Trolling rods

[Brad0383]

Hi everyone, I am looking into some trolling rods. I am trying to decide between the cabelas depthmaster DM-TR-76M which says is for trolling and 12-20 lb. test line, and the depthmaster DM-DR-80M which says downrigger but for 10-25 lb test line. They are the same medium action, one 7 foot 6 and one 8 foot. It seems that the 8 foot might be a better all around rod with the wider line range. I am planning on mostly long lining crank baits with fireline but I may also try lead core. Will either of these rods be adequate?

[Northlander]

I like longer telescoping rods in the 8-9' range. I have many 8.5' telescoping rods and Gander, Gary Roach series, Shimano, Bass Pro Shops and Diawa all make some very nice ones at good prices. I have also been checking out the Jason Mitchell trolling rods and may invest in some of the long deadstick rods he has. Dont spend a lot because they will be in holders most of the time. I recomend line counter reels like the Diawa Sealines. For pulling boards I like 12-14# mono and long lining I like Power Pro.

I like telescoping rods over 2 piece for ease of storage.

[MuntzAngling]

I wish I knew the brand name, but I have yellow with blue grips 8.5' rod I use for trolling trout. I've seen them at Fleet Farm. They are spooled with 12 lb mono for trolling spoons and crankbaits. If you add weights or dipseys, the longer the better since you are only able to reel up so far. That way, the rod is then used to play the length of the leader to the fish at landing time.

Hope it helps!

[rodmaker]

G. Loomis makes a nice trolling rod in their Walleye Series.

[PerchJerker]

I wouldn't make my choice based on 12-20 lb line for one rod and 10-25 lb line for the other rod, especially for trolling. You can certainly use line outside of those guidelines. You should be looking at things like the action and feel of the rod. If you place the rod tips side by side on the floor and slowly load up the rods (press down on them so they bend like you're fighting a fish) you'll probably see differences in their actions.

You said you are mostly interested in long-lining cranks on fireline. In my opinion neither of those rods is ideal for that application. I like 7 foot graphite rods in medium or medium light power (depends on how hard the cranks pull, ie. deep divers or stick baits). If I'm flatlining I hold the rod frequently, sometimes constantly, and I want a nice lightweight graphite rod with lightweight cork grips. When I've used longer, heavier rods like you're talking about for flatlining I haven't really liked them at all --- they're heavier, they're tiring, and they aren't as sensitive.

If you were going to leave the rods in the rod holders, either flatlining or pulling boards or lead, then either of the rods you asked about would be fine. I do all my boards and lead on 7.5 to 8.5 foot telescoping rods, and I think one of them is a CAbelsa DepthMaster.

They're good rods, just not my choice for flatlining. Hope this helps.

[tunrevir]

I like the graphite for longlining much like PJ. More feel and helps to let you know if your lure is fouled. I do, however, use longer blended rods for leadcore and boards due to the stress that they have to take and they tend to be foriving on hooksets. If I am looking at trolling eyes on Mille Lacs in the fall, I am going with the graphite.

Tunrevir~

[Sandmannd]

Well I hate to sound like a broken record, but I would go with Limit Creek Rods any day. Great value for the money you spend. A little cheaper than the others, but just as good of a rod IMO. For trolling cranks with either leadcore or power pro I go with the The LCC66MHF medium heavy power fast action IM6 graphite casting rod. For rigging I go with a Smoothie (LCS69MLF) which is medium light power fast action high modulus graphite spinning rod, and is so sensitve you'll feel every bite. The next rod I get will be the the LCSE83MLF Limit Creek Extendable Medium-Light Power Spinning Rod. It's 8'3", an extremely sensitive medium light rod with a fast action. This is a great dead sticking rod.

[rodmaker]

Graphite for sure when long lining. Go with at least a 7ft rod for this. Also you want a little softer tip .

[Borch]

I wouldn't make my choice based on 12-20 lb line for one rod and 10-25 lb line for the other rod, especially for trolling. You can certainly use line outside of those guidelines. You should be looking at things like the action and feel of the rod. If you place the rod tips side by side on the floor and slowly load up the rods (press down on them so they bend like you're fighting a fish) you'll probably see differences in their actions.

You said you are mostly interested in long-lining cranks on fireline. In my opinion neither of those rods is ideal for that application. I like 7 foot graphite rods in medium or medium light power (depends on how hard the cranks pull, ie. deep divers or stick baits). If I'm flatlining I hold the rod frequently, sometimes constantly, and I want a nice lightweight graphite rod with lightweight cork grips. When I've used longer, heavier rods like you're talking about for flatlining I haven't really liked them at all --- they're heavier, they're tiring, and they aren't as sensitive.

If you were going to leave the rods in the rod holders, either flatlining or pulling boards or lead, then either of the rods you asked about would be fine. I do all my boards and lead on 7.5 to 8.5 foot telescoping rods, and I think one of them is a CAbelsa DepthMaster.

They're good rods, just not my choice for flatlining. Hope this helps.

Ditto to Perchjerker. Although I use a lot of 6 ft rods and don't feel ungunned. As far as action goes I depends on whether your use superlines or mono. Stiffer fast action rod for mono and like Perchjerker stated lighter action for braid due to no stretch.

