Mono,braid,leadcore and snapweights

[Texeye]

For the trollers out there...I know some of you and some I don't know ,but value opinions on here so here it goes. I have a couple of questions.

1. Why use lead core when you can use snap weights? What is the advantage of LC?

2. I think KGone uses mono instead of braid? I like the idea of forgiveness. I tried mono on bouncers and felt the give was an asset when fighting fish and often a better hook set. I felt I sacrificed feel so there is a trade off. Is mono the way to go when long lining or for that matter all trolling?

I ask because I don't want to carry 8 reels(4 with lc,4 with mono or braid) or having to respool every time I think the lake or river calls for different type of trolling. Maybe the big question is this: Will one line work for all types of trolling?

Thanks

[Gotfish]

When fishing deeper water I will usually start out with two leadcore and two snap weights. Some days leadcore will out produce and other days snap weights will. I can't explain it other than the lure reacts slightly different and any given day the fish want something different.

When prefishing the MWC on Waubay my partner pulled lead in 6 - 20 ft (I know the question...lead in 6 feet?) in his boat and I pulled fireline in 6 - 12 in mine and he definitely caught more and bigger fish prefishing.

During the tournament we pulled lead.

I hate to say it but I have 4 lead rod/reels and 6 rod/reels for mono and fireline. It gets expensive but you never know.

Brian

[Texeye]

Brian, to really be able to adapt you are probably right. I have 4 LC reels and before I bought 4 more I thought I would see how some of you felt.

Thanks.

[rebs]

I just wanted to add my thought befor you buy more reels. I do not use a Line counter for lead core.
I have a reel with 7 colors and a 50 ft leader, another reel with 5 color and 50ft leader and a reel with 3 colors and a 50ft leader. After the lead core is out I count the passes of the level wind to know how much line I have out.

I have 2 line counters with mono and a flouro leader and 2 line counters with braid for pulling dypsys, in a pinch I will use a mono spooled line counter fo dypsys
If I am not pulling dypsys I will add a 50ft leader to the braid line counters
I also use snap weights.

[Texeye]

Rebs, do most run 50ft. leaders? Is 5 ft./color still the rule of thumb with 50ft.leader?

Thanks

[Burr]

Lead core and snap weights are simply 2 different presentations, more so than a slight change in a single presentation.

Jets are not the same as dispsy divers, which are the same as slide divers.

Like you, I'd like to not carry so many reels with different line, but it ends up making a difference some days. I really hate it when the one I would like to eliminate - mono - works better than the others. I hate mono, but some days....

You asked about leader length, all I ever run is 1-2 rod lengths for a leader. Just make sure you have exact matching sets. The new Diawa AD Plus in the 57 size works well for all 10 colors. My 47 Accudepth seems to fit 10 colors better than my 47 SG - seems odd to me. I'll be adding a couple 57's this year to the reel bags. Like you mentioned, I have limited rods, but lots of reels.

[MikeMT]

A question for those who use snapweights.Considering the crankbait size and running depth,have you tried heavy weights\short(er) leaders or light weights\long(er) leaders?My desire is to locate active fish quickly as fast as possible in depths from 10'-50'.
Thanks Mike

[ShadBuster UL]

For the trollers out there...I know some of you and some I don't know ,but value opinions on here so here it goes. I have a couple of questions.

1. Why use lead core when you can use snap weights? What is the advantage of LC?

2. I think KGone uses mono instead of braid? I like the idea of forgiveness. I tried mono on bouncers and felt the give was an asset when fighting fish and often a better hook set. I felt I sacrificed feel so there is a trade off. Is mono the way to go when long lining or for that matter all trolling?

I ask because I don't want to carry 8 reels(4 with lc,4 with mono or braid) or having to respool every time I think the lake or river calls for different type of trolling. Maybe the big question is this: Will one line work for all types of trolling?

Thanks

1. Lead core is your ultimate stealth presentation. Your baits are far enough from the boat you don't have to worry about spooking the fish as much. Plus a lot of fisherman will have a tough time figuring out exactly where you are getting the hookups at.:) Lead core follows the contours. I have caught fish with lead core alongside guys that were just using snap weights and they got blanked.

[sdlabman]

I use lead core for 25 foot or less, use snap weights anything more than 30 foot deep. Rule of thumb I use I guess.

Although, I do run two 12 foot- crystal firelines, w/ snaps out the sides, and two shorty 5 foot- lead cores off the rear. This is my "preferred" method... Depends on my mood i suppose. :rock-on:

[Texeye]

Good stuff.

[tracker 1]

Are any of you guys Jerking the leadcore ? Some days thats the only way to get them to hit. Why are the leadcore rods so short ?

[dh99]

Are any of you guys Jerking the leadcore ? Some days thats the only way to get them to hit. Why are the leadcore rods so short ?


