Lead Core

[Sutty 0]

I am getting set up for salmon fishing on Lake Michigan and am going to set up one or two lead core rods. I have been shopping around and found there are many differant pound tests to pick from. Can anyone offer me any advice on which to go for? Heavier line sink better or is it opposite due to higher diameter? I would also use them for walleye fishing if that makes a differance.

[SpecialK 3]

I am not sure what lb test to buy but the lead core line will have a sink rate chart on the package. Heavier the test I believe the faster it will sink. I know with my setup (15 lb test) its 10' for every 10 yards of line.

*edit for spelling*

[kslipsinker 0]

The lead core is the same on all spools at one pound per 100 yards. The difference is the amount of braid covering the core to give you the test line. I use 27 pound lead core to troll cranks on the river. One 100 yard spool fills a Penn 320GT2 reel to the max.

[Sutty 0]

I am looking at running it on a reel with a capacity of 480 yards of 20 pound test. Judging by your reel's capacity I should be able to get a few more colors on. I am planning on getting a 200 yard spool and putting as much on as I can. I was also wondering how much of a leader I should attach to it.

[SpecialK 3]

I used mine for Kokanee fishing in CO. We used a snubber and about a 6 - 8' leader of 6 lb test mono. I am not sure if you can use the new superlines and have a higher test line with a small dia for what your wanting to do with it, but I know the Kokanee needed thin line.

[Heidi 0]

Excuse me for jumping in on Lead Core but.....

I have a question on spooling lead line on the backer. I am setting up a reel for walleye fishing and I will spool 3 colors on it,but I don't know how much backing to put on it.

If I put too much on, then maybe I can't get 3 colors on.

Help Please. There must be a trick to this Thanks

[iffwalleyes 0]

I was told to put about 100' of backing and then the lead core. Lead core takes good size reel though due to the size of course.

[LocalGuide 0]

I hate to interrupt here... but what kind of knots do you guys do to connect the line together?? I made a big one the first time (uni to uni) and the line wouldn't go through the guide on my muskie rod... then I made a knot that i found on the internet. It said to take the lead out and tie to the nylon. worked good until the nylon broke.

So I was just looking for some opinions cuz its slick to use it.

I have 100yds of 12lb XT backer. 70 yds of lead core and 50' of leader. I might cut that down to around 20' though.

[Jim Hudson 0]

If your talking about salmon fishing on Lake Michigan you will want to be running 27lb lead on your set-ups. For walleye applications 15 or 18lb will do the job.

For knots... Do a search for the Willis Knot.. Simple knot and works great. By looking at it you will think that it won't, but trust me it does hold very well!! Others use the uni-knot, albright, or even small #18 swivels (it can pass through rod eyes and into your reel. For your knots, just remember you need to take out some lead from the sheath to tie up...

For reels, you will need high capacity reels for spooling up full cores (10 colors plus backing), but if you plan to use 2 to 5 colors you can go with smaller capacity reels. No need for line counters here either as you easily count the colors for depth. Penn, Daiwa, and Shimano have great reels for lead.

For finding out how much backing and such, just reverse the order you put the line onto your reel first. Put on the leader, then the lead, then the backing. Works great when you have two reels of the same size!! After spooling backwards onto the first reel and gathering information on how much backing you had, just spool this onto the second reel and go on to spooling your second reel!!

[Sutty 0]

Thanks a ton thats exactly what I was looking for!

[Jim Hudson 0]

Also, I should mention. If you are going to run leadcore off boards. You will want to run all the lead out of your spool and then attach the board to the spools backing. Some will try to attach the lead directly to a board, but after awhile, the clips from the boards will wear through the leads sheath. This is why you will hear a lot of salmon folks talking about 2, 3, 4, 5 colors on certain reels. For most walleye applications, running a full core (10 colors) is common on reels and then just running a certain amount of colors straight off the boat will work. Especially for contour trolling deep breaks. But if you want to monkey around with board applications, having a few reels set-up with different amounts of colors is key at times. You can always carry reels set-up in the boat, and just swap them out on your rods for certain uses (saves space in the boat).

When running off boards, always send your lowest number of colors to the outside of your spread and then more colors as you come closer to the boat. Will eleviate tangles by allowing the higher running lures (less lead) to come over the deeper running lures (more lead).

Church Tackle's walleye boards seem to work the best for lead IMHO.