A different setup and tackle configuration is usually required for each technique although there can be a slight crossover between a few of them. Matching your walleye rod and reel is pretty important if you want to get the best performance out of both.

There are many ways to catch walleye but the most popular are:

Different types of fishing call for different types of tackle. The right reel for a walleye jigging setup will usually not be a good choice to go trolling with.

Trolling​

​Trolling reels should be capable of holding lots of line and cranking hard against a fish that is down deep.

​A trolling reel needs to withstand a lot of abuse that lighter built reels would generally not be capable of managing especially if you troll a lot.

They have to withstand a constant pressure on the drag not just from big walleye, how you fish from the boat also puts a lot of wear and tear on the reel especially the following trolling specific techniques:

Downriggers​

Planer boards

Lead core lines

Inline weights

Trolling reels can also be bought with a built in line counter.​ The line counter will usually be slightly more expensive than one without. A lot of manufacturers will actually sell the same model with the choice of a line counter or without.

Spinning

A good spinning outfit is probably the most versatile that you can have. You can throw jigs, spinners, blade baits and use slip sinker rigs.

​In fact if you have a size 2000 or 2500 it can double easily as your jigging reel. All you need is an extra spool, one spool for the line you like best for spinning and one for your jigging.

You can also cast small crankbaits for walleye quite successfully on spinning gear.​

Jigging​

When jigging for walleye the tackle is all about sensitivity especially is vertical jigging with really small jigs.

The rod is certainly far more important than the reel when jigging. The reel needs to be:

Small and light

Cast light lines and lures

Have a sensitive drag

You are generally going to be looking at either a size 1000 or a size 2500 spinning reel for jigging. Although you can use a finesse baitcasting reel they are usually very expensive sometimes $500 or more.

Best Trolling Reels for Walleye