The lake I fish we handline the leadcore and jerk it, then reel them in. Sometimes it works great other times just trolling with the rod in the holder is better.

[M Whit]

I also did not want to have 8 or 10 line counter combos lying around. It has been my experience that:

1) Mono works best for pulling boards (both in line weigths and cranks)

2) I learned this year that braid works MUCH better when pulling dipsy divers.

3) I have only used leadcore a little bit (not enough to comment).

4) I do not use snap weights enough to comment.

[wimwuen unlogged]

Here are the benefits I see to leadcore.

1. It follows the contours very well
2. It follows the path of the boat very well
3. You do not have an extra piece of equipment to remove before netting a fish
4. You don't get as much bow in your line as you will from a snap weight
5. You can release line without adding the snap weight (takes less time)

Here are the benefits to snap weights
1. You don't need any additional reels, or special rods
2. You can increase weight to reach greater depths with less line out
3. You can fit all the snap weights you need in a small box

Personally I prefer leadcore, because everythings rolled up in one neat package, and it's easy to walk somebody new to it through. I can say let out 3 colors, and they are able to do exactly what I ask. I troll leadcore as often as possible, and fall leadcore trolling on the Mississippi is my absolute favorite way to fish.

[sdlabman]

Are any of you guys Jerking the leadcore ? Some days thats the only way to get them to hit. Why are the leadcore rods so short ?


With 2 shorter leadcore rods I find it much easier to work with, and trail leadcore w/o tangles w/ other rods. 12 ft. rods out the sides- 5 ft. rods directly out the rear, the combination works very well, all rods avoid each other and a potential mess.

[MikeMT]

A couple of posters mention your preference of leadcore for contour trolling,are your cranks banging bottom regardless of depth or are you matching speed to depth,ie;fast\shallow,slow\deep?

For those that use leadcore as much as possible,do run primarily small lures or will you use big cranks that are shallow runners or deep divers with short lines?

Thanks Mike

[keek]

I just recently started using lead core so the following is from a gumby's point of view.

I have a segmented set-up with 3 colors and a 16' leader of 14' fireline terminating to a duo-lock snap. I have 14' fireline backing as well. The river I fish is no deeper than 28'.

I've been using a 4 1/2" floating minnow with a very shallow lip that will provide some dive. It might be a Yozuri or even a no-name stickbait or something. I have also been pulling a 2" minnow with the same small diver lip.

Running this set-up at about 2mph with the current using the trolling motor. I've been chuggin' the line by hand and just letting it drag. Seems to be getting more hits when I leave it alone.

It's 28' cortland lead core.

Having a blast learning, hope you do too!

[wimwuen unlogged]

To adjust depths, I usually fluctuate my speed. 1 color at 1mph usually gets me 7-8 ft, but at 2mph I only get 5 feet per color. That is of course against a normal current on the Mississippi.

[Chad]

Texeye,

You have received a lot of good info so far. I have a few things to add for ya. We have all three set ups. Lead, mono and fireline.

We rarely use mono as most of our trolling is in rivers. We use mono if we are trolling boards and trolling suspended fish. Good example is the great lakes.

Fireline-we get a good read on the bait and how it is running. Fireline transmits the info to the rod good which is nice when there are leafs in the water or other crap. If we are trolling big baits we use fireline. Reef runners, #7 shad raps, etc.. One benefit of fireline is that I can get the bait out a lot faster than leadcore. Lots of times I cast the baits out. This can be important as more time in the water means more fish.

If we are trolling small baits we usually run leadcore. #5 shad raps, flicker shads, hornets. We use big baits too. One of leadcore cons is if you stop it sinks to the bottom and can hang up. Not good if lots of snags. It is also slow to deploy. I am guessing it is because of the friction of the Dacron covering on the eyes and the weight of the line. Leadcore will provide you the most accurate way of controlling your lure depth other than using downriggers. It provides the most consistent speed in waves too.

Snap weights……we never use them. I wont say we will never use them as we have not fished the great lakes much. Trolling suspended spinners with boards could call for snap weights. If you have other ways to present the bait why complicate things. Keep things as simple as possible.

[Chad]

A couple of posters mention your preference of leadcore for contour trolling,are your cranks banging bottom regardless of depth or are you matching speed to depth,ie;fast\shallow,slow\deep?

For those that use leadcore as much as possible,do run primarily small lures or will you use big cranks that are shallow runners or deep divers with short lines?

Thanks Mike

You have to let the fish tell you what they want. Sometimes the fish are just off the bottom sometimes on the bottom. Sometimes they want the lure ticking a little sometimes not. Depends whats on bottom too.

We use a lot of smaller lures. In the fall we can use larger baits but then we use fireline. Fireline can be deployed quicker. I may need a little more line but I can get fireline out faster thean lead.