Help with Rod setup for a newbie

[mathews_hunter]

This will be my first season trolling on the Lake.  Mostly will be fishing Henderson area.   I was wondering if I could get by using the same rods and reels for Browns, Lakers, and Walleye if I was to get the right setup.  I have just started to gather equipment up.  I Plan on having down riggers, planers, and possibly dipsy divers depending on the amount I learn and pace that I learn.  So far I have ordered Okuma Coldwaters in size 30.  Any suggestions would be helpful thanks. 

[Chowdaire]

I would go medium action trolling rod in 8-9' length. I use the same 8'6" medium action Taloras for browns, walleye and salmon. The only thing I change is the line. 

 

People usually use braid or wire for dipsies (no stretch so the diver trips easier, better dive rate) so you'll generally need another setup for that. Twilli tip or roller rod if you go with wire.

[mathews_hunter]

Thanks.  I don’t think I’ll end up with a wire set up this year.

[DoubleTrouble1]

I'd say a couple wire setups would be the first thing you want ! You can do some damage with two riggers two rigger rods and two wire diver setups....just my opinion...goodluck!

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[wishinfishin]

Wire divers , plus there great to watch get hit.

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[chowder]

4 hours ago, DoubleTrouble1 said:

I'd say a couple wire setups would be the first thing you want ! You can do some damage with two riggers two rigger rods and two wire diver setups....just my opinion...goodluck!

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I would agree. spend the $ on a couple wire diver rigs and hold off on a planer system until next year. Bigger bang for the buck and if you want to stretch out you can always run a junk rod down the chute or off an inline or 2 if you get feeling like you want to up your game

[mathews_hunter]

Thanks. Seems like I will have to look into a wire set up. 

[sherman brown]

the wilderness trolling rods from fishusa.com for only 19.99 each in 8' medium will work great for all the things you want to do. the fiberglass rods are made for trolling. they look good and will last for years.

[UNREEL]

On 4/27/2020 at 9:03 PM, mathews_hunter said:

This will be my first season trolling on the Lake.  Mostly will be fishing Henderson area.   I was wondering if I could get by using the same rods and reels for Browns, Lakers, and Walleye if I was to get the right setup.  I have just started to gather equipment up.  I Plan on having down riggers, planers, and possibly dipsy divers depending on the amount I learn and pace that I learn.  So far I have ordered Okuma Coldwaters in size 30.  Any suggestions would be helpful thanks. 

All good suggestions for rods and divers. Your Okuma 30 size reels would be perfect for wire. As for spooling with mono get a bulk spool of Trilene Big Game 20 lb. test. Most cost effective way. You can leader down with flourocarbon for stealth depending on target species. When the fleas show up just peel of a 100 ft or more of mono and tie on some Blood Run Sea Flee to top off reel

[DoubleTrouble1]

Get the best you can afford!! Buy once cry once

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[Hachimo]

On 4/27/2020 at 9:03 PM, mathews_hunter said:

This will be my first season trolling on the Lake.  Mostly will be fishing Henderson area.   I was wondering if I could get by using the same rods and reels for Browns, Lakers, and Walleye if I was to get the right setup.  I have just started to gather equipment up.  I Plan on having down riggers, planers, and possibly dipsy divers depending on the amount I learn and pace that I learn.  So far I have ordered Okuma Coldwaters in size 30.  Any suggestions would be helpful thanks. 

 my first year on LOU and on the lake I started with ONLY downriggers my first year. Primarily  for the reason I wanted to learn the ins and outs and not get overwhelmed with dipseys,copper,leadcore,planer boards, etc. Also $$$$$$. Just bought a boat and had to buy gear to get started. 
    If I could repeat my first year 100% I would have put at least 2 dipsey setups in the mix.  
    I bought new 4pk Okuma magda 45’s combo on ebay for riggers cheap.  spooled with 40lb big game (went thick for fleas in summer) and changed leaders pending species I’m fishing. Fish walleye with them on my local lake. Fish browns in spring. Kings in the summer.  They worked for all. Yes, maybe I’d catch more If I had rods dedicated to each species but its what I could afford. 4 years later I still use them. 
     

[mathews_hunter]

9 hours ago, Hachimo said:

 my first year on LOU and on the lake I started with ONLY downriggers my first year. Primarily  for the reason I wanted to learn the ins and outs and not get overwhelmed with dipseys,copper,leadcore,planer boards, etc. Also $$$$$$. Just bought a boat and had to buy gear to get started. 
    If I could repeat my first year 100% I would have put at least 2 dipsey setups in the mix.  
    I bought new 4pk Okuma magda 45’s combo on ebay for riggers cheap.  spooled with 40lb big game (went thick for fleas in summer) and changed leaders pending species I’m fishing. Fish walleye with them on my local lake. Fish browns in spring. Kings in the summer.  They worked for all. Yes, maybe I’d catch more If I had rods dedicated to each species but its what I could afford. 4 years later I still use them. 
     

I’m in the same position.  When you leader down the heavy line do you put say 200 feet of 12 pound in it if you were to be targeting browns or walleye or a shorter leader? 

Edited April 30, 2020 by mathews_hunter

[Dirtyhooker]

6-10 ft of flouro use a bead chain to attach to main line


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[tuffishooker]

Again a good start a book " Keating on Kings " by Captain Dan Keating ! Gives you a basic start . Salmon fishing aint cheap be prepared !

[Hachimo]

On 4/30/2020 at 6:24 AM, mathews_hunter said:

I’m in the same position.  When you leader down the heavy line do you put say 200 feet of 12 pound in it if you were to be targeting browns or walleye or a shorter leader? 

Ive tried both ways and Ive had similar results. Normally when I’m fishing early season(walleye,brown) my rigger lines are 50ish ft behind the ball so   Thts what my leader was cause I was told attachin the heavy line to rigger release can effect the action to spoon or stickbait. So I ran 50ish ft leaders.  I eventually gave up on the long lead and went to 6-8ft and still caught fish. I’m only fishin the lake 4 years so still a rookie with alot to learn

[Chuck Smth]

I'll go against the grain here and say get a couple rods setup for lead before wire divers. 

 

I'd have a 3 color and a 5 color to start.  Nice thing about the lead is it produces and it will work for suspended walleyes as well as trout and salmon and you don't need rollers or to modify the rods to use it. 

[mathews_hunter]

On 4/30/2020 at 6:56 AM, tuffishooker said:

Again a good start a book " Keating on Kings " by Captain Dan Keating ! Gives you a basic start . Salmon fishing aint cheap be prepared !

I just got my copy  of Keating on Kings in the mail today. 

[sstout]

My setup is pretty simple. Two 8'6 okuma classic pro glt downrigger rods, I think they were $30 a piece. Paired them with old made in the USA Penn 210s i got off ebay. They hold a bunch of line and work well for downrigger rods. I think i paid $20 a reel. Then i run a wire slide diver straight out the back. That rod was a little pricier but not too bad. It's an okuma 9ft diver rod with an okuma coldwater 30. All I do is change leaders for species and that's it. I fish solo most of the time so just run the three rods. Best part is, if I break a downrigger rod or something I dont have alot of money tied up in them. The wire slide diver is my favorite part of my setup.