Re: Trolling Reels vs. Baitcasting Reels
...Reels with reel counters are nice,but mostly for copper lines,for most work you do not need the counters...
When one of us start catching fish with, say 115 feet of letback on a particular lure, the others on the boat will then duplicate that pattern. That is where the line counter comes in handy- takes away the guess work.
EDIT: I even like the counters for leadcore. Often I walk away from a rod that is paying out line to set another or steer, and I don't have to count colors that way. I tend to catch more fish when I am giving attention to the boat and other rod(s) and I am not paying attention when I am letting line out. But that's me- a little ADD and I gotta focus:redface:
/EDIT
As for lead line,I love it,but I disagree with the idea that it will get you only 35 feet down....
Didn't mean to convey that it
won't work over 35', just that you wind up with A LOT of line out and that cuts back on
my personal enjoyment of fishing. Plus speed becomes more of a factor on depth with long lengths out, and with most of the lakes in VT being smallish, turning corners within a lake with 1000' feet of line out leads to getting hung up. Probably not that big of a deal on Champlain, but most of the time we are on other lakes.
...looks like you guys know what you're talking about...
HA ha ha!
If you were starting out with a very limited budget, what would you purchase to get started?
What are you thinking? You can do a lot with $500, but that is limiting, too. $1000 might get you outfitted fairly well in that boat.
Tackle is discussed below, but MY first purchase would be a good basic sonar! The tackle is useless if you cannot find the fish first. In fact, learning about where to look, habitat, and how deep is probably key to catching fish, but that knowledge only goes so far without sonar. Cabellas is blowing out Fishmark 320's for about $110. (A GPS can be down the road- GPS can
help your fishing, but it doesn't catch fish like fishing rods do, and sonar is more important than GPS to start out. Again, rods and lures catch fish, not sonar or GPS. But even a photo-copied state contour map will help you relocate structure you see on sonar- and that's free.)
I was thinking about buying two identical rigs in order to take any guess work out of setting up for me and my son. I'm thinking about two rod/reel combos that include a Daiwa Sealine 47LC. From what I've read, I should be able to spool 10 colors of 18 lb. lead core + backing on these.Should I put 10 colors on each rig, or should I set them up differently for different situations?
The Sealine is a nice reel, but the Accudepth series runs a little less money, and has worked well. I do think that having identical reels and setups is an advantage. So, no, don't set them up differently for different situations. You can use them differently, but then duplicate one to the other if one pattern stands out. But if they are different, then you can't as easily make one match the other.
..What should I bring along for flat line trolling, if anything? I have a few 7' medium casting rods/reels. Should I get some small, inexpensive line counters to run mono on these?
For the leadcore I have been using 8-1/2' Okuma Magda Pro line counter combos. I like them, and they are inexpensive. If you have the money, the Accudepth reels would be an upgrade.
Then I would get a pair of the smaller Daiwa line counter reels for flatlining, probably on 10' or longer graphite rods. Again, an identical pair of reels both with 10# mono. These can be used as flatlines, with Big Jon Mini Diver Disks, or even do duty as downrigger rods.
Thirdly, you will need a selection of spinning reels and rods- 6- 7' in length, medium, probably with mono or flourocarbon. These can handle various jigs, plugs, crawler rigs, etc. and even you side planers.
I gave advice mostly regarding trolling- it seemed that's what was requested. But just a word regarding braided line. If you are going to be trolling in areas with a lot of rocks and/or snags, a braided line can help you keep your tackle, but you should use a softer rod and mono leaders to keep from yanking hooks out. Also, braided is good for jig fishing.
Those 6 to 8 rods will get you going and work well - you will be outfitted better than most to start out trolling. Later, you may want to add downriggers- I like Big Jons- but I think that will max out what you can take in that boat and still have room to fish.
BTW
Good luck- and be patient! Going out trolling takes a while to learn how to be succesful. Fish with an experienced buddy if you can.