Trolling Rod?

I am going to be doing more fishing this fall instead of hunting and I would like to start doing some trolling to cover more ground. I am looking at picking up a couple Cabela’s Depthmaster II combos. These are currently selling for $50 each with very good reviews. The question I have, is what power rod to get. I am living in TN at the moment and I would be targeting crappies mainly. Occasionally, I might try to go after saugers/walleyes in the reservoirs as well. I am leaning towards the 7′-6″ medium rods. What do you all think?

I like the nine foot medium, i have caught anything from Muskie’s to perch on it, reels aren’t the best quality tho, I have four of them and two have problems but still work.

I have 4 of their reels and 2 of the 8’6″ Planer board rods.Two of the reels I use for my downrigger rods,the other two rods and reels I use for trolling boards or just trolling in general.The counter on one sticks every now and then,but for the money I dont think you could go wrong.Ive had one of the combos for about 7 years now and besides some missing paint here and there they havnt skipped a beat

I use them and have not had any major problems. Just picked up another one with the cabela’s brand reel on it. The other three have diawa accudepths on them as I purchased them about 6 years ago. Not high end combos but they have worked for me. Have handled from walleye on planer boards to salmon on dipseys.

No complains on my end for the price.

D

rods are OK for trolling but Cabelas reels are junk. I had the side fall off of one on the water and 2 of the four line counters do not work any more.

Do you guys think I will have any issues pulling cranks out of a crappies mouth using a medium rod?

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Do you guys think I will have any issues pulling cranks out of a crappies mouth using a medium rod?

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Yes,unless you get one with a soft tip.i use them a lot pulling the peanut cranks and have gone to 8ft rods med action xfast tips and this has kept them hooked up much better.Walleys grab those mini cranks and I have no problem landing them.

I hate depthmaster reels. I cannot pick one up without accidently hitting the zero counter button Kind of glad my last one fell out of my hand and ended up in 40 fow.

DIawa Diawa Diawa

Also, i’m enjoying the eagle claw trolling rods. Have the 10 and 8’6″.

I would lean towards the 8’6″ med light it’ll be strong enough for eyes and soft enough for crappies

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I would lean towards the 8’6″ med light it’ll be strong enough for eyes and soft enough for crappies

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If you’re set in this sale, I would agree with the 8’6″ ML rods. I also got these reels 3 yrs ago on this same sale and I have not been impressed. I haven’t used them very much but they wouldn’t be reliable enough for me with even medium usage. I’d save your $$ for the accudepth or a comparable okuma instead. Good luck on what you decide.

Okuma is the other trolling rods that i have. They are nice too.

Just bought an accudepth line counter the other day for $80. The eagle rods are going for about $35 and Okuma for $20-25. They are fiberglass rods and fiberglass is very flexible so there is lots of give for crappies as well as the trolling hookset. Both of those rods in 8’6″ or 10′ i can feel vibration from a crankbait with leadcore…Cheap but they work. I am just not a fan of the depthmaster stuff and i’ve tried them. If i was going to buy any depthmaster rods i’d probably buy the shorty.

I’ve got a set of Ugly Stick 8′-6″ that I really like. Too soft for boards on them. Paired up with Okuma line counters and no complaints.