Lead Core Reels and Rods

[bobberal]

This year I am going to try lead core line. Can anyone suggest Reels and Rods for trolling with lead core?

I currently use Daiwa SG27 line counters and Gary Roach Rods for flat line trolling and I am thinking I will need something else.

Can I use the 27’s for lead?

By the way, to get 10' back and 5' down what lb lead core do you use?

Thanks for the help

Al


"St Cloud Minnesota is a Packer Town"

The best all around fishing boat is owning two boats....

"We own the night"

[Driftr]

Hi Bobberal,
I like the Penn 209 reel and a Shimano TDR 8.6 rod. A very inexpensive outfit that works well for this. Also I use 18# leadcore.

Driftr

[interested]

Can you get a full 10 colors with a little bit of backing on a 209?

[coring]

I would get the 47lc or the Shimano Triton TR-200 and I also like the Triton downrigger rod 8'-6", I like the heavy action or atleast the med. model # 1803(heavy) 1802(med). You can buy the Triton combos for around $90. The TR200 will hold 100 yards of 18lb lead core.

[coring]

I would get the 47lc or the Shimano Triton TR-200 and I also like the Triton downrigger rod 8'-6", I like the heavy action or atleast the med. model # 1803(heavy) 1802(med). You can buy the Triton combos for around $90. The TR200 will hold 100 yards of 18lb lead core.

[Eyecrosser]

bobberal,

I use the 27lc for lead with out any problems. You can't quite get all of the last color on the reel, but I usually don't fish deeper than 30'-40'.

BTW, what's up with the St. Cloud is a packer town shot! LOL
I grew up in St. Cloud and there are a lot of normal people there as well!!

[bobberal]

Eyecrosser

Wisconsin Transplant... What can I say, I like to stir things up a bit with my Viking Fan friends.

Do you use a backing of line to start before you put the lead core on?

Al




"St Cloud Minnesota is a Packer Town"

The best all around fishing boat is owning two boats....

"We own the night"

[Todd_NE]

You can get almost 10 colors of 18# lead on a Daiwa 27???

I can't get all 10 on a 47

I like the 47 for lead because I like the linecounter. The Penn 310 is a great one for reeling it in a lot faster, much better reel for speed and ease of use.

I like Shimano TDR's in 9'. I think it's a 902 or something like that.
Todd

[Suzuki]

I can tell you my ambassador C3 doesn't hold as much as I would like.
For rods I went cheap. I got a Gander Mountain special in 8.5 foot medium heavy. I like how much the longer road absorbs weight but my friends can manage their 6 foot rods much better.

[Suzuki]

I can tell you my ambassador C3 doesn't hold as much as I would like.
For rods I went cheap. I got a Gander Mountain special in 8.5 foot medium heavy. I like how much the longer road absorbs weight but my friends can manage their 6 foot rods much better.

[Eyecrosser]

bobberal,

I can take it. I work with a guy who is acually from Green Bay!!! Talk about a homer!LOL How long have you been in St. Cloud? The wife and I are moving back in a month or so! Just look for the purple and you'll find me.

Anyway, I put some backing on, but not a lot. Just enough to keep the lead core from spinning on the spool, if you know what I mean.

Todd_NE,

Yes, I have no problem getting 9, well let's say 8 3/4 colors on my 27lc's. Like I told bobberal, I don't put on too much backing, maybe a dozen or so turns of the crank.

[Eyecrosser]

bobberal,

I can take it. I work with a guy who is acually from Green Bay!!! Talk about a homer!LOL How long have you been in St. Cloud? The wife and I are moving back in a month or so! Just look for the purple and you'll find me.

Anyway, I put some backing on, but not a lot. Just enough to keep the lead core from spinning on the spool, if you know what I mean.

Todd_NE,

Yes, I have no problem getting 9, well let's say 8 3/4 colors on my 27lc's. Like I told bobberal, I don't put on too much backing, maybe a dozen or so turns of the crank.

