[Jake.pickett]

I finally made a purchase of a boat big enough for lake erie fishing. It is a 1988 Wellcraft 210 classic cuddy. I am looking for advice on the best budget setup for walleye trolling. I will be trailering from Aurora Oh and will likely be launching from the cleveland area... wildwood seems to be the closest place for me to launch from. I have done alot of drift style fishing with crawler harness and erie dearies in the toledo area but I am unfamiliar with the best fishing tactics for the deeper water around cleveland. I have done alot of reading on this site and hear alot about running dipseys and jet divers (thanks for all of the reports guys). Is this the way to go??? Or should I find some used downriggers and run planer boards. I have a whole bunch of rods and tackle already but they are mostly 6' 6" medium action rods that I mainly used for casting/drift fishing and maumee river fishing. I want to get out on erie soon but I would like to be rigged for best results. I plan on purchasing a Lowrance Elite 5-HDI GPS/fishfinder. Are there any words of wisdom out there that can help me with some sound advice on setting my boat up for trolling on a budget?...Best budget trolling rods/reels with line counters? I looked at the Okuma trolling rod combos at dick's and the eye's looked like they were not going to take a beating. Photos would even be helpful especially on a boat with a similar interior? I was thinking a removable board with the whole fishing setup that I can take off when I want to take wife and some friends out cruising.

 

[Jim Stedke]

Jake, You're asking for way too much in 1 post....guys don't want to take the time to write all that info at 1 setting.

Go see Craig at Erie outfitters. He'll steer you straight. You need a ton of stuff and budget stuff = stuff you'll need to replace in a couple years, and won't really be happy with in the mean time. Watch the "market place" forum here for good buys, and search boat set ups for rigging advise.

The 1 board acroos the back with everything on it is NOT the way to go.

Go to the marinas and check out the the way experienced guys have their boats rigged, or just look at some of the photos on this site.

It takes a long time and alot of thinking to put together a good rig. Late summer and fall fishing is mostly cranks, so I'd suggest you start there, and give yourself the winter to pick up the Dipsys, TruTrips, and other stuff.

Good luck and good fihing.

 

[G&G Sportfishing]

Like it was said go to marinas and look at other boats do the work yourself and go slow enjoy it have a good time. Try to buy the best first then you won't be buying it again and doing working on your boat instead of fishing. And on top of that when you change equipment on a boat the old holes never match up and I hate drilling holes in a boat, just does not seem right to do.

 

[Misdirection]

Also, check out greatlakesplaners.com. on their website they have a section of photo's of boats rigged for fishing. That will give you some good idea's as well. But I agree with the comments above. Do it right the first time (not necessarily new) and keep the back of your boat open (for letting lines out and netting the fish). Good luck!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app

 

[Jake.pickett]

I guess I did ask alot of questions in there...sorry guys. I was really looking for suggestions on what is most effective for trolling for walleye in a boat similar to the one I bought...Dipseys, jetdivers or downriggers...and what kind of rod pairings would work well for this. I will work on this over the winter but all I have been hearing about is the awesome bite in bula and I really need to get out there. If I am going to run cranks what is the most effective way to get the cranks down deep enough with the water so deep out there.

 

[Jake.pickett]

Now that is the type of information that I was looking for...The gear on that website has got me thinking now. thanks for the reply

 

[Overwatchmike]

I would steer away from the down rigger's as most guys are running dipsey's instead. You could also run lead core or add inline trolling weights until you get all the dipsey rods and such figured out.

Like was said before, don't go the cheapest route possible, as it will only lead to headaches and such. Suggestion would to be all of the same style rod and reel combo's instead of mix matching everything together. I personally run diawa 27's with braid, I also have 4 okuma 30's with lead core.

Biggest piece of advice is to buy a good telescopic net!!!

I'm not far from you if you ever wanted to head out and I could show you a few things. I have a 16' with a 40 so I am restricted on the days I can head out but I have been probing the depths since I was 10 with my buddy and his dad........

Sent from my DROID4 using Ohub Campfire mobile app

 

[leadcorebean]

If u live in Aurora pick a day after work and stop over i can go over all your options so u can see it first hand.

 

[Misdirection]

Now that is the type of information that I was looking for...The gear on that website has got me thinking now. thanks for the reply

I run big boards and have the 4' planer plus and had Tony (owner, great guy) make me some custom net holders as my radar arch gets in the way. Really nice equipment. Bird tree style for big boards / in line boards is the way to go. Craig rod holders for dipsy's in the back corners (next on my too do list).

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app

 

[sherman51]

it would just take to much info to try and answer all your questions. you have good advice so far but here is a little that might help get you started. besides what was said about going to the marina. first off lets talk about reels on a budjet. there is the okuma magdna reels I would put them on the very bottom of the list. a few good mid range reels is the daiwa accudepth plus. I like the adp17lc which is a small reel but big enough for using braided line for dipsy,s(I use the lite bite slide diver) the next reel is the okuma convector I like the 20 size. then the next step up the ladder is the daiwa sealine again I like the sg17lca. these are all good low budjet line counter reels. then you move into alittle more money.

rods. your going to get all kinds of opinions on rods. im not a good person to tell you about rods. for my divers I have 3 different brands and lengths I use a 9' for my front rod and 8'6" for my middle rod and a 7' for my back rod. I think you will find that most guys use the same size rods maby a 7'6" med action rod. some people use regular dipsy rods. but just about wnything will work. some guys use downrigger rods. its more of a personal preference I think. but if you can get guys like workdog or sylvan or blue dolphin to chime in I would listen to them.

