# Advice please... Walleye trolling: Just getting started



## Blacksheep7

I have a 24"Thompson and primarily perch fish the Ashtabula-Conneaut area. I am looking to start pleasure trolling (4-5 guys) for walleye and have not purchased the necessary equipment. I have a three rod holder on each side of the boat and the I/O can troll down to at about 1.2 MPH. I am confused...should I run planer boards with multiple lines or or in-line's for each rod? Tru-Tips, jets or dipsy's? Steel, lead core or braided? 8', 8'6" or longer roads? Okuma or Daiwa reels (I know I want line counters)? Any help for a new beginner would be GREATLY appreciated. Stay Safe...


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## Eastside Al

Here we go with a empty wallet at the end of the line. You can do all you mentioned. Just depends on how much you want to spend. There are so many options its hard to narrow down some days. Look at previous post and also jim s yearly seminar on lake erie section.
Lots to learn. Lots on here will help good luck fishing. Eye bite should spoil you many years to come.


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## Seaturd

What kind of initial budget do you have in mind?


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## Misdirection

Go on a charter out of your primary area (either big boat or small boat) and tell them it's to be a learning charter. The and only then start buying equipment. That will greatly reduce the learning curve and save you a bunch of $$.


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## J2jm

Your looking at $1000's for rods, line, dipseys, boards, a mast and jets. Then you need to make the decision if you really want to run that Chevy the entire day or invest in a kicker.


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## Saugeyefisher

Blacksheep7 said:


> I have a 24"Thompson and primarily perch fish the Ashtabula-Conneaut area. I am looking to start pleasure trolling (4-5 guys) for walleye and have not purchased the necessary equipment. I have a three rod holder on each side of the boat and the I/O can troll down to at about 1.2 MPH. I am confused...should I run planer boards with multiple lines or or in-line's for each rod? Tru-Tips, jets or dipsy's? Steel, lead core or braided? 8', 8'6" or longer roads? Okuma or Daiwa reels (I know I want line counters)? Any help for a new beginner would be GREATLY appreciated. Stay Safe...


Start bye going to the lake eriegeneral forum an reading jim stedkes mud winter seminars. Tons of great info. 
An it can get pricey but there's ways to cut cost. With all the diving devises available for now I wouldn't consider wire line yet. Spool up some line counters with some Berkley big game. If your trolling with that many guys big boards might be the way to go if u feel the need to run 2 lines per each guy. But you could also run 4-6 in lines An a couple flat lines behind the boat if u wanna go with small boards. Snap weights and clips will get your baits down with out the added cost of diving devises. We will run 6/8 oz bouncers directly under the boat with harnesses why running cranks off are boards an pullplenty of fish.
Look for line counters in the market place there always being posted up. Same withcrank baits and planet boards....
The lake Erie forums get way more traffic then this one. I may wanna check it out.


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## jamesbalog

Dont go cheap on the line counters. Buy quality reels first and you wont have to upgrade every year. I dont think rods matter as much as the reels, cheap rods have worked out well for me so far. Make sure you get all of the same rods though, it will make reading them so much easier. 

If you think you will have 4-5 guys on a consistent basis I would go for big boards instead of lnlines.

I would also suggest a kicker motor, It will pay for itself in fuel savings


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## Saugeyefisher

jamesbalog said:


> Dont go cheap on the line counters. Buy quality reels first and you wont have to upgrade every year. I dont think rods matter as much as the reels, cheap rods have worked out well for me so far. Make sure you get all of the same rods though, it will make reading them so much easier.
> 
> If you think you will have 4-5 guys on a consistent basis I would go for big boards instead of lnlines.
> 
> I would also suggest a kicker motor, It will pay for itself in fuel savings


Yeah for sure get the best reels you can afford,not only last longer.but cranking in all that gear all day gets tiresome add that on top of really in fish.a good smooth winch can be a must!
The Diawas will do you good.but I have an old shimano that is smooth as butta with a lower profile for a better grip.
Wish I would of bought more when I seen them.cause I having seen one since (this particular one)
I bought good name brand sticks but was a teen when I was getting my Erie gear together an had to buy my second set up a year apart an couldn't match it. Dumb move on my part.


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## chaddy721

Since u run outta conny or bula. Poor Richards in erie has okuma combos for 60 bucks. Hard to beat them for dx line counter n glt rods. Watch craigslist for stuff for sale. I have a good big jon manual planer mast for sale.


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## crg

i run daiwas my buddy runs okuma line counters, get the daiwas, okuma is junk


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## Farmhand

drive across the lake doing about 2, throw a reef runner out the back about 50-100 feet, thats what I used to do and it always worked, now i have a bunch of gear and no money, and still catch the same amount of fish


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## sherman51

I would get the daiwa sg lc3b reels or if you have the budget go for the shimano tekota reels. as for rods go cheap glass rods they last for yrs and are all you need for trolling. the daiwa wilderness trolling rods at fishusa.com are great rods and only cost like 16.00.

some of us like divers and some like inline boards with inline weights. I started by going out on a charter, and he used dipsies. so I started with dipsies then changed to deeper divers then switched to the lite bite slide diver. I don't use the slide feature of the diver. I just use them like a dipsy. I tie to the front arm then tie an o ring to my leader and lace it through the back going through the lite bite arm. but I love the lite bite feature. I set them loose so small fish will trip the diver. I went out on a charter that used boards and weights and we caught fish. but I didn't like the boards as well as divers. I recommend you and your friends spend the money and go on a charter that uses divers then go on one that uses boards. you'll learn more in those 2 trips than you'll learn in a couple of yrs on your own. big boards are another option to get more lines in the water. you can fill some empty seats and learn how to use divers and boards. and its much cheaper than a charter. but most charters know there stuff or they wouldn't be in business very long.

I highly recommend doublejwalleye.com he runs boards and a diver off each side. he will take 1 to 3 guys out and his prices are very good. then find a charter that runs divers. I run 3 divers and 1 rigger on each side.
sherman


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## Scorpio V

We run nothing but Okuma convectors.


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## bountyhunter

most important , of all put that kicker motor on. one, easy on your main motor ,#2 if that main motor dies? you loose power? you still got a way to get back to the dock. at one time in my young years I had all the toys. now I use six rods, and six dipsy,s and still catch fish.


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## STRONGPERSUADER

I just got into it last year and bought some nice used line counters and rods from the market place here. I ran dipseys on 8.5 and 9' rods and did well. I use 150yrds of 30 lb powerpro with mono backing. That's what I would suggest on starting out. It will help you with the learning curve. Then if you want to invest in down riggers, boards ect you can do it along the way. I had a blast catching fish with just dipseys and flat lining. My boat is a 30' with twins and I just alternate motors with trolling bags. I've since then ordered 4 tekota 500lc's matched up with some shimono TDR rods. Whatever you chose to do it's going to be fun but can get very expensive. Good luck!


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