How much lead core for my real?

[DRH1175]

I am new to lead core and am buying a couple new rods. I was going to use mono for backing. How many yards will I need for walley trolling?

[JohnMickish]

I don't know how much YOU need, but I've got four spooled up with six colors and two spooled up with 10 colors.

My reason is you never know what you will need, and for an extra $20 I'll fill her up.

[tunrevir]

It is going to depend on the size of the reel that you put it on. I have a small baitcaster that I have 2 colors on and a few line counters with anywhere from 6-10 colors depending on the application. For most walleye pursuits you aren't going to need more then 5-6 colors. The line sinks at a rate of roughly 5' per color at a set speed of say 1.5 mph. With that in mind, you will get your line to 30+ feet with 6 colors out. Leader length will vary from a few feet to up to 50' of mono. When using longer leads or deeper diving plugs you need to consider the extra depth they will achieve and account for that when letting out the LC. Most large capacity baitcasting reels will work and a line counter isn't necessary but can be handy. Line counters are really nice for dialing in the lures running depth and gives you the ability to reproduce the amount of line you had out after each fish. For a large capacity bait caster I'd put on 70-100 yards of say 12-14# and then reel on as many colors as I thought I would need and/or could fit onto the reel. I know you fish the st croix a fair amount so the 5-6 colors per setup should put you in the ballpark for most apps down there unless your looking to head even deeper then 35-40' .

Tunrevir~

[eyehead]

Im new to leadcore too.....i put 10 colors on both reels.

[DRH1175]

Well the reason I ask is if I was only trolling straight back I would just filler up. But I would like 2 rods for planners. I heard they can only handle like 2 or 4 colors max before they sink is this true?

[DRH1175]

I will usually use a max of 4 rods. so ideal I would like 2 straight back and 2 on boards to start

[tunrevir]

You can run the offshore boards with a full 10 colors, I do that all of the time on the great lakes. The Mr. walleye boards will hold up about six colors pretty well and I use those as well. Like I said previously for most walleye applications 6 colors will be fine to get you to 30-40 feet depending on the types of plugs you run off them and the length of the leader back to the plug. Some say 25' some like 50'. With shallow water use 10-20 feet, 3-4 colors of leadcore and a 10' lead with shallow divers will put you right in the zone. It is a fun way to fish and another great tool for the arsenal.

Tunrevir~

[JohnMickish]

The nice thing about running 10 colors is after the sun has faded the colors you can just turn the line around and the colors are bright again without going out and buying new line.

[CrappieNight]

I've seen packages available that have 3 colors of 18lb. They call it a "Walleye" package. Is there a benefit in saving the money and running a smaller reel with only 3 colors?