So MT, I'm kinda new at this so maybe you can explain.  It seems to me if I'm trolling that there's two things I want to know most of all.  First, at what depth am I most likely to find the specie I'm fishing for - say I'm going for Lakers, i'd want to know at what depth 48 - 53 degrees is (all things being equal - structure etc.)  Second, once I've found the prime depth, I want to know if that's where my bait is running.  I don't understand how a line-counter reel can really tell you either of those things.  I get that a line-counter will help you duplicate.  In other words, one you've located the fish a line-counter can repeatedly put your bait back in the same place but how does it help you locate the fish in the first place except by trial and error?

EZ-peazy Kerry........

The line counter made me a much better troller when targeting fish near the bottom. Lets say your trolling the 25ft contour line.......how do you determine on your spinning rod how much line to let out with your taildancer other than "oh, that seems about right"?

Capiche? On the flip side I let out 40 ft on my line counter and I bump bottom with my taildancer in 25 ft of water. Soon and very soon I understand that if I let out 35ft on the line counter my taildancer is running at 23ft because I am no longer clanging bottom. Now I know from now on how much line to let out and I can vary from there.........

Now the thought has occurred to me that I might get to fine.......that is I might be running a bit to close to the bottom and perhaps my lure is not so visible to fish who may be used to looking up........but the results have been good. AND much less hassle. No constant monitoring and readjusting of my line because I have let out to much. Set it and forget it.........I know EXACTLY how deep my lure is running (after some brief trial and error)........so when that bar comes up I know I'm in trouble and I need to take some line in........sweet and simple. Knowledge is power..........fishing has enough hassle involved, this makes life not only more effective but more relaxing because there is no guess work involved other than the initial determinations.

oh man, just when i finally think im over wanting one of these you go and bring them up!

line counters are extremely useful tools when paired with other items to easily and repeatably target specific water regions.

in union with a line counter, you can use dive curves from manufacturers to know how much line to let out for a given bait to achieve a certain depth. lures such as the berkeley flicker shad (gross) have the dive curve right on the package. other lures have their curves available via precision trolling, through their book or the new app.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) while expensive if this is something you would find useful it may be worth it. i am not overly familiar with the information because i am more of a trial and error guy myself (read as: cheap and doesnt own it). i think for all of their calculations they use 10lb xt (.305 mm diameter) and 10lb fireline.

mastertangler wrote on Mar 18^th, 2013 at 9:47pm:

Counter schmounter.

One stroke, two strokes, three strokes, four strokes, five strokes, six strokes, seven strokes  -walleye ... eight strokes, nine strokes, ten strokes eleven strokes -laker. YMMV Know your location, your tools and remember to thank each fish.

An alternative to a line counter (and thus less bulky) and to guessing (and therefore more accurate) is to count how many revolutions of line peel off the reel. That number can be duplicated easily once fish are found. The dive curve models are very useful in this regard. When trolling one paddler counts x number of revolutions and the second paddler counts x+y.