Need a trolling rod and reel recommendation

[Pkfish49]

A few days ago, I lost either a Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, or Walleye.  I know that because everything else in that lake is small and wouldn't have fought like this. At the time, I thought that my equipment was too small to handle the fish, but I'm willing to accept that my equipment was fine and I lost the fish because of bad technique.

 

I was using an Ugly Stick 6 Foot medium action rod with a Penn Battle II Spinning Reel, - size 2000 (6.2:1,) spooled with 8 LB mono.

 

Assuming that I am only going to be using my combo to troll for these species and I am going to be using a spinning reel with mono, is their a longer/heavier action rod and larger reel, perhaps with heavier test that I should be using instead, or is my setup fine to catch these lunkers?

 

Thanks

[fishnkamp]

Lets talk a little first.

You mentioned  trolling. Tellme alittle about the body of water. Are we talking a free flowing river, a tailrace below a dam with really fast moving water, or a large deep clear lake?  How deep are the fish, and what are you using for rigs? Are we talking pulling hard minnow baits, or the typical live bait  spinner rig with an inline weight and two hooks for a crawler?

 

If we know how you are fishing we can give you a better suggestion.  Also what is your budget for a new rod/reel combo?

[Pkfish49]

It was a large deep clear lake:

 

Max Depth: 120 feet
Mean Depth: 38 feet

 

I have no idea how deep the fish are, but, I was very close to shore when I got the bite, and that part of the water was probably much shallower, but I'll be trolling the entire lake.  I fish from a skiff with an outboard motor, going slowly, but not too slow. I was using a Rapala Flat Raps lure with two sets of treble hooks, connected to my line with a barrel swivel with a safety snap.  I don't remember the lure size as I have a big assortment.  It was most likely somewhere between 4 and 7 inches.

 

Regarding my budget, can you recommend the best option, regardless of price, and then a few more less expensive options.

 

Thanks

[IndianaFinesse]

I would actually suggest a shorter, stiffer rod for trolling.  Stiffer rods allow the crankbait to bounce off of timber and rocks better in addition to losing less fish.  Any baitcasting reel will work, my trolling combo is a 5' heavy powered old pike trolling rod matched with a Penn reel.  Over fifty years old, and it still gets the job done. Your also going to want to step up you line to 15-20 pound test for trolling also, depending bon how much brush and junk you are fishing in.  

 

If you really what to learn how to to troll (or become a good bass fisherman) I would highly recommend reading the book Spoonpugging by buck perry.  It details how to find and consistently catch bass, using both casting and trolling.  Best fishing book period IMO.

[fishindad]

 

If you really what to learn how to to troll (or become a good bass fisherman) I would highly recommend reading the book Spoonpugging by buck perry.  It details how to find and consistently catch bass, using both casting and trolling.  Best fishing book period IMO.

To the OP, this is great advice. Buck Perry is probably the "Yoda" of modern day bass fishing. He opened the eyes of freshwater anglers (mostly bass anglers) to concepts like structure, migration routes, breaklines, etc. and taught pioneers like the Lindners, who have further advanced these concepts in locating and catching bass/fish.

 

That said, I would suggest you post this question to walleye fishermen, who basically troll all the time and have refined that technique to an art form. Bass fishermen typically don't (or can't) troll, not that it's not effective or isn't done. Just that you'll probably get more detailed advice. Go to Walleye Central and post your question. Not saying Indiana's reply isn't helpful (I agree with him that you need to switch to a baitcaster), just that you mentioned walleye in your lake.

[TX-Deluxe]

A hybrid or striper?

 

Does your name mean Possum Kingdom?

[Deleted account]

 

A hybrid or striper?

 

Does your name mean Possum Kingdom?

 

Or a catfish.