leadcore

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

Just started fishing leadcore a lot more frequently and just have some pretty basic questions. I have a cabin on a lake in alex and started using leadcore to go after some deeper walleyes when I started marking a lot of fish in about 35-40 feet of water (max depth on lake irene is only 45) Havent been able to catch any walleyes doing it but have been suprised that I am having a lot of luck catching some really big bass while doing it. I typically use larger reef runner as they dive pretty well. Generally to get it down to about 25-30 feet takes about 150 on my line counter. If I switch to some smaller floating lures, or suspending stick baits will the line still bring them down to the target zone or would I have to let out a lot more line? I've tried running my counter up to 200 but cant seem to get them to bump the bottom, is that because they are not going down and maybe the line is close to the bottom or is that simply because they are not deep runners?

[Crusty old Swede]

I don't have my big water edition of precision trolling with me at work so this is only an educated guess. A full core (300') runs about 50-60' deep so 200 - 250' of lead core with a diving lure will run about as deep as you're looking to go. Something you might want to try is a 1 or 2oz. snap weight where your leader connects with your lead core. Another tactic that would work is a dipsy diver.

[PerchJerker]

Leadcore is speed dependent --- the slower you go the deeper it goes, the faster you go the higher up it rises.

The rule of thumb is each color of lead gets you 5 feet of depth at 2.2 to 2.5 mph. So you're looking at 5-6 colors of lead to fish 25-30 feet deep, assuming you're going 2.5 mph and your baits aren't diving deeper on their own.

Also, I've found that with shallow-runnning baits that don't have big lips and don't pull very hard, it can be hard to tell if you're bumping the bottom with leadcore, especially if it's a soft bottom.

Best thing to do is experiment - try the amount of line out and speed that you think is right, then switch it up every pass or two, changing the amount of line out and/or the speed until you start connecting.

[eyewarrior]

Perchjerker is dead on. Use your colors to determine line out, your linecounter will not give your actual line out due to the line diameter. Also you might try running boards I have found suspended fish to be boat shy. They will move to the side as the boat goes over them. Experiment with how far to the side you run your boards as it can make a difference.

eyewarrior

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

Thanks for the advice, getting up there this weekend so will see if I can fine tune some things and maybe give the snap weights or some boards a try. All the eyes are stocked so not sure if they will be that deep but I always get a lot of good size marks on the bottom so hoping thats what they are. (been really surprised though that I have been catching bass doing it though, and for whatever reason the size has been much better out there then when i have targeted bass closer in to sure.)So I guess if i run it on the bottom without much luck can always bring it up and go back after the suspended bass. Never really thought the counter might not be accurate so will pay attention to the colors should be able to verify if its counting correctly or off

[Fishin_Opti]

Hi,

Boards are a great idea for Leadcore, just remember to pinch the board to backing and not to the leadcore itself or it can put a weak spot in the core if you don't. Might break sometime in the weak spot.

If you don't want all the leadcore out, that you have on that reel, just run it straight out the shoot behind the boat, you can count the colors out (each color is 10 Yards) and then when the lure starts bouncing bottom, you now have your own "base line" for that particulary lure (as several lures run at different depths) and the speed in which "you" want to troll. Now reel in, clean your bait off and run it out with 1 or 2 less colors, so you are suspended at the depths you want.

As you get more familiar running leadcore, several guys will have several different reels set up with different lengths of core, so they can run them on in-line planner boards getting the baits away from the boat. This can be "key" especially if it is a tough bite.

I used to fish walleye tourneys with hubby years ago, we ran leadcore alot. Now we run Copper, as we fish alot in the great lakes now instead - similar concept, just Copper Trolling line runs deeper then Leadcore, which works great on the the big lakes.

Hope this helps!

Heidi

[NAGORSKI]

Can you tell me what you mean by pinching the board to the backing and not the leadcore? If I need 150' out and then put on my board I'd have to have so little leadcore on my reel and all fireline so that defeats the whole idea. I usually only have about 10' of fireline on and haven't had a problem breaking the leadcore but it does make sence, just don't know how you could do that.

