Salmon fishing is not a,really poor man's sport. It can get expensive in a hurry. We were all in you shoes at some point. If your not going to fish a lot on the great lakes manual riggers are fine. But when you get into fish they are a pain. The tackle you need will depend on what your going to fish for and out of what port. I suggest going to a tackle store at the port your going to fish. And talk to them about what is good in that area. It is going to be overwhelming at first. Just don't go to overboard on equipment in case it's not for you. You will want some spoons, and a few flashers/rotator and flies. I suggest 8"spindoctors for the trolling flies and generally a 24"leader for the fly with an 8" flasher/rotator. You will need cannonballs and releases for your downriggers. You can run 2 rods off of each rigger if you want. You use a stacker release for that. At most ports you rarely have to travel more than a few miles to catch fish. Sometimes they are in close. If your going all out I would get a speed/temp probe like a depth raider or fish hawk. If you can't afford that get a good thermometer and you would need to find the temperature break/thermocline. But the fish might not always be in that area. I always fish in,above and below it. And let the fish tell me where to fish. You will need downrigger rods and level wind reels. You can get a couple diver rods and reels. Just make sure the rod holders are strong. Read up on the great lakes boating regs. Fur safety equipment. https://www.facebook.com/Fish-Whisperer-Trolling-Flies-and-Teaser-Flies-466297460573695/ Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App