Walleye Set-Ups?

[chuckinduck]

Last spring I picked up a 97 Starcraft Islander 221V, and spent the better half of the spring and summer outfitting it for the big lake. I dedicated most if not all the upgrades towards chasing salmon, and now I'd like to switch gears and focus on the walleye. What would you consider the perfect setups for walleye, with regards to rods/reels? Right now I'm thinking I want to go with the Accu-depths 17LC's, and the walleye series rods. All my fishing will be dedicated to trolling, and the use of planerboards. Anyone got any idea's or other suggestions? Thanks
Ryan

[JJ Mac]

If you go with the Accudepth's, I would suggest going with the newer "Plus" model, the older ones are not very well regarded, and I can verify that through personal experience. I also would suggest going with the 27 size rather than the 17. When you are running a long lead off a planer and you get a 10lber on, I assure you that you'll wish you had a 27 size. A larger capacity reel and bigger spool will also give you more power and fish fighting ability. The Accudepth Plus is what I consider to be the standard in acceptable quality/performance in line counter reels. Anthing less, and I've tried lots of them, just gave me problems over time. For linecounter reels, I like and use Okuma conventors, Diawa SG LC's and Shimano Tekota's but you do go up in price accordingly with these models. I do use the Accudepth Plus 27 on a couple of segmented leadcore rigs (2 and 3 color) and they work great for that application. They have two years on them and show no signs of issues yet. They have plenty of drag power, they're just not quite as smooth as the other models. I'd even say that they'd probably cover most salmon fishing applications as well (only with 27's and bigger) with the possible exception of being used for big dipsy's. Are you going to go with large planer boards or inline boards? Do you plan on running mono or braid? If you are going inline, I like the orange church boards, because they can serve double duty for salmon and do not require release upgrades like the offshore boards do.

Diawa Heartland rods are what I use for my tournament rigs. On my outside boards I run an 8' med action and on the inside I run a 7'6" med action. They are a great rod, will do all you need them to do, and you sure can't beat the price.

Good luck in '09 with the new rig!

[Priority1]

Ryan, Take a look at this thread.:)
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=267091

If you don't have bird trees consider them. They are the cats tail for running boards. I would also suggest the Offshore or Church In-Line boards. The flag systems for them are also nice.

[chuckinduck]

Thanks guys. I got a bunch of giftcards for christmas, guess it times to start shopping. Save some room for me on the bay this year Frank, I'm going to stay south a little longer and wait til the salmon fishing picks up before I go chasing them again in May/June in Presque Isle, I learned my lesson last year. :)

[Priority1]

Thanks guys. I got a bunch of giftcards for christmas, guess it times to start shopping. Save some room for me on the bay this year Frank, I'm going to stay south a little longer and wait til the salmon fishing picks up before I go chasing them again in May/June in Presque Isle, I learned my lesson last year. :)

Ryan, I hope to see you out there. I do most of my fishing Mon-Fri, but the weather dictates when any of us can fish. When the fishing is HOT we will be out 5 out of 7 days. For numbers the last few years are the best I have seen. There is just enough room on the Bay for one more Islander.

Before I bought the smaller reels, I would splice 200 - 300 feet of 10# to the 17-20# line on my salmon reels. When the August Salmon Slam Fest was on, I would cut off the 10# and re-terminate the 20#. Walleye trolling gear is not a critical as a jigging setup. If there are other things you need, this will work well.

[STEINFISHSKI]

Before I bought the smaller reels, I would splice 200 - 300 feet of 10# to the 17-20# line on my salmon reels. When the August Salmon Slam Fest was on, I would cut off the 10# and re-terminate the 20#. Walleye trolling gear is not a critical as a jigging setup. If there are other things you need, this will work well.

Good advice here, for the leadcore all you need to do is replace the leaders and it's game on! I personally have several rods and reels set up for light line trolling for cohos and browns that work perfectly for trolling eyes too. Maybe just pick up a few extra board rods and use the reels from rigger rods or whatever reels will work for you.

[BFG]

I can attest to what was said above about bird trees. Good gracious do they make running boards a DREAM...

I have a friend in Wisconsin who makes 'em. PM me if you would like to get in touch with him. Last I knew they ran about $150.00 per set, including mounting hardware.

[chuckinduck]

Ryan, I hope to see you out there. I do most of my fishing Mon-Fri, but the weather dictates when any of us can fish. When the fishing is HOT we will be out 5 out of 7 days. For numbers the last few years are the best I have seen. There is just enough room on the Bay for one more Islander.

Before I bought the smaller reels, I would splice 200 - 300 feet of 10# to the 17-20# line on my salmon reels. When the August Salmon Slam Fest was on, I would cut off the 10# and re-terminate the 20#. Walleye trolling gear is not a critical as a jigging setup. If there are other things you need, this will work well.

C'mon frank, like women with shoes, men can never have enough fishing poles. :) I was using the salmon setups last year, they worked fine, but they're a little big, those 10ft heartlands get in the way alot, so I'm going to scale down a bit.

[Priority1]

C'mon frank, like women with shoes, men can never have enough fishing poles. :) I was using the salmon setups last year, they worked fine, but they're a little big, those 10ft heartlands get in the way alot, so I'm going to scale down a bit.

Ryan, I hear you on that. :lol: When I was talking salmon gear I wasn't referring to the 10 ft 1-1/2 inch diameter Dipsy rods.:lol: The rigger rods and reels easily do double duty, and even some core setups.

[walleyeman2006]

just my idea but.......many of us i mean most started with heavy rods......light whimpy stuff is ok......but for me a nice softer down rigger type rod is perfect you can us an inline board or use a reggular big board and still see fish ........heres the kicker for me a soft walleye type rod .............a 10lb walleye and a 2 mph troll in a 4ft chop.......it doesnt compute......a longer limber rod is allways better.........

if i had a 20 ft plus boat id have 12ft rods........a walleye doesnt have the jaw a slamon does..............dont pump it real it in..........pumping and realing is a big mistake in the walleye world...........

[Priority1]

a walleye doesnt have the jaw a slamon does..............dont pump it real it in..........pumping and realing is a big mistake in the walleye world...........

Very good advice. I have had people onboard that insist on doing this. When the fish comes unbuttoned, or shakes it's head and cuts the harness, these people blame it on everything but their methods. Ease them on in, especially the big ones.