The Outdoor Line Forum

Hi. I,m new to this forum and this is my first post. I,m looking to purchace an outfit strictly for plug fishing in Puget Sound. I was wondering what would be the ultimate Rod, Reel and line combo to be used with downriggers. Thanks and I'm really enjoying this forum. EdC.

Ultimate setup for me Edge 10'6 downrigger rod with a penn international 975ld reel spooled with a power pro hollow ace 40# with a 40yds topshot of 20#mono finished with a 12 wrap bimini twist conected to a 5 inch uv tomic plug . you should be able to reel this ultimate setup for just a shade under a grand , if you want somthing that will do the same job you should be able to get a very good setup for around 250 .
Good luck and fish on
Jade

My favorite plug/cut plug set up is the combination of a Fetha~Styx MM-1065-2 with a 10-25# line rating and a moderate med-hvy action. There are lots of options for reels but my personal choice for a high performing tastefully priced reel is a Daiwa M-ONE UTD 400 if you like mooching reels. If you want to go with a level wind/line counter the Okuma coldwater CW203D out performs and out styles all the similar reels in its class. For line my personal favorite is 20# Blood run tournament mono. In the lure dept some custom colors made by Pogue Plugs and the good old MOP Tomic should put the hurt on those chrome herring munchers all year long!

Prices for those set ups at our shop are:
Fetha~Styx MM-1065-2 $209.99
Daiwa M-ONE UTD 400 $86.19
Okuma coldwater CW203D $106.99
Hope this helps with your crisis

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Lamiglas 10'6" Kenai Kwik coupled with a Daiwa Saltist 20 loaded with braid and a top shot. Or you could go with a Lamiglas Canadian style 10'6" moocher and a Daiwa M-One single action mooching spooled up with braid and a top shot of mono. That'd be my two top choices

G-Loomis GL2 SAR1265C 10'6" paired with a Shimano Tekota 500LC. Proven and tried/tested winner!

My plug and cut plug rod is old school Lami classic glass with a Peetz moocher 25# ultragreen . You cant beat the sound of a Peetz

Rob great call on the Kenai Quick, I would strap on a Shimano Charter Special 2000 only because I havent fished a Saltist, also I found a guy in New York that makes a anti reverse upgrade kit for a Diawa moocher this lets a guy hold the handle and still lets line off the reel.

The cool thing about fishing plugs off a downrigger is that your rod and real selection can be based on fighting the fish rather than reeling up heavy gear from 200'. Choose a rod and reel combo that will handle a king up to 30# and still offer a challenging fight on a 10# fish. Your reel should carry around 300 yds of line weather it's mono or braid. Using braid allows you to use a lighter, smaller reel. I use a lamaglas 9' classic glass 15-30# with a diawa millionaire reel filled with 30# braid and a 20# top shot. $150 total.