Looking for some input from James and Joel on this one, but would love to hear what other people use also. What does everyone use for summer walleye fishing setups? Rod brand and type, reels, line and poundage etc. Does your rod choice vary depending on what you’re style of fishing you are doing? Thanks for the help in advance!
Trolling:
Reels-Okuma Catalina CT305Da with 20lb braid on 2 and lead core on the other pair.
Rods- St. Croix Eyecon Walleye Trolling Rods Model: ECT70MM
Jigging:
Reels- Shimano Stradic CI4 2500 series. 6lb braid on 2 and 6lb high viz mono on the other 2.
Rods- Thorne Brothers custom: 6 foot 8 inches MXF
Casting:
Reels- Shimano Chronarch with 20lb braid
Rods- Thorne Brothers custom: 7 foot 3 inch MHF
Panfish:
Reels- Shimano Stradic CI4 1000 series. 3lb Nanofil on both.
Rods- Thorne Brothers custom: 6 foot 6 inch 3566 LF
And yes, rod choice is directly related to the style of fishing. As does line choice. When trolling up river, I use the braid to get a lighter jig down easier. When trolling down river, I use mono for the float properties to help keep a smaller jig a little higher but still near bottom.
The trolling rods I use are real soft and the action is “bendy” as this is beneficial when using braid. Offers some forgiveness. I could use mono and a little faster rod with a more stout backbone but would suffer dive depth.
The jigging rods may be a touch too fast for me with a backbone that is too stout but I can’t really say I have lost any fish as a result.
And the panfish rods are perfect. I can have fun with larger hooksets on big crappie because of the light nature and softish/low backbone of the rod but the tip is fast so it works well for me. No ripped lips to date and handles the occasional by-catch of Pike just fine.
What is your preferred style of fishing? There’s tons of different rods out there and depending on where and how you fish it makes a huge difference.
If I had to pick one rod for fishing lakes it would be a 6’6″ medium light, fast action. Lots of good brands out their, I prefer St. Croix. Rivers it would be a 6’8″ medium, extra fast.
Panfish: Croix 6’6″ light 4 or 6 lb. Fireline
Walleye verticle jig: Croix 6’3″ Medium 8 or 10 lb. Fireline flouro leader
Walleye/ Smallie pitching: Croix 6’10” medium 8 or 10 lb. braid flouro leader
Trolling: Cabelas setups in 8.5′ & 9′ Telescoping 20lb. braid 5′ flouro leader
Picked up a Falcon Bucco and Okumka RTX for jig fishing and its a sweet setup.
I have several Rod/reel combos… But if I had a favorite for smallmouth/walleye fishing it’s a Fenwick 6′-8″ Smallmouth Elite Tech medium action with a Pflueger Supreme reel. 832 10 pound braid with 8 lb fluorocarbon leader.
That Rod handle is unbelievable. After using it I don’t much care for the grips on my other rods. Fenwick discontinued that Rod but replaced it with a “Bass” series which is similar and has the same grip.
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