[Fishin_Opti]

Hi Nagorski,

On our boats anyway, we usually have different setups for each reel. And we have some with as little as 75' when we want to fish up high for Walleye, Steelhead or Salmon, and yes then we have alot of backing on the reel, like 600' (200yards) of backing is normally what we use for Salmon as a minimum. For Walleyes, maybe 300' or so is on the safe side. We run all Copper now on our boats, so when I say Copper, think of it as similar to Core. It is a weighted trolling line, just Copper runs deeper. For backing we use Tuffline, 30 LB, XP Green, similiar to Power Pro or Fireline. The Tuffline/Power Pro/Fireline is great for strength, has no stretch and is small in diameter so it doesn't take up much reel space, which you need for Leadcore or Copper. We use 30LB beacause we are Salmon fishing most the time now, you could go smaller for Walleyes, but diameter isn't much different from 30LB to 15LB Tuffline. We simply let the bait with leader/core/copper out all the way until you get to the backing, then pinch the board onto the backing and finish letting the board out. When fish strikes, the board usually goes to the middle indicating "fish on", or if you are really lucky "under" even (then it is a whopper), then reel in, take board off and fight the fish.

When you snap a board onto the leadcore, the lead inside the sheath starts to break and becomes weak, then starts to weaken the sheath in that spot. You might be able to catch many fish on it, but someday it probably will break at the weakest link. With copper it is a soft metal, pinching to the copper creates kinks and weak spots, and it will break, especially on a big King salmon, if the board is not attached to the backing. Otherwise works great!

Sometimes for Copper, some guys will have 150' of copper, then will tie a short 3' piece of Tuffline with ALbright knots and then another piece of 150' Copper. If they want to fish 150' then snap the board to the middle piece of tuffline, if they want to fish all 300', they snap it to the Tuffline backing. This way it doesn't weaken the copper. You could do this for Leadcore also if you wanted to. Usually Walleyes you aren't worried about them "spooling" you like Kings, which a person needs extra backing on the reels for, but you still need enough backing to let the boards out. The only problem with doing that is the weight of the trolling line behind the board. Some small Yellow birds or other small boards it would be too much weight for them, a mid size or larger boards you should be o.k. though.

In fact tonight I am leaving now to go fish some 75', and 150' of Copper on In Line Planner boards. Fishing on Lake Superior for Walleye tonight. Works great!

Hope that helps!

Heidi

[Jim Hudson]

I take it this lake has no thermocline? But if it does, and you have a suspended bite, usually the fish are going to be above this. And usually, the suspended bite over the basin will definately be better early morning or late evening, as the fish seem to rise. Zooplankton rises and the lil fish rise and so does the bigger fish. See the same thing with musky as well on these types of lakes. Mainly clear water situations and these bites are usually good, with mainly the bigger fish of the system. So I would try to concentrait on this line instead of the bottom if the lake indeed has a thermocline.

Anyhow, most people got you on the right track for the lead game if you do need to dredge bottom.

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

About a week and a half ago there didnt seem to be a thermocline if thats possible. I was marking fish all the way to the bottom. Last weekend all seemed to change, everything was about 10 feet up off the bottom (last 10 feet on the finder was clouded out and nothing below about 25 feet) Got a pretty good read on depth just by hitting the bottom in a couple places when i was turning on 20 feet with about 130 feet out. Still couldnt find any walleyes doing it (caught a couple while just slip bobbering) but maybe they just arent that deep or suspended. Still was decent for the bass though and almost all of them were above 15 inches. Also pretty useful to explore the lake as i was able to find a couple humps that arent on the lake map while doing it as well.

[croixeyes]

Good info in the above posts,a couple of other things to be aware of.Your line counters are accurate to an extent,when the spool is full they read accurate but as line runs out your spool is turning faster but your letting less line out,thus false reading.....Also when letting out alot of line you will reach a point of diminishing returns,the line will start to bow and your bait will be higher in the water colum than the line itself.Experiment with speed and lure types and have plenty of patience cause it takes time to get those cranks where they need to be ALL the time.