Wow, To start out trolling equipment with a $300 budget is atough one.Yes the widerness rods at $20 each works great.I would look for some used line counter reels since they are the most expensive.Using dipsey instead of boards is cheaper and getting spoons is way to go.Dont even consider cranks yet.Yes,a 5 gal bucket can be used to slow you down.We even trolled before with two rods with braid straight off back with bottom bounces and harnesses.Sometimes they caught great and could have used mono without much issue.Will take several seasons to accumulate what you want but evenyually you should have the equip and know how to catch trolling.