divers. you have dipsy,s and they have rings that I don't like so much. then there is the walker deeper diver that is about the same as the dipsy but without the rings. then I like the lite bite slide diver. it is set up to be able to use long leads then when it trips it slides down the line to the barrel swivel you use for your fluro leader. I don't use the slide part of the diver but just use them like the dipsy or deeper diver. but it also has a trigger arm in the back that you can set the tension on so when a small fish hits it will trip the diver.

line. for divers I recommend using braid as mono is just to much trouble to trip the diver from the boat. you can use about anything over 30 lb test. I use 65 just because when I first started I went out on a charter a couple of trips and that's what he used and I wanted to set up as close as I could to what he was doing.

rod holders. I recommend a rod holder with a track system so you can easily remove your holders to go play in the water. im not just sure how many brands make the track system. I think berts and cannon and maby big jon and maby Sysco all make tracks. I personally like the cannon ratcheting rod holders. you may not need a ratcheting rod holder but they are nice. they have a double axis and a single axis. I think the single axis is the best. as for the other rod holders I really cant say if they are better or worse. but berts has a cheaper plastic holder but I don't know how well they hold up. the cannons you can get at amazon.com for around 75.00 with free shipping. and the price goes up and down at amazon. I have seen them as low as 63.00 during the winter months. and you might find a better price by doing a search online for cannon rod holders.

other methods. you can also use inline boards with inline weights. or you can use big boards with wire line or tt,s

downriggers. they are not really the best way to fish as they just don't cover as much water as the other methods listed above. but I do have 2 mounted on my boat so if I need to get a couple of more lines in the water I use them. and they do catch fish. I have a set of big jon electric with the slide mounts so I can remove them in seconds.

baits. I haven't fished this late in the year but I guess some crankbaits are good in the fall. I use tandem blade worm harnesses and sometimes some spoons. there are so many colors out there its hard to tell you what to use. this yr I had good luck on dr death and salamander with a green back and nuclear green and eye candy. I got most of these from galeforcetackle.com. they also sell spoons and they have very good prices. but on there web site they only offer single bladed harnesses, but they will catch fish. and if you contact them you may be able to get double blades. but there is tons of places to get harnesses. another good spoon is stinger spoons but gale force spoons work just as good and about half the price.

next thing is diver color. there is a thread going around now about color choice. it does seem the best fisherman and most pro,s use black. so if you see all the shiny colors that's designed to catch fisherman just remember they may catch fish but all or most of the better fisherman have faith in plain old black divers. so I recommend you start with all black. then later if you want to try some other color you can.

I think I've rambled on way to long, so I hope you got some useful information here. maby some of the other guys will add to what I have said or will tell you something completely different than what I've said.

one other thing. a good place to get the daiwa reels is on ebay. I have bought new accudepth plus reels for as low as about 40.00 and the sealine sg17lca reels for as low as 54.00. but this was in the winter months. to buy them outright is about 70.00 for the accudepth plus and about 100.00 for the sealine. I think the okuma convector is around 75.00 or 80.00.

one very important thing you do want to get all the same size reels and put the same amount of line on each of them. and its best to use a cheap mono backing on your reels to keep the braid from slipping on your spools and to save you a lot of money.

feel free to pm me any time.
sherman

 

[Overwatchmike]

Sherman and the others have hit the nail on the head. Sorry I am on my phone at work.

Amish outfitter is a place to check out also. If you can't get your boat to troll slow enough, 1.5ish, when needed, then look into one of their drift socks. Throw it off the front of your boat to help slow you down. Some guys use 5 gallon buckets off the sides also.

While you are getting all your goodies, make an inventory list with serial numbers and such. Take pictures also, reason being is if you need to file an insurance claim later on down the road you will have all the info and not have to think about what you all lost.

Sent from my DROID4 using Ohub Campfire mobile app

 

[Jim Stedke]

If your fishing east now harnesses are likely the ticket. Try looking for an open seat w/ someone and let them show you the ropes, or spend the money for a learning charter....you'd be glad you did.

 

[sylvan 17]

If you want to start catching fish soon go get some size 1 dipsy divers and some 7ft cal1100 ugly stik rods with some okuma 20 convectors or Daiwa 27 size reels and some 40 lb power pro line to use. This would make a decent set up for you at a good price. You need some decent rod holders to use with the dipsys. Ask the guys on hear for tips on running them.


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire

 

[Misdirection]

I think AngerManagement as some Diawa 27's for sale at $25 apiece over in the Market Place right now...spooled with line...

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app

 

[Jake.pickett]

Thats a good point on the trolling speed...My boat has a 5.0 350 mercruiser and the lowest speed i have been able to get is around 2.5MPH...I don't know if I will be able to make changes to make it troll any slower.

 

[Misdirection]

You can trim your motor up and put your trim tabs (assuming you have them) down all the way and that will help. But it sounds like you'll be needing some bags...

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app

 

[Jake.pickett]

I thought the trim tabs all the way down might help a little bit. I will have to try that. I messed with trimming the motor up a little bit on west branch but we were musky fishing so the extra speed really didn't matter.

 

[Jim Stedke]

Most guys with boats that are hard to put a kicker on, use trolling bags. A pair of 30" bags should work well with your rig.

 

[fishingguy]

Stop over leadcorebeans house, probably is the best advice here.

 

[Jake.pickett]

Yeah my grandfather used to have a sheet metal plate to block the back of the prop. What a pain in the A$$ that was to install and take off out on the lake in 4 footers...I will look into the bags.