New to trolling

[Double B]

IÂ’m just starting out trolling on Lake Erie. If anyone has any recommendations of brands and places to buy gear.

looking for ideas on planar boards, planar motors or manual wheels, rods and reels, rod holders, type of line, weight, lures , size and color. Anything else your willing to share... thanks in advance

I figured I would pipe in here, as not a lot of responses on these types of questions.

Right from the start I would recommend on you buying the best quality equipment you can afford. You are going to have it for a while and it does not really wear out. On some stuff, the higher cost does not make it better than any other lower cost. Also you are going to find that this year is a very hard year to get some items, due to Covid. Diawa Rods are stuck in customs in shipping containers on the East Coast till August....

Next I would recommend you hit Bass Pro or Cabela's and actually touch the gear before you buy it. Feel, and perceived quality goes along way.

Now a couple of thing to keep in mind, how you are going to use, when you are going to use it, and where you are going to use it. Example, My boat is a 1775 Lund Pro-V. I purchased 7' Diawa Wildreness Rods a couple of years ago. I purchased the rods because they where cheap and they got me out on the water for a low price of $15 a rod. The length was the big factor, I had used longer rods on multiple buddies boats and did not like how the rod had to be set down so I could land the fish in the net by myself. A 7' rod helps with a long handle net...

I also started with Diawa Accudepth Reels, They where Cheap, $65 a reel and where what I could afford at the time. Now I picked them, as I could get replacement parts and drag washers if they wore out. They have not in the 3 years of fishing. I have actually upgrade to the Sealines this past year, and still have the old set of 6 Accudepths for Dipsey/Jet for Trout. Only do it 3-4 weekends a year, so they will work for the rest of my life.

As to rods and Reels, get what brand names you want, they all are pretty much priced matched for what you get, I just like Diawa. Buy 6 of each when you get them and all the same. that way the run the same in the water. M rods and 37 series reels from Diawa is what I use. I load the real full with line, and strip 10-30' as the summer runs by if there is nicks in them. No need to re-spooling until the next year.

For Boards, again there is multiple options out there, I stick with Offshore Brand. I like there regular in-line boards and run the OR-18 clips as an upgrade. I do not use tattle flags or any of that. Don't see a reason for it.

For lures, Bandits are the magic right now. I like the following colors, them seam to be the one that always hit this spring; Sunspot, SBTB, Orange Crush, and any others you think might work. There is also the inline spinner rigs, I make my own, so don't know what you have available locally. Then you are going to need some in-line weights (2oz) and Bottom Bouncers. You can go fancy line what I made up of just lead. Up to you. 20 lb test mono Big Game Line, some snap swivels, etc...

Outfitting your boat will be the next big cost, that is a whole other discussion. And dependent on preference/function on how to fish rather than price.

After this you should be set. Have fun fishing.

Now this is what I recommend, take it as grain of salt, as everyone has a different view on this topic.