it would really help if you gave us alittle more info on where you plan to fish and how you want to fish. you really need line counter reels wherever you fish if you troll. then a set of big boards or some inline boards for getting more lines in the water then inline weights and harnesses and spoons are a need to have on the western basin then dipsy type divers work good on the central basin. but you can use inline weights on the central basin until the fish go real deep then I think dipsy's work better. a lot of fishing on erie is just personal preference. you decide how you want to fish then do that kind of fishing.

if I was just starting fishing erie I would get some daiwa sg17lca reels or daiwa accudepth plus 17lc reels or okuma convector 20 reels then I would get set up to run boards either inline or big boards. I prefer the big boards myself. then I would get some 3 oz inline weights to get me down to the fish. then I would get me some harnesses and spoons. then I would try to go out with somebody on some open seats or get some guys together and take a charter out atleast once. you'll learn more in one trip on a charter than you'll learn in years on your own.
sherman