 

 

 

Outstanding!!!

[Todd in NY]

8 minutes ago, Chas0218 said:

Don't go with the Magda 20s the drags are sticky. With walleyes you want smooth drags.

 

Thanks! Come to think of it, I had a Magda 20 once and I quickly returned it and got a 30. Haven't had any issues with my Magda 30's and 45's. The clicker stopped working on the 20 the first or 2nd time using it.

[Chas0218]

9 minutes ago, Todd in NY said:

 

Thanks! Come to think of it, I had a Magda 20 once and I quickly returned it and got a 30. Haven't had any issues with my Magda 30's and 45's. The clicker stopped working on the 20 the first or 2nd time using it.

My father in law had the same thing happen then the gear for the line counter stripped somehow. He and I both have been running the 30 series magdas and had no issues. I did buy a couple used ones from a guy knowing they needed work but after some drag washers and line guide pawl they were silky smooth again. They are simple reels to work on yourself if you need too. My Magdas and Penn Warfares are my Salmon reels and have been abused but keep ticking. Make sure no matter which reel you get to back the drags off when storing them long term. I don't do it when I'm using them every weekend but over the winter they are all loosened up so the spool can free wheel.

Edited May 22, 2017 by Chas0218

[Todd in NY]

8 minutes ago, justtracytrolling said:

Magdas and other cheap reels will work for you if you back off the drag a touch and are patient fighting fish.  I agree with chas and I like a good drag, but you can make it work with less...the sealines have very nice drags stock, but they aren't super cheap.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm looking to have 4 to 6 dedicated walleye rods/reels by next year's opener. I figured I would try to buy 2 at a time if I had to buy new stuff. I have no problem buying used equipment that's been properly maintained and in good working condition, and for the right price of course. I have a feeling that most of you serious walleye fishermen take good care of your equipment 

[Todd in NY]

2 minutes ago, Chas0218 said:

My father in law had the same thing happen then the gear for the line counter stripped somehow. He and I both have been running the 30 series magdas and had no issues. I did buy a couple used ones from a guy knowing they needed work but after some drag washers and line guide pawl they were silky smooth again. They are simple reels to work on yourself if you need too. My Magdas and Penn Warfares are my Salmon reels and have been abused but keep ticking. Make sure no matter which reel you get to back the drags off when storing them long term. I don't do it when I'm using them every weekend but over the winter they are all loosened up so the spool can free wheel.

 

I've never heard about backing off the drags for long term storage, so thanks for that tip. I never have them set tight anyway, but I'll be extra sure from now on.

[Chas0218]

2 hours ago, Todd in NY said:

 

I've never heard about backing off the drags for long term storage, so thanks for that tip. I never have them set tight anyway, but I'll be extra sure from now on.

I mean it was something my dad always did and he had Penns that are older than me that still work great so I did it myself. Not sure if it's required or not but my reels have lasted through a lot of fish without any hiccups.

[Xxx]

I started out buying the cabelas depth masters the early ones that were like a charcoal color were a mess, that was before I joined this site, matter of fact I was looking to upgrade the drags because if you didn't back the drags off and strip line off the reels were like on lock down mode, and cost me many eyes till I got smarter than the reel that doesn't take much, so every time I went to set rods I needed to strip line off, not much just enough to break that sticky drag mode. I joined this site because there was a big discussion on these reels and sending the reels to a dude called Tuna Tom? From this site I found his name and address and number, being layed up from a surgery I sent these reels up to Tuna Tom, he took good care of me I told him no rush, there was a long pause, hello I said yea I'm here just floored by my comment no hurry, never heard that before. I'm not going anywhere soon, and in my mind I was still doing the "fishing" thing, a week or so they came back with a list of all what he did and the drags were smooth as silk, I have an array of different reels now. One of the things he ltold me was to back the brags off all your reels if they don't get used regularly, and I've been doing this ever since?? I doesn't hurt any so I just do it now. 

[Chowdaire]

I'm using the 8'6" taloras for inline boards and downriggers this year. I just bought two sets of reels. One set with 10# line for walleyes/browns and one with 30# for summer salmon.

It's not the cheapest solution but it did save me on buying twice as many rods.


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[Todd in NY]

5 hours ago, Chas0218 said:

I mean it was something my dad always did and he had Penns that are older than me that still work great so I did it myself. Not sure if it's required or not but my reels have lasted through a lot of fish without any hiccups.

 

Maybe the reels back then required it, maybe not. Maybe today's reels don't require it, maybe they do. I know that our salt water rods, reels and tackle had to be sprayed with fresh water after each fishing trip. The salt could make the reels sticky.

[Todd in NY]

5 hours ago, pap said:

I started out buying the cabelas depth masters the early ones that were like a charcoal color were a mess, that was before I joined this site, matter of fact I was looking to upgrade the drags because if you didn't back the drags off and strip line off the reels were like on lock down mode, and cost me many eyes till I got smarter than the reel that doesn't take much, so every time I went to set rods I needed to strip line off, not much just enough to break that sticky drag mode. I joined this site because there was a big discussion on these reels and sending the reels to a dude called Tuna Tom? From this site I found his name and address and number, being layed up from a surgery I sent these reels up to Tuna Tom, he took good care of me I told him no rush, there was a long pause, hello I said yea I'm here just floored by my comment no hurry, never heard that before. I'm not going anywhere soon, and in my mind I was still doing the "fishing" thing, a week or so they came back with a list of all what he did and the drags were smooth as silk, I have an array of different reels now. One of the things he ltold me was to back the brags off all your reels if they don't get used regularly, and I've been doing this ever since?? I doesn't hurt any so I just do it now. 

 

Good to know.

[Todd in NY]

4 hours ago, Chowdaire said:

I'm using the 8'6" taloras for inline boards and downriggers this year. I just bought two sets of reels. One set with 10# line for walleyes/browns and one with 30# for summer salmon.

It's not the cheapest solution but it did save me on buying twice as many rods.


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Thanks, I haven't checked out the talora rods but I've heard good reviews on them.

[Sean Youngblood]

I have been using Daiwa Wilderness Trolling Rods in Med action from Fishusa for my board rods last few years.Hard to beat for $16 each. They even come with a hook keeper.They are currently back ordered but should be back in stock soon.  

[Todd in NY]

Thanks Sean, sounds like a good price.