Trolling Rod (and Reel)

[caseymcq]

I am planning on purchasing two rods(and reels) for trolling crankbaits. I am going to get line counter reels and use lead core line. My first questions is what would you suggest for rods? What length? What action (fast, medium, slow)? What power (medium, medium-heavy, heavy)? Should I get two different length rods or the same? If you don't mind, please explain the rationale behind your choice.

I am going to get line counter reels too, any suggestions there?

Thnaks!

[Team Otter]

Take a look at the post titled "Gearing Up" on page 3 of this forum. If you have any questions beyond that, fire away!

[Dave B]

I fish shallow water w/ cranks over a ton of rocks. For these conditions, I swear by 7' med light action w/ Fireline (or any other no stretch, abraisive resistant line).

Reasons? Mono on a heavier action rod is fine, but you tick a few rocks and get your snag out, then lose your crank on the next one. If you move to a no stretch line and a heavy action rod, then you will hook up fine on small fish, but the larger ones will pull the hooks right out. The softer rod w/ no stretch allows enough give for the fish, hooks up all size fish as good as anything, and 14lb 6lb diameter Fireline will troll deep an not lose a ton of lures.

[DinkADunk]

I really like the Shimano Talora 8' ML trolling rods for pulling cranks with mono. If I were using Leadcore I would go with the Shimano Talora TLA80MC2 rods which are designed to troll fresh water with leadcore and then team them up with Diawa Sealine LC reels.

[cylinder]

Quote:

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If you move to a no stretch line and a heavy action rod, then you will hook up fine on small fish, but the larger ones will pull the hooks right out. The softer rod w/ no stretch allows enough give for the fish, hooks up all size fish as good as anything, and 14lb 6lb diameter Fireline will troll deep an not lose a ton of lures.

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I agree. I like superlines, but to make them work best in most situations you need a forgiving rod.

[SkolVikingsGuy]

I saw Ron Seelhoff (sp?) at the sports show in Minneapolis. I don't know if he ever said anything about action or power, but he had quite a few very long rods (8 - 10 feet). He loves the Diawa line counting reels.

One thing that struck me is that he likes to use two identical setups out each side of the boat so that he can compare how each are behaving to make it easier to spot fish or weeds on the lines.