Cabelas Depthmaster Combos

[Adk1]

Ok, Looking to outfit my Starcraft 221V with some heavier gear to do some Lake O fishing in thefuture. Home base is the Great Sacandaga Lake and mainly walleye fishing. Would like to hit the Lake O for recreation a few times a year. Having said that, I am not goingto go out and pay $300 for a trolling rod/reel combo. I do not plan on making my living at this.

Looking into the Cabelas Depthmaster rigs. We have two of them already, I beleive the 20A reels. one is 6'6" and the other is the 7'6" rod. I would like to buy 2 more rod and reel combos.

I ahve twin Canon Electric down riggers and dual side planers. What would be the most beneficial rod n rell combos for me to putchase. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

[Mortigan]

Popular, inexpensive combos are Okuma Convectors (20 to 30 size) on Okuma poles and Diawa Sealines on Ugly Sticks. Search the old threads for previous discussions.

[cz113]

Check into some okuma rigs, Brett's Place on the Bay Web site, he runs special's on 2 and 4 packs. I've been using them for a few years with no problems.

[PolarBear]

You might want to stick with size 30 or bigger reels , we almost got spooled a few times last summer on our convector 20's

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[JR]

I have 10 of the 30 combos from Brett's Place and have had no problems yet, This will be the 6th season on them

[EYE SPY]

+1 for sealines and ugly stiks, very versatile

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[BAZOOKAJOE]

I have a couple of the real cheap grey colored depthmaster reels. I'm waiting for mine to break.. so i can replace them. They are a $30 reel. The drags are garbage. Spend $70 and get a convector!

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[Fish Hunter]

Mostly Okuma's here too.

BTW, How is the Walleye fishing on the Sacandaga?

Been up there on many occasions on business, past Fish House, Town of Day, but never fished.

You probably troll for 'em?

[Day Break]

The 30 Okuma's on the ugly sticks is what I started with. Decent inexpensive combos.

[Adk1]

Ok, so Iwill be going wit hthe Okuma Package. What is the best rod length of downrigging and rod weight. what is the best for running the outriggers?

[cuseroller]

I use 8' and 8'6" downrigger rods on my trout rods and salmon, for riggers and dipseys. I dont have outriggers so not sure if guys go bigger for those. If you like the Cabelas depthmasters, you have to get the GOLD SERIES DEPTHMASTER reels, they cost more than regular depthmastersbut the Gold series reels are lifetime warranty. Strip gears after 5 years and send reel back to Cabelas and they"ll send you a new reel. Daiwa and Okuma warranties are limited warranties from what I know, They are still good reels though.

[Chas0218]

I have 5 or 6 of depth master combos 8' medium action which serve double purpose as walleye and trout/salmon rods. You cant beat them for the price. The reels work great used them 3 seasons and 2 were dipsy reels for those 3 seasons. The reels are made by diawa and almost exact replicas to the accu-depths.

I also have about 3 seasons on my okuma magda dx35 reels and love them never had an issue and the drags work great. I now use 2 of these on my dipsy rods and 50lbs. Power Pro without any issues and have been abused for the last couple seasons.

IMHO: There is definitely more expensive gear out there but buy what you can afford. It is nice to have 4 rods that serve their purpose and do it well than have the cream of the crop and only 2 rods.

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[Adk1]

Ok, So I am probably gonna pull the trigger on a combo package of the Depthmaster or the Okuma..HAving said that, I am gonna look for 7'6" rods in Medium Heavy action. I should also look for the 30 series rells rather than the 20series correct?

[Mortigan]

Both will work but I'd go with the 30s if you're getting a good price.

[Chas0218]

30 Series for sure. The drag on the 30s are better than the 20s. You don't have to fill the reel with braid you can back it with mono then put 150 yards of braid on top but make sure the entire reel is full or you won't get accurate line counter readings.

[Xxx]

I have the Cabelas Depth master combos, I have the DM30's and 2 of the DM45's on my rigger poles, I bought the combos for about $80.00 a peice and have them going on 5 years now, but I don't use them day in and day out, there are some thing that aren't good about their reels, first the drag, every time you go out you have to set the drag, they lock up like so you have to loosen them up and reset them, then they are good for the day, the next day is the same crap, next is the button to set the reel back to (0) it should be on the other side many times setting the dipsy rods you hit that button and you look at where you are and it reads way less because you hit the counter without realizing it, so you have to reel everything back in do it over,I would not recemend these reels if you fish day in and day out, but for me who only gets out a dozen or two times a year they are good enough. My uncle called the other day and said he has a gift for me, he was doing a job (masonary) for a lady and she asked if he was interestes in fishing and he said yes, she had all kinds of poles and reels for trolling, her husband passed away and she wants to get rid of them, just take them she said, and there was diawa linecounters and poles and all kinds of lures, I didn't see them yet but he said there yours, I thought you could use them, so I don't know what kind of stuff is there, but he said half a pickup load!!

[rlconverse]

i found an okuma rod and reel combo for 45 bucks on the tackle haven site  http://www.tacklehaven.com/products/OKUMA-TROLLING-COMBO-CPM%252d90M%252dCT%7B47%7DMA45D-ROD-%26-REEL-.html 

[rlconverse]

try this hyperlink instead http://www.tacklehaven.com/products/OKUMA-TROLLING-COMBO-CPM%252d90M%252dCT%7B47%7DMA45D-ROD-%26-REEL-.html

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Guys,  Most Lake O Salmon anglers go with the M or ML actions when choosing rods for riggers or surface planer boards, not MH (Medium Heavy). Some MH are like broomsticks regardless of the length you prefer. 

[Mortigan]

try this hyperlink instead http://www.tacklehaven.com/products/OKUMA-TROLLING-COMBO-CPM%252d90M%252dCT%7B47%7DMA45D-ROD-%26-REEL-.html

Good rod, Meh reel.  The Magdas will work - we have four on their second season (we're poor) that get run as rigger or big board lines. I have one Cabela's combo that paired the Okuma Convector 30D and a Depthmaster rod to run dipsy divers on wire and it's much better than a Magda, but twice the cost. If you can afford it, spend the money and get the better reels. 

[Splitshot115]

    Just a side note,  When I bought my Depthmasters they where made by Okuma. Don't know if they stil are. But I got parts for them thru Okuma for free.

[overthelimit]

I have a few magda's paired up with ugly sticks. They make a nice inexpensive combo. I primarily fish Lake Erie for walleye but fish ontario in the spring for trout and salmon and thy have handled well.

[Captain Carl Bish]

I recommend the Abu Garcia 7000 series, the line counters are great and the IC3 has a fantastic drag. These are the only reels that I have purchased in the last 10 years that last more than 2 seasons. Buy a cheap rod spend the long dollar on the reel!