ranger2108

I will be visiting Orange beach for a couple weeks in August, bringing my 22' bay boat. I'd appreciate if you could give me some suggestions on appropriate rod/reel combos for trolling around the pass and near shore.

I have some113H Senators on 6'8" Daiwa Sealine rods. They are rated Medium and for 30-50 lb line.They are currently spooled with 50 lb.I used these for sharks andtuna back when I lived in Delaware. Do you consider these appropriate for kings? They seem like they may be overkill for other nearshore species. Are there other combos that you think are more appropriate?

When we visited last year we caught some small kings on the rods with the senators and they were kind of overpowered. Blues couldn't even bend them. Plus the rods were heavy for my 11 year old son, so I'd be interested in some lighter options that can still handle a good fish.

Given the size and layout of my boat, I can really only troll 4 lines at most. I was thinking of pulling stretches on the senators, and pulling smaller plugs/spoons on a couple lighter rods with Calcutta 400's. However, if y'all think we should downsize from the Senators I'm open to that.

Any other recommendations are welcome.

Thanks for your help.

JoeZ

4/0 might be the most popular reel going around here. You can do a lot with it.

If you're in the market for new gear, look at Shimano's TLD line. The 15s, 20s and 25s are all great. They're lighter as well so that might help with the kids. That and they have lever drag so it's a little easier for trolling applications.

ranger2108

Thanks. Any thoughts about rods, and recommended line test?

Also, I just went through some stuff in the garage and realized I still have a couple of older Shimano Speedmasters. Would they be suitable for a limited amount of trolling? I got them years ago from a guy who used the trolling for salmon in the great lakes.

younghooker

speedmasters are fine for kings, mahias, blackfins, even smaller inshore wahoos if you get lucky.. drags need to be in good smooth working condition... with 30 lb.. line.. & med.. 20 to 40 lb. rods

Pinksnappertrapper

Get you a torium 30 on a star stellar light jigging rod. Bad ass combo and real light weight. I love mine.

ranger2108

This may be a dumb question, but...what kind of guides are best if I want to use a rod for both trolling a drifting live bait? My Daiwa rods have roller guides but I'm thinking conventional guides would be better for drifting. I think I'm going to get a couple TLD 20s and need to pick rods to pair with them.

wrightackle

Look into the shimano Tallus rods. The 6'6" 15-30 should be perfect for a TLD 20. You could get the 20-50 but I think that would be a little too stiff. These rods have conventional Fuji guides. Definitely don't need rollers. They have gimbals too for fitting in the rod holders. If you were strictly going to drift fish I would recommend the jigging rods but they have very soft tips and are not good for trolling. Make sure you bring some small spinning tackle for casting at schooling fish.

ranger2108

I see that Academy (at least here in Austin) has Torium 16s on sale for $99. I'm guessing that may be going a bit too light? What do y'all think? Pretty nice reel for the price, but could be a waste of money if its not suited for the task.

Thanks

fred

The most important factor, IMO, is a fast action rod with a light tip so that it gives with the strike.

I have a couple of nice stand-up rods that I have tried every way I know to use for trolling diving plugs (because of the perceived stress on the other rods)and they just will not work as well as a rod with a fast action. The rod tip goes to to work instantly, the drag takes alarge fraction of a second to kick in and that fraction will be the difference between a hookup and miss.

I've got some45 year old Garcia fibreglass rods that will hook up twice as often as my $275 Ugly Sticks.

Delta Runner

I use a pair of Torium 30s when trolling for Kings. I have a pair of Torium 20s to use when trolling for Spanish. The 16 is probably too small for your needs. They are fantastic reels for the price.

Steve