# Best Reel to troll with for kayak



## Marine7236

New to Kayaking want to know best reel to use for trolling. Will start off in river and lakes then move to ocean, thanks in advance.....And as always tight lines.

Semper FI


----------



## Linda

I really like the Shimano Spheros 6000 for trolling from my board or yak.


----------



## Chris V

I second the Spheros and will also suggest the Penn SSV reels in 5500 or 6500


----------



## PAWGhunter

My fav reel for trolling is the Okuma Avenger ABF series. The bait switch is great!


----------



## hsiF deR

5000 battle


----------



## froglegs

I fish more out of lakes and big rivers than off shore but have a bunch of gear for both. 

I have a couple shimano Sahara 4000 reels that crossover pretty well. The are light for offshore and heavy for your average bass. I put 300 yards of 15 lb braid on them which gives me a shot offshore and stage perfect setup for a striper.


----------



## lowprofile

saltist LD30 with 40lb braid. 

lever drags are made to troll. you can set the drag and set it for trolling, strike and then push it to the max if you really need to button down on a fish and never have to guess what your setting is at. that way you don't have to fool around with the knob on a spinning reel or worry about some janky bait runner breaking on you. 

also look at release reels and Avet. they all double as trolling and bottom fishing reels. 

my favorite for trolling right now is a calcutta 200. i run 40lb braid and 30lb wire. it has a max drag of 9lbs so i can set the star drag looser for trolling then button it down with a fish on and not worry about going to high. Conventional and baitcasters also eliminate line twists.


----------



## JD7.62

I wouldnt troll with braid. For trolling offshore a decent 6-7000 size spinning reel such as a Battle, SSV, Spheros, etc load with 17-20lb mono will be perfect. I like to have at least 275-300 yards of line.

There is nothing within yakking distance that reel and line couldnt handle. I troll with 3-5lbs of drag and never change it even while fighting a fish. Kings and other fast moving pelagics are typically foul hooked and too tight of a drag with when a fish is moving 20mph will cause the hooks to pull.

I use mono for the stretch, braid doesnt stretch and a sudden burst of speed or change of direction on a fast moving pelagic can cause the hooks to pull as well.

Two days ago I had to troll with braid (not by choice) and lost a BFT by having the hook pull when the fish suddenly sounded. Last year I caught three BFT on 17lb mono no problem.


----------



## hsiF deR

JD7.62 said:


> I wouldnt troll with braid. For trolling offshore a decent 6-7000 size spinning reel such as a Battle, SSV, Spheros, etc load with 17-20lb mono will be perfect. I like to have at least 275-300 yards of line.
> 
> There is nothing within yakking distance that reel and line couldnt handle. I troll with 3-5lbs of drag and never change it even while fighting a fish. Kings and other fast moving pelagics are typically foul hooked and too tight of a drag with when a fish is moving 20mph will cause the hooks to pull.
> 
> I use mono for the stretch, braid doesnt stretch and a sudden burst of speed or change of direction on a fast moving pelagic can cause the hooks to pull as well.
> 
> Two days ago I had to troll with braid (not by choice) and lost a BFT by having the hook pull when the fish suddenly sounded. Last year I caught three BFT on 17lb mono no problem.


This! But I like 12-15# mono


----------



## The Pitt

I use a 6000 Shimano Baitrunner with 30lb braid and about a 6 foot flouro leader. Never had a problem with a hook pulling out of a fish. Ive brought back bait missing the tail if a fish missed the hook, bout it. Never a missed hook with lures. Someday I might respool with mono.


----------



## ctgalloway21

I use a combination of 2 reels depending on my mood. A Battle 6000 and an Abu garcia round reel with a bait clicker. I also hate braid, especially for trolling. And I never troll two at one time. It always ends up in a big mess.


----------



## baldona523

All you really need to simply troll is something like a cheap Penn 309 loaded with 15 lb mono, that will easily get the job done. No reason to really go nuts on an amazing reel if really all you want to do is troll with it, as said you want really light drag so the cheaper reels are fine. I actually like a conventional reel because they have clickers to sound when drag is being pulled at strike.

Given that, I would not really want to bring only a trolling rod on a kayak. You really want multipurpose gear because you are limited with what you can bring. I would not really want to have a trolling rod if my pitch rod or reel stops working 2 miles out at the start of your day. Therefore I like a 4-6000 size decent spinning rod.

Personally I think more hooks are pulled because of heavy drag than braid being used over mono, most people use heavier drag with braid than mono because they have heavier lb test. I'm not opposed to using braid on a kayak trolling because you can fit more on a smaller, lighter reel and braid is much smaller diameter with way less drag so you can troll lures considerably deeper.


----------



## jasoncooperpcola

I have began to absilutley hate mono on a kayak. Its all being replaced with braid except for maybe one spinning reel. For trolling dusters I use a Penn550 or a Shimano Solstace 4000. For towing big lures I use a Penn Torque on a Trevala Jigging rod. This is a good combo for both because it has a smooth light drag and then you lock it up for snapper!