[bobberal]

Eyecrosser

At least you pick your friends right...lol.

I have a line on some 47lc's I can trade my 27's even up for but I don't know if I'll have room in my rod locker.

I doubt if i will ever be in over 40 feet too, so if I can keep the 27's that might be the better way.

Just trolling for advise.


Al

"St Cloud Minnesota is a Packer Town"

The best all around fishing boat is owning two boats....

"We own the night"

[bobberal]

Eyecrosser

At least you pick your friends right...lol.

I have a line on some 47lc's I can trade my 27's even up for but I don't know if I'll have room in my rod locker.

I doubt if i will ever be in over 40 feet too, so if I can keep the 27's that might be the better way.

Just trolling for advise.


Al

"St Cloud Minnesota is a Packer Town"

The best all around fishing boat is owning two boats....

"We own the night"

[retire55]

I've trolled for lake trout with leadcore line for over 20 years. I have always used a Penn 309 level wind reel (still use it cause it still works fine). With leadcore being coloured every 30 feet, I don't appreciate the need to spend extra dollars for a line counter reel. With respect to feet down vs feet back, I copied the following from a walleyecentral.com post sometime ago (sorry I can't remember who posted it) and the info will probably help.

Cortland uses two sizes of lead insert, one size for their 14# test, and a larger diameter for 18# to 60#. This means that except for 14#, the weight of the lead remains the same for all line strengths. The weight of the line (core and case) is measured in grains (gr) per 10 foot section: 14# - 46 gr, 18# - 110 gr, 27# - 114 gr, 36# - 118 gr, 45# - 124 gr, 60# - 131 gr. The minor differences in total weight are attributable solely to the weight of the casing (stronger, thicker, heavier). One (1) ounce equals 437.5 grains. Therefore 10 feet of 36# test line weights approximately 1/4 ounce.

What does all this mean to you, the leadcore line angler? You should select the minimum strength line you feel comfortable with (generally 18# -- 36#), and it won't have any impact on maximum depth. Keep in mind that stronger line, besides being more expensive, is thicker. Thicker line uses up reel capacity, thus limiting the total amount of the line you can spool. You need at least 100 yards of leadcore, 30 to 40 feet of leader and 50 or more yards of backing.

According to Cortland, extensive testing by charter captains in the Northwest has led to the following rule of thumb:

For 18# test and greater, at trolling speeds of .5 to 1.8 MPH, with a 10' mono leader and a light weight spoon, the line goes down 1 foot for every 6 let out. Put another way, the line drops 5 feet per color (Kerplunk changes color every 10 yards).

As in every trolling situation, water resistance increases with length, and eventually additional line out does not give you additional depth. It's reasonable to assume a full 100 yards of leadcore line takes you 40 to 45 feet down and 3 colors (30 yards) of "bird-core" (a leadcore line segment, used in place of a lead weight, for added depth behind a side planner) puts you 15 feet down.

According to Gudebrod, another manufacturer of leadcore line, after 25 feet of depth thermocline effects the sink rate ( the water density increases). They suggest 3 colors 15 feet down, 5 colors 25 feet, 8 colors 30 feet and 9 colors 35 feet.

[Gilligan]

I have both 18# and 27# both at the same $ and both are identical diameter. I have used micrometers to check several different # ratings as well as manufacturers and found them the same.

[Gilligan]

Hard to find a better reel than the Penns. My preferance is the 320's. Lots of capacity. I have some filled with 10 color and others with 6 segmented with lots of backing.

[Rippin_Eyes]

I have one of the rods that keith and gary came up with for Bass Pro. At 150 bucks it is nice rod and reel combo. I have the combo and plan on ordering 2 more.

[Driftr]

I would have to look to be sure but I think I can only get 7 colors on my 209's. Believe it or not, most of my leadcore fishing has been in 8 to 25 ft of water.

