Need help choosing a rod and line for trolling

I picked up a left-handed Okuma CW-354DLX line counter reel and need help choosing a rod to put it on and line to go on it. I'm going to use it for kayak fishing from kokanee/trout up to salmon.

I'd prefer to stay around $100 or under for the rod, and am leaning toward something with a bit lighter action than I would get for a dedicated salmon setup. I could be convinced to go a bit higher if there's a big step up in quality for just a bit more money. I could also be convinced to go lower if there's no real benefit at that price point versus a rod that's less expensive. I'd appreciate specific model numbers, if possible. I've had a couple folks advise me to just pick up "a medium or medium heavy trolling rod" and that narrows the selection down to only a few hundred different choices...   

For the line, the reel seems to have plenty of line capacity: 250/12(0.33mm), 230/14 (0.37mm), 150/20 (0.41mm). I was leaning toward braided line in the 20+ lb range for better strength with smaller diameter for less drag, but noticed that the info on the Okuma website had this to say about the line counter on the reel.

STRIKE ZONE - Okuma's Strike Zone linecounter system incorporates a mechanical counter that precisely measures line based on spool revolutions. These counters measure in feet and are calibrated at the factory to be most accurate with a full spool and monofilament lines.

Any advice on which to go with, braid or mono, and what weight and color? If braid, should I lay down some mono first and then braid or just go all braid? That quoted capacity is equivalent to 250yds of 40lb braid or about 347 yards of 30lb braid. It seems like a bit of mono around the spool to prevent slipping and a 300 yard spool of 30lb braid might be just the ticket for plenty of strength and low drag while trolling.

As with my previous questions, thanks in advance for any advice you might be able to provide. I think I'm these two things and a dry suit away from being equipped to start working up to fishing in saltwater in my kayak.

Go to your friendly neighborhood outdoor store and pick up a 6.5 foot long medium heavy 10-25 pound Ugly Stik trolling rod, which is a rod with small line guides.  The reel goes on top of the rod, and there is a trigger grip on the bottom of the handle.  This will get you going.  Ugly Stiks are fine rods, and they're inexpensive.  A 6.5 foot rod is easy to handle when landing fish from a kayak.  A medium heavy rod will be a bit stiff for small kokanee, but fine for a range of bigger fish.  A trolling rod isn't as good as a spinning rod for jigging because you'll tend to hook your braided line around the line quides because they're on top of the rod, unless you're using heavy jigging lures and are dropping the tip of your rod slowly, but you can jig with a trolling rod.  After you've been fishing for a while and have developed some preferences, you can get additional rods.  You can't have too many rods.

If you load your Coldwater reel with 30 pound braid, you'll be ready for big fish, it'll be good for jigging because of the low stretch, and it'll also work fine for long line trolling or downrigger trolling for small fish like kokanee. 

I love my TICA KLED80UL2. Awesome kokanee/trout rod for the price, about $70. As far as salmon, the thing to remember with the rod is that you really want good sensitivity for kokanee, the downside is that for salmon, being in a kayak you want to be able to have some control over the fish. I personally prefer a medium/light rod for salmon to get a good mix of the fun factor along with having some control of what the fish can do. I've landed pinks and silver with the TICA, but getting the leverage needed to bring the fish up with a lighter rod coupled with being in a kayak made the fights long to get the fish to the net.

If you are going to fish kokanee, you really need the more sensitive rod. You will se the bites MUCH better, specially during those times of year when the fish are deeper, and your landing ratio will be much higher that with a heavier rod. I prefer UL rods. I also have a Cabela's Depthmaster DMK-76L which is a 7'6 light. Very versatile. Not as fun for kokanee, but sensitive enough, and I know some folks that use it as their go to rod for sockeye.

I just run 12lb mono for mainline. I prefer the stretch it provides vs braid. Unless I am fishing kings, 12lb is plenty.

Thanks for the advice. I drove around several places today so I could put my hands on rods and try them out with the advice from this topic and the others here in my head. Cabelas doesn't sell the  Depthmaster DMK-76L by itself anymore, but you can buy it in a rod/reel combo (). Of course, none of their combos have left-handed reels on them.

After trying out about 20 different rods in the medium, medium light, and light models, I ended up getting the medium 8'6" Ugly Stik Elite salmon/steelhead (USESCA862M) rod. It had more backbone than the light action rods but with a fast tip that seemed like it would be a lot more sensitive than the other medium action rods. I had a coupon from Cabela's that made it a decent deal, but not nearly as cheap as the $29 Depthmaster rods I was hoping to love. I took it out to a local lake today just to try it out with the downrigger and loved it, especially with the Okuma Cold Water low profile line counter reel, even though I didn't catch anything. I "borrowed" the 12lb mono line off another baitcaster just to try the new rod and reel combo out today, but will be winding that line back onto the other reel when the 30lb yellow Power Pro braid gets here sometime around Friday.

Now I think I'm a dry suit away from working my courage and skill up to trying out the salt.