Freshwater Leadcore Trolling Rod & Reel Recommendations

Looking for new rod and reel recommendations for freshwater trolling (striper and trout, maybe kokes) I have searched our site, others and many other resources and have yet to find what I am looking for. In general, I have way too many rods and reels. Specifically, I am looking for a reel that will hold the full spool of 10 color leadcore line, and have a little space left for some top shot. I typically use a downrigger, but I also want to mess around with the Leadcore line. At this point, Okuma Coldwater reel low profile with line counter. Size? Rod? Something around 8’ give a take 1/2 foot. I typically like going on the light size and profile. Thoughts? Thanks.

Never tried it, but have watched enough of Kal Kellogs videos to know he sells them, and generally preferres them.  He sells his preference on his website at: https://catchamerica.com/collections/all

Looking for new rod and reel recommendations for freshwater trolling (striper and trout, maybe kokes) I have searched our site, others and many other resources and have yet to find what I am looking for. In general, I have way too many rods and reels. Specifically, I am looking for a reel that will hold the full spool of 10 color leadcore line, and have a little space left for some top shot. I typically use a downrigger, but I also want to mess around with the Leadcore line. At this point, Okuma Coldwater reel low profile with line counter. Size? Rod? Something around 8’ give a take 1/2 foot. I typically like going on the light size and profile. Thoughts? Thanks.

I still like and use my Abu Garcia 7000 C3 for Leadcore applications. plenty of space if you plan on spooling with 10 full colors. The 5500 C3 OR C4 works great if you want to run the Kal Kellog style leadcore hybrid setup that has 2 colors sandwiched between mono backing and top-shot.

Looking for new rod and reel recommendations for freshwater trolling (striper and trout, maybe kokes) I have searched our site, others and many other resources and have yet to find what I am looking for. In general, I have way too many rods and reels. Specifically, I am looking for a reel that will hold the full spool of 10 color leadcore line, and have a little space left for some top shot. I typically use a downrigger, but I also want to mess around with the Leadcore line. At this point, Okuma Coldwater reel low profile with line counter. Size? Rod? Something around 8’ give a take 1/2 foot. I typically like going on the light size and profile. Thoughts? Thanks.

I still like and use my Abu Garcia 7000 C3 for Leadcore applications. plenty of space if you plan on spooling with 10 full colors. The 5500 C3 OR C4 works great if you want to run the Kal Kellog style leadcore hybrid setup that has 2 colors sandwiched between mono backing and top-shot.

I've got a 6601 sitting around that I've been thinking about using for leadcore for a while...

I run a pair of old level wind Shimano Tritons (I think) with 6 and 8 colors of 36lb respectively. I honestly don’t ever use more than 6 colors. Way too much line out to manage. I have a few low profile cold waters and they work great for sliding weights. But the line counter isn’t necessary with leadcore because each color is metered. I pair my cold waters with Kokanee black rod okuma in ML or an ugly stik ML for divers. I don’t run leadcore in coldwaters, just lead clip  weights/divers/toplining. My leadcore rods are usually okuma SST Kokanee ML and L, 15-20ft topshot with 3-5 colors and then backing on old abu Garcia ambassadors. Could probably fit up to 8 or 9 colors on a 5 or 6,000 amb reel with minimal top shot and backing.