Jim

[walteye]

I switched to SG57 reels this winter, I put 150' of Fireline with 10 colors of 18# lead core, with 50' of fluorocarbon-with plenty of room to spare. I originally had SG47 reels- they did not hold all ten colors plus a backing. When I removed the lead core from these reels, I segmented it onto old spools so I could use it at different depths when the need arises. I spooled the new reels with new lead core- and can use the same poles, just changing the reels when I need to go deeper or shallower-especially with planer boards. The SG57 reels with the 10 colors does not work too well with boards when using only a couple of colors, the lead core hangs down in the water while trolling and catches too many waves.
Walteye

[pwrfshn]

Bobberal,

My choice for lead setups is a Tackle Plus Power Pak 415 and Daiwa Heartland Downrigger rod. You want something with a good backbone and that still is very forgiving because the lead don't stretch.

I'll either run a 50 fcarbon leader or very short Power Pro leader depending on the situation (open clear water with baords vs. contour trolling respectively).

The Power Paks are not that popular as they are an off brand that is much less expensive than an equivalent reel of the same quality. The Power Paks are a 3 + 1 bearing system, brass gears, and are the smoothest drags I have used next to the Penns, but almost identical. I don't like the heavy action rods for walleye or striper, those are more for big fish in big lakes IMHO. The medium action rods will give a better feel and not be so heavy in the hands.

Good luck,

[bobberal]

MexicoNM,

I have never hear of this reel. Tackle Plus Power Pak 415. Where did you find these? I did a google search and nothing came up close.

Al


"St Cloud Minnesota is a Packer Town"

The best all around fishing boat is owning two boats....

"We own the night"

[pwrfshn]

Al,

The Power Pak is an offshore made reel to spec from a wholesaler out of Arkansas that does all sorts of stuff. I tried the reels out last year on the Stripers and they were great. The local store picked them up because it is way better than a cheap line counter (Rhino, etc.) and costs about the same ~$55. The only drawback is meters, if these counted in feet, that is all I would use.

Let me know if you want to find some, I might no someone who has some. ;)

[ScottL]

Bobberal,

I'm trying lead for the first time this year, this is the setup I'm using Shakespeare Tidewater 30LCL with Daiwa Heartland
7'5" 2 piece planer board rods. Total package cost of under $70. I just spooled one of the reels today, and it holds all 10 colors without a problem. I don't have any experience with the Tidewaters, but I don't plan on using it every time out so I didn't want to spend alot to buy top end rods & reels. By the way I'm not that far from St. Cloud if you ever want to practice your lead core presentation. I'm willing to give it a try, and my brother in law is a Packer guy so I am use to it. LOL
Regards,

Scott Lee

Since there is six times as much water as dry land on earth, any fool
can plainly see the good Lord meant for man to fish six times as much as he works.

[bobberal]

Sounds Great Scott,

MexicoNM set me with a few reels he had. I to, did not want to invest a lot of $$ until I see how I like this presentation.

Scott Drop me a line sometime. What lakes do you fish?

Al




"St Cloud Minnesota is a Packer Town"

The best all around fishing boat is owning two boats....

"We own the night"

[BGunn]

Has anyone tried the Pflueger "Contender" G50HS with the 6.0:1 gears?
I am now using Penn 309's with the 3.0:1, and when trolling the deep water at the east end of Erie with 50' of fluorocarbon, 10 colors (300') and 60' of backer out to the planner boards, getting two in a row off the lead lines is not something you want to look forward to!
I just ordered 2 of the 47lc's with the 4.2:1 gears, and am going to give them a try, but the more I look at those Pflueger Contender HS's I'm beginning to wonder if they would be better.

This is why I fish more now, and hunt less.... it's easier to sneak reels into the house, than it is rifles!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"No matter where you go in life.......There you are!"

[LindyRigger]

Dick's sporting goods had Diawa LC47 and Heartland rod combo for $69. Is this a good price for this combo?

LindyRigger

[pwrfshn]

Screamin deal if you ask me.

I got rid of all my 47s because the drag was either off or locked down, didn't seem to have a lot of adjustment and with lead, that was a problem.