I am going to be buying my father two complete rod and reel setups for his 21 ft hydrosprt. He will mostly be chasing stripers. I would like to spend about $ 150 apiece for these. Is the realistic? Any suggestions? These will be mostly for trolling or jigging in Cape Cod waters. They must be pretty much for a laymen with no big bells and wistles. I would like it to be very easy for my father to go out on the drop of dime. My family has pitched in and rented him rack storage for the year with the hopes he will enjoy it more. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Penn 113H for @ $100 and a Penn Power Stick for @ $50-$60 should handle trolling with ease and fall within your price range. Check with Mike at M&D's He might have an alternate rod to fill the need but that reel is pretty much a standard for wire line trolling.

Go with Penn 113HSP if your going with wire line. As mentioned, Mike at M&D's can set you up.

Thanks guys for your insight. Any other help or suggestions would be great. I am going to give mike a call.

u could also drop down to a 112,,,it's a 3/0,,if your going to fish in 50' of water or less...40lb wire,,80lb. backing.

I also prefer the 112H or even the Jigmaster.To me the 113HSP is too heavy and in my opinion overkill. People use them because of the chromed bronze spool, a must with wire. You are in a boat and can chase down anything that is going to spool you. If you jig all day with a 113 and 300 ft of wire you are going to feel it the next day. The only draw back to the 112H and Jigmasters on sale now is that they only come with aluminum spools. You will be repalcing the spools yearly no matter how diligent you are with maintenence. The leadcore and wire just packs on to tight to rinse way down in the spool, thus corrosion occurs. You can put 300 ft. of wire on them with plenty of dacron backing too. I look on e-bay to find the old reels with the cast bronze or stainless spools. I even buy the crappy looking spools and then have them stripped and chromed for 30 bucks. All the parts on the reels are replaceable. I have collected a life time suppy over the last several years. Paul

My boat has six jigging rod aboard. Two 6 1/2' jigging rods, two 6 1/2' Jiggers with slick butts, and two 5 1/2' jiggers, all equipped with Penn 4/0 Special Senators. Every one wants the short rod because jigging, done right, is hard work. I can jig all night and have caught many 30# fish with no trouble on these short rods. Slick butts are popular in New Jersy where big spoons are used and rods are left in the rod holders. Shimano, Okuma, and Daiwa all make very good trolling reels as long as the spool is strong.