----------



## lowprofile

JD7.62 said:


> I wouldnt troll with braid. For trolling offshore a decent 6-7000 size spinning reel such as a Battle, SSV, Spheros, etc load with 17-20lb mono will be perfect. I like to have at least 275-300 yards of line.
> 
> There is nothing within yakking distance that reel and line couldnt handle. I troll with 3-5lbs of drag and never change it even while fighting a fish. Kings and other fast moving pelagics are typically foul hooked and too tight of a drag with when a fish is moving 20mph will cause the hooks to pull.
> 
> I use mono for the stretch, braid doesnt stretch and a sudden burst of speed or change of direction on a fast moving pelagic can cause the hooks to pull as well.
> 
> Two days ago I had to troll with braid (not by choice) and lost a BFT by having the hook pull when the fish suddenly sounded. Last year I caught three BFT on 17lb mono no problem.


yeah i lost a BFT because i was using 30lb mono with a surface iron and hooked it about 80 yards away when it landed from my cast. didn't get a good hookset, it came in easy and spit it at the yak. if i'm running baits far back or dropping on deep structure or using heavy irons, its braid all the way. 

but its the OP's choice to take whoevers advice. we all catch fish.


----------



## MrPhoShiz

i use a battle 7000 with 260yds of 80# braid. but thats just because i also use the reel for bottom fishing. both of my battles are spooled the same


----------



## lowprofile

baldona523 said:


> All you really need to simply troll is something like a cheap Penn 309 loaded with 15 lb mono, that will easily get the job done. No reason to really go nuts on an amazing reel if really all you want to do is troll with it, as said you want really light drag so the cheaper reels are fine. I actually like a conventional reel because they have clickers to sound when drag is being pulled at strike.


not sure if this is what you meant but...

I wouldn't troll an LD in the "strike" position, especially on a yak. strike, although only a basic indicator for a preset drag tension, should be set at 30% of your line breaking strength which is the universal setting for most drags. your "full" setting should only be used at the last minute to either turn a fish that has almost spooled you, keep a fish's head at the surface for a gaff or tail grab or any other reason you might feel the need to use a drag setting close to or above the breaking strength of your line. if your trolling at strike, with 30lb line and have it set to 10lbs it would be difficult to remove a rod from a holder, which is probably behind you, doubled over with 10lbs of force being applied to the tip and the entry point on your rod holder. this works as a lever and multiplies the force by who knows how much to the tip of the butt resulting in a stuck rod or you possibly losing balance and falling over while trying to apply the necessary leverage to undo the rod. set the lever (or any drag) at 3-5lbs for the troll and you will be fine and most fish will hook themselves on the strike. 

Good luck with whatever you choose!


----------



## JD7.62

jasoncooperpcola said:


> I have began to absilutley hate mono on a kayak. Its all being replaced with braid except for maybe one spinning reel. For trolling dusters I use a Penn550 or a Shimano Solstace 4000. For towing big lures I use a Penn Torque on a Trevala Jigging rod. This is a good combo for both because it has a smooth light drag and then you lock it up for snapper!


Most people are doing the opposite, going from braid to mono. I never let my clients touch a rod with braid for their safety and my convenience. Braid can slice a finger in the blink of an eye and an inexperienced yak angler and braid it's a recipe for disaster. Also when I or my clients inevitably get a tangle braid is much more difficult to get out then mono in the confined spaces of a kayak.

Not to mention look what tournament king fisherman and other big game anglers are trolling, it ain't braid.


----------



## LUNDY

all my trolling reels are momoi mono these days, like jd said whats on all the 30/50/80w's on the these sport fishers? 

as far as kayak fishing and trolling just pick a reel that will hold at least 250 yds preferably more than that for me, the reel has to be what your comfortable with too. we can spout off tons of styles of reels, make a suggestions but you know what you like.


----------



## lowprofile

^^^ he's right. just get what your comfortable with. 

on a side note, the PX on eglin had shimano TLD 25's for $98 when i was in there the other day.


----------



## JD7.62

Holy double tap batman.


----------



## ARslinger

Eff mono. Personal preference I feel. For me mono just takes the fun out of it. I want to feel the fish when he is just looking at it. But like jd said much easier to get intangled and won't get slices open like braid.


----------



## baldona523

lowprofile said:


> not sure if this is what you meant but...
> 
> I wouldn't troll an LD in the "strike" position, especially on a yak. strike, although only a basic indicator for a preset drag tension, should be set at 30% of your line breaking strength which is the universal setting for most drags. your "full" setting should only be used at the last minute to either turn a fish that has almost spooled you, keep a fish's head at the surface for a gaff or tail grab or any other reason you might feel the need to use a drag setting close to or above the breaking strength of your line. if your trolling at strike, with 30lb line and have it set to 10lbs it would be difficult to remove a rod from a holder, which is probably behind you, doubled over with 10lbs of force being applied to the tip and the entry point on your rod holder. this works as a lever and multiplies the force by who knows how much to the tip of the butt resulting in a stuck rod or you possibly losing balance and falling over while trying to apply the necessary leverage to undo the rod. set the lever (or any drag) at 3-5lbs for the troll and you will be fine and most fish will hook themselves on the strike.
> 
> Good luck with whatever you choose!


You are 100% right, but that is not really what I meant. 

I meant that I prefer a reel with a clicker for fish like kings and Wahoo on a kayak because they often strike a bait and will come back for it, this strike is when I like a clicker. Without a clicker and the rods behind you on a kayak, it is easy to miss a short strike like this and you can troll a half a bait for 30 minutes. 

I'll usually hear the clicker going off before anything else. Yeah all drags sing, but clickers are much louder. Plus, there is really nothing that gets your adrenaline going like a loud clicker having drag ripped.


----------

