I don't have a lot of experience trolling, but want to try my hand at it for walleye and Kokanee salmon.

A local benefit thrift store that often has really good stuff, has (2) rigs for sale. Abu Garcia Ambassador 6600 C4 reels, 8' Cabela's TSX medium rods, good looking line and a little rigging. Both appear to be in excellent condition. I can get them for ~$70 each. This strikes me as a good deal but I'm an admitted amateur. Thoughts?

bump

Hi Sock,
Those reels alone are worth that and more. The one thing I believe these do not have is the line counter ability which is nice for relatability. If they have lead core they usually have different colors to represent length segments. I would jump on them.

Scott

Looks like a good deal to me, the reels alone retail for a lot more than that.

https://www.tackledirect.com/abu-garcia-c4-6600-ambassadeur-c4-round-baitcasting-reel.html

I don't know if line counters are offered on them, but these 2 do not have them.

That's a very good deal and perfectly capable to use for trolling. Line counters reels do help out, but, IMO, nothing wrong with those set ups. I used 6500 C3's for Musky, bullet proof reels.

It’s a deal if they’re line counter reels. If you can’t tell how much line you have out, the reels are fairly useless for those two applications.

That’s what I’d use them for as well.

You can get a rough idea of how much line you've got out like this:

Set your line all the way to 1 side of the spool. Have someone grab the line from the tip of the rod and walk out until the line is at the other end of the spool. Measure from the rod-tip to the person who walked out the line and you'll have a pretty good idea how much line goes out every time the line makes a trip across the spool. Not as precise as a line counter but gets a person in the ball-park. Sometimes you've just got to use what you've got...........

I've never did that kind of trolling , why the big concern over how much line you have out ?

I have a G-Abu 6600 - very nice reel - great deal on those outfits.

The amount of line you have out is one of the factors that determines the depth you’re running at.

Buy the reels , you don't need line counters. They are larger than needed for kokanne fishing, but good size for walleye. There are color section lines for distance that aren't leaded. Try down riggers for exact depth fishing. The best money spent on trolling is your down rigger. We fish 10 to 150 ft depths with down riggers, knowing where your gear is helps target your prey. Back to the reels get them both, they are rebuildable, quality reels.

I use a different thought process than most when it comes to trolling.....My preference is to use a regular spinning rod matched to the size fish I'm targeting along with downriggers....unless of course the fish are near the surface.

I agree with matching reel size to fish size. My experience with spinning reels, they twist line and most have poor drags. There are some expensive spinning reels with quality drags, if you want to spend the money. To the OP read the Art of Trolling by Ken Shultz. Great information in his book. Kokannee , A Complete Fishing Guide, by Dave Biser. Both will answer most of your questions. Keep your line wet!

Those are great reels. Snap them up. Learn the average of how much line that goes out on a pass across, then count passes like horse1 suggested. You don't need line counters. For Kokanee I like long limber rods. Eagle Claw makes an inexpensive Kokanee rod I find about perfect.

Those Cabela's rods should be about perfect for walleye, IMO.

https://www.sportsmans.com/fishing-...e-claw-featherlight-casting-rod/p/p45092

I use line counters and Dipsy divers for trolling (no need for down riggers) and it works well but that sounds like a really good deal. As others have said you can buy line with multi colors on it so that you can gauge your depth, the color changes every 10 feet or something like that. They'll work for you.

Dipsy divers put lots of load on your gear. You need to up size tackle to use them! Dipsy divers have their place, kokannee fishing isn't one of them.

OK thanks figured it had to be something like that.

Downriggers get lost to big sharks around here , friend I fished with said it was big Makos that hit the planers.- mangle the whole setup .

I've lost down rigger balls to the bottom, never to a fish or shark. Down riggers are not the answer to everything, they are a tool you need in your fishing tool box! Just like fly, spinning and bait casting rigs! If you don't have the correct tools your work(fishing) is limited! Not arguing just stating facts! Since I gave up guiding I fish less, but still keep up on new gear and technology! Keep your line wet! Bill.

Never did much fresh water fishing. Always thought of the Ambassador type reels even the old 7000 as casting reels. I prefer a little stouter reel for trolling. I always used Penn reels for off shore trolling. Hasbeen

I use been using Okuma Magda 20DX reels (which are pretty cheap) and number 1 Dipsy's on Erie for walleye's for a few years without any tackle issues at all, but that's just me...

ETA: I know nothing about kokannee fishing so I'm sure you're right about their application there, I'm just relaying my experience.

No question they're good reels and that's a good price. I used a Garcia for a trolling reel up until about ten years ago when I tried a Diawa line counter. Bought one the next day and am still using it. Diawa makes them in different sizes.

pm dan degeoge

Do you have downriggers?

I've never used them, but you can add a line counter to your rod.

https://smile.amazon.com/HERCHR-Por...qid=1563734753&s=gateway&sr=8-27

This.

Buy them.

You don't need line counters; just strip off as much line as you need by hand.

It seems there is a lot more to this than I knew...but that's how it always begins. I don't have downriggers yet but they are on the list. I'm open to suggestions on that front, too. I really appreciate all of the other input, too.

I went ahead and snagged the rods/reels. $147 for the pair OTD struck me as a fine deal and a great way to get started.

I would say it is a good buy. I no longer fish for game fish but target commercial panfish here on Champlain. In the old days I owned a charter boat targeting walleye, lake trout and salmon. Downriggers gave me the depth and in the spring when I long lined in back of planer boards I let the line out and counted the swipes with the rod to give a general idea of how far back they were. On my charter boat I ran 4 Big John Electrics.

You did good by snagging those rods and reels SP.
A very good deal.

Thanks, gents. These will be freshwater only for the foreseeable future. It looks like the colored line is in 20 ft. segments, does that seem right? I can measure later but that's my guess after spooling them out and snugging up the line.

Penn 320 & 330GTI's are Mainstays on the Chesapeake charter boats for trolling stripers. Even the old 209 & 309's are still on lots of boats. Old USA made ones on eBay go cheap.
Shimano tekota's are sweet too. I'm a fan of level wind reels for small to medium size game fish.
I like it to help count how much line I have out on different rigs.

I still use 6500's for surf fishing on a few rods and on my couple muskie rods.

Nice tackle, at a good price. The line will usually have four colors, at 5ft per color then, start over for twenty foot sections. Some line makers do 10ft and 20ft of each color. Again good buy!

Down riggers are like Ford, Chevy threads. My experience says Cannon if going manual, and Scotty if going electric! That's just an opinion, you know what they say about opinions!!

Heym, pretty sure anything I go with will be manual. My boat is pretty basic.

The upright spool on the cannon are easy to control. I see used ones for under a hundred, with ball and releases, in the adds and fishing forums! Those would be real nice with a custom Penn style single grip handle!

Yep. I would strongly suggest it.

That looks like leadcore line. Depending on the weight you can control your depth. But, about 7’ down per color.

You suck...



Good snag!