The type of rod and reel you’re going to use really does depend on how you are fishing for lake trout. Early in the season, you can get away with a medium action rod and reel when casting to lake trout in the shallows. You can go heavier also, especially if the lake you are fishing is home to some big lake trout.
You can stay with a medium action setup when jigging clear water since a lot of anglers report that the fishing is much better with the lighter tackle. Some anglers may go as light as 10 pound line on a medium action rod and reel. Most anglers will go heavier though with 20 pound test line the minimum for them. They will be jigging some decent-sized baits and they want to make sure they have a rod and reel that can handle them as well as some big fish. Medium-heavy to heavy action rods work great.
When trolling, you really need to go heavier to deal with the trolling speeds, the weight of the lures and some of the good hits that you’re going to get from some big lake trout.
