i'm going to spool up my trolling (striper) gear with leadcore. i went to do this earlier in the year, but found all sorts of grains/lb test to choose from. i have a hunch it has to do with water flow/current, etc which dictates the line weight, but i really don't have a starting point.
fishing for me involves all types of water, so i'm looking for some suggestions....thanks for the help!
The 2 main lead core lines are 27lb and 36lb if my memory serves me right.
First spool your reel with dacron or other affordable backing then tie into your lead core and top shot with 8-12' 40-60 lb mono leader to swivel.
Lead core will come in multiple colors and on average for every color (I believe 30' per color) you will get approx 5' of depth at slow striper trolling speeds. The stuff becomes brittle fast so wash and dry it often and replace every season at a minimum.
sorry for the late thanks, just getting back online. thank you!! line weight is where my question was headed, as i've seen 16lb upwards. wasn't sure of a good starting point. I'll let you know how i do.
I'm not sure exactly how you guys fish for them up there, but have you considered just using a spectra braid main line down to a weight (either a sinker or mojo-type lure head)? That is the way we do it down here.
I used to fish with lead core when I kived up in jersey many years ago, and using spectra with weight at the end is far superior in my opinion. If that will work with your fishing method, I would consider that over the lead core.
60# - 80# spectra is very thin and gets down thru the water as good as the much thicker lead core. And you don;t have the deterioration problem the lead presents.
fshsltwtr,
I don't know about striper but up here on the Lake Ontario and Erie leadcore is very popular. 27lb is the most common, I think all the heavier test lines use the same size lead wire and only the dacron or braided sheath is heavier causing the line to not get as deep.
http://www.4fishin.com/Lead%20Core.htm
The Cortland site says the 'grain'(1/15th gram) is measured 10ft intervals. It also says cortland only uses two sizes of insert, one for 14#, and one for everything larger, so it seems that all their lines would sink about the same, or the larger tests may be slightly slower because of the added bulk of the line.
fly lines are measured by the first 30 feet. a '500 grain line' has a sink rate of around 7.5 inches per second. The cortland line that is "125 grains per 10'" should sink about the same. (useless info to anyone other than fly-geeks making shooting heads)
Ive heard the reason Leadcore has been an institution in the Great lakes is from the days of trolling flies deep for trout/salmon, and still the need for light lures in the deep. (Imho) The reason it isnt used as much in the Atlantic for stripers is cause their pretty dumb, and will eat most any fish-shaped hunk of lead with a rubber tail,
thank you even more!! didn't have a chance yet to respool or head to the shop, but maybe i'll try using a drail that i have from my bottom fishing to start things off and see how that works. Just experimenting with different trolling methods and techniques. thanks again!!
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