Trolling Poles

[Sleepyweas3l]

I bought my boat and barely got to use it in the last year and a half. The boat has two electric downriggers so I bought two poles. I caught one salmon in the first week I owned my big water boat, which is better than I was expecting. Now that I am back in a position to hit the big lakes again, I need more poles. I am more comfortable with the boat and the downriggers now, but I have yet to use the planer board mast and divers that I have.

I was on a web site browsing rods and reels and I see some have different poles for different applications. My biggest question is ..........Can I get a good strong rod that I can use on any of the downriggers, planer boards and/or dipsies?

or should I get dedicated poles for each type of trolling?

[medic]

Sleepyweas3l,

Any decent medium to medium/heavy rod will work for downrigger or planer board application. The two things you want to consider for dipsey rods is that they have enough backbone to widthstand the pressure of the dipsey along with the strike and if you are going to run multiple dipsey's on one side, you want to stagger the length of the rods to give you more clearance near your tips. Alot of that will depend on how you have your rod holders set up. IE.. I can run a 8'6" Okuma wire rod, a 9' 6" Daiwa Heartland PP dipsey, and a 10' 6" Heartland dipsey on one side and not have any clearance issues. I run 8' 6" Okuma leadcore rods for my in line planer boards (leadcore). I have 8' 6" medium heavy Okuma Classic downrigger rods. Personally, other than length and reel setups, I don't think it would be an issue to switch any of these rods around to use for multiple applications. (Other than wire)

So..Is that clear as mud??

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a good medium heavy rod will work for the majority of your applications.

Good luck,

Bill

[Paulywood]

You can mix and match a little, but some rods are a little more application specific. Dipsey rods should have a good backbone, I prefer the Daiwa Heartland dipsey rods, they're only like $35 and have a strong backbone but a softer tip so you can tell when they are pulling right. Some rods are too stiff and you can't even tell if the dipsey is back there. I like rigger rods with a softer tip, these can also double as planer rods. Heartland's, Cabela's Depthmaster, and a Shakespeare Power rod are what I am currently using. I like the Power Rod on my 12# test line because it is very flexible but still has a good strong backbone to play fish on the lighter line. All of these are between $20-$35. The biggest thing is to figure out how many rods you are going to run and what kind of presentation. A good starting point would be 2 riggers, 2 dipsey's and 2 leadcore combos, maybe a full core and a half core. You can run the core's off either a planer mast or inline boards. I use boards. A 3rd rod strung with a lighter test mono might be a good idea also, you could use it as a back up rigger rod or run it as a flatline off your planer mast if the fish are shallow instead of the fullcore. That would give you a flexible 6 rod spread. That's what I started with a few years back and caught a lot of fish off of just those 6 rods. Don't ask how many I have now.

[Sleepyweas3l]

Thanks all, that helps. Like I said, just getting started with downriggers and planer boards so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

[Nailer]

Stick with the two riggers and add two dippseys, then add two Full core rods. The Gander in Lansing carries the Gander Mountain brand and they are comparable to Heartland in make and price. "Warning" buying rods and reals can be addictive, before long you'll have six and want ten.

If you want to have fun, learn a few things, and meet a few members the tournaments that Rich runs are a great way.

http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=77

hope to see ya,

Ken.

[joelsanders]

Hey, you are close to my location here in Eaton Rapids.Get in touch with me when you are going to and when and maybe we can team up or take both boats, i actually have two sweet boats settup to go all over the place and quite often fish by my self if i can't get my kid or wife to go...let me know.

[Priority1]

What they said. A lot of good information above.

[Reel World Fishing Team]

I have been doing this for 25 years and I currently have 22 rods rigged. 20 of those are Okuma Classic Pros and 2 are Daiwa 7'6 Med for my 12# rigger rods. For dipsys, cores, lead balls and copper I use the 9' Medium Heavy Okuma and for riggers I use the 8' Medium Okuma. If you get ahold of a retailer such as Fishdog.com or Tackle Haven they will sell these to you for about $20 each if your buying several.

[medic]

Sleepyweas3l,

Here is a link to a sale on Daiwa Heartlands I just received. Decent prices.

http://www.fishusa.com/Daiwa-Heartland-Trolling-Rods_p.html?i=16DC8357861D4042853F9C213C709162

Good luck,

Bill

[Sleepyweas3l]

again thanks all, a ton of great info. Gettin antsy to get out on the water and try all this out.

[salmonquest]

Sleepy,

Ebay usually has some good deals on Okuma set ups. Most are from a guy called Brett's place (sp). i got a good deal on rod and reel combos last year and they held up very well. Good luck.