[AllWet]

I've been dragging all my cranks using a 7'Croix Avid and a 6.5' heavy Fig Rig. The difference in action is huge. Trial and error has helped to hone in on lure compatibility for each rod and proper drag settings. I can't tell you how many times I've missed fish, probably ripping their lips off, with the drag too heavy on the Fig.

The Avid, on the other hand, is much more forgiving during hook set, netting (excuse the pun) more weakly hooked fish and, surprisingly, a fair number of Crappies (at 2-3mph) with lips intact.

Both rods aren't quite my first choice for trolling, but have been effective after some lessons learned.

[rodmaker]

It isn't the drag all the time. If your rod is too heavy of an action or have too fast of a tip you will wrip lips off on the hook set. Reguardless of your drag setting.

If you get a rod with a moderate action (slower), you will not tear out hooks. The rod has a slower action and it absorbs the hook set better. You can even get by setting your drag a little lighter this way. The fish tire themselves out more after a few runs.

[JohnMickish]

I will double what rodmaker says. What I use is the Cabelas depthmaster 8'6" rods that retract to under 7' for easy storage. I picked these up new at Cabelas with Diawa Accudepth reels for $85 each. The rods have a nice slow action that lets the crankbait do it's job yet is long enough to handle big fish and allow you to control the fish, not the other way around.

If you plan on long lining plan on using a line counter reel like the Accudepth. If your wondering about these rod/reel combos, I just got back from URL and trolled many many hours with everything from very large heavy pulling cranks (Grandmas and the like) to little raps and bucktails and I am very happy to say that the rods spooled with just 10lb XT are more than enough to handle the trophy class pike that URL has .

[whittsend]

If you might try switching out with leadcore or power pro-spooled reels (for dispsys or jets), a little backbone might not hurt. The Diawa Heartlands are great inexpensive rods that would be perfect multi-tasking rods. Could also be used on riggers, if you have them. 8-8.5', long is nice if you would be wanting to spread core to the sides.

Otherwise, a nice graphite 7.5-8.5' Clarus or St. Croix Tidemaster (among many others) would be great... stout enough at the base, with a nice forgiving tip.

whittsend

[tunrevir]

I have a couple 8'6" gander rods that I like with boards, a couple m action 7'6 ugly sticks for straight trolling that work well. I think it comes down to the line you like to run and the application you are going to use. I like the longer rods for boards and the shorter for longline trolling. I also like my 7' graphite spinning rods for trolling cranks on mono but it tends to be a bit more imprecise when you look at duplicating how much line you have out. There are alot of rods out there so find what works best for you for the applications that you are looking at using. I like line counter reels for replication but have caught plenty of fish on spinning rods over the years while trolling as well. All of these things are tools and how you put them to use is what matters the most. Biggest thing is know what depths you are going to fish, run plugs and line that will get you to the strike zone for the area you are fishing. Linecounter reels make this much easier but a good hand on a spinning rod can get the job done by knowing the dive curves for the baits they are fishing. Any rod can do, but you have to be able to put the bait in the strikezone and replicate what works.

Tunrevir~

[Quetico]

Has anyone tried the Jason Mitchell 14' rod? I like long rods and would like a longer rod for use when we are drifting with 3 or 4 of us from the canoe and smaller boats. It'd be great to be able to spread the lines out that much more.

[DinkADunk]

Either one of the Cabela's rod's you mentioned will work. I have one of them in that series that I use for Dipsy divers and it's pretty good but not as sensitive as the Shimano Talora rods I normally use for trolling. The TLA-80ML-2 is a great walleye trolling rod. The glass/carbon fiber construction really makes for a rod tip that telegraphs what's going down below with the crankbait. Very easy to tell if the hooks are fouled with weeds, detect light bites, and I rarely have a fish get off (good hook sets). I use a set of TLA-80ML-2's and a set of telescoping rods I built on Batson blanks (very good too, just not available as an off the shelf rod) to troll for walleyes and lakers. I also use a pair of TLA-106M-2's to troll for Muskies. The Talora's work well with mono or braid. I usually run flouro leaders (3' on walleye, 5' on muskie) and haven't had any bite off's since I started using them (caught a fair number of Muskie's and Pike on the walleye rods).

[Northlander]

Taloras are great rods but the only thing I dont like about them is the butt ends are very long and stick out quite a ways from the rod holders so if your short on room I would try another brand with a shorter butt end or cut it off and cap it.

I mostly use my Taloras for downrigging and they work great for that.

[DinkADunk]

If you find that the Talora is too long then just cut the rod down a bit. Cuting a couple of inches off the bottom won't change the action of the rod and is very easy to do. Looking at my Talora's sitting in my office the distance between the reel seat and the end is the same (or shorter) than my Muskie Rods. I don't find them overly long in my boat and my wife prefers the length (she braces the rod against her leg).

[harvey lee]

One could also check out the Mitchell telescoping trolling rods. I purchased one this fall and it seems to be a very nice rod.

http://jasonmitchellrods.com/open_water.php