Trolling is confusing?

[Mike7759]

This is a simple technique that has somehow got confusing. I just bought a new kicker that is supposed to be here soon. I have a trip to Fort Peck planned for week after next and again memorial day week. I like trolling and plan to do al ot of it.

Problems?

I have to spool up some leadcore on 4 reels. One place I looked at said that leadcore drops a lure 5 feet per color another said 10 ft per color. One guy lets out 8-9 colors and another only spools up 3 on his reel.

I hope the last guy is right because I don't think my reels can hold that much.

So help a brother out. I would like to spool up 3 colors with a heavy mono backing so the boards work better. With lipped baits I should be able to get plenty deep that way right?

Also, some advocate a 50 ft leader, others 10 ft. So which is it?

I have snap weights, dipsies, even a down rigger.

I have in-line boards and a mast and big boards.

All advise appreciated. I'm reading everything I can find, but once you elliminate the commericials they don't tell you much.

Mike

[locomoto]

Do you have a copy of Precision Trolling? If not....get it. There are a few variables in trolling. Leadcore and speed not to mention what lure you are running. I don't run any leadcore but I only have 4 trolling rods and reels. I'm rigged with 12# Big Game and if I need to run deeper I just use snapweights. I'm not knocking leadcore I'm just saying if you have a limited number of rods like I do that you can fish the mono set ups in shallow and deep water but if you only have leadcore setups then you're pretty well out of luck for the shallow game.

I don't know the level of experience you have with trolling so maybe you already know some of this....or maybe I just confused you more. At any rate Precision Trolling will answer all of your questions.

[Lake Wisconsin]

How deep are the fish you are targeting? If in the 3-15' range, just run mono. You are adding a lot of complication IMHO depending on how deep you need to go. Lead core can be great, but it is more difficult to run versus strait 10# mono, folling the precision trolling book.

[rps]

The depth lead core adds depends on the speed you troll. At 2 mph, the heavy line will add 4 to 5 feet per color. You will have to experiment to see which number is more accurate for your boat. Turns can alter speed and therefore depth.

[Mike7759]

Originally Posted by locomoto

Do you have a copy of Precision Trolling? If not....get it. At any rate Precision Trolling will answer all of your questions.

Almost impossible to find and very expensive, but good advice. Thanks

Mike

[Mike7759]

I have 4 trolling rods and 8 reels. All linecounters, 4 for leadcore and the others have fireline. I like mono better but was running at high speeds last year and had twisting problems. With the new kicker I might switch back, but fireline will go deeper.

I will probably be running at 1-1.5 mph this time of year. Depths will depend on where the fish are. I do plan to do some open water trolling because there are some mules following the ciscos and this time of year the lake trout and salmon are shallower, might be a bonus fish to be had. I would guess the open water fish depth would be 25-40 feet. If the water is clear the 40 ft fish will come up 10-15 feet to hit a bait. So for deep water I'll be targeting 25 ft I guess. I might run a 40ft bait on the down rigger. On the inside lines (shore side) I plan to run 5-8 ft (no leadcore obviously) and 10-12 ft. I will start out at least 200 yards from shore. So anywhoo, I need to know if 3 colors on the reel will get a flicker shad or shad rap to 25 ft and how long do you run for a leader off leadcore. My leader will be 15lb flouro.

Keep in mind, this is a scouting trip and plan this for the first day. If it doesn't work out the next day I will be bouncing and jigging main lake points closer to shore. If that doesn't work, then I will be jigging and cranking the backs of bays. Two weeks later I'm going to be up there for 10 days.

Mike

[Rough House]

Mike. Leadcore will roughly get you 5 ft. per color. Very speed dependent though. So 3 colors will get you down about 15 feet around 1-2mph. With a flickershad or shad rap you should be close to where you want to be at the speed you said above. Dont forget you can always add a little weight if you dont think your getting deep enough. 1 oz of weight also gives you roughly 5 ft.
I run 5 color on lake erie and sometimes add up to 3 ounces of weight depending on how deep the eyes are. I add weight instead of spooling up more colors on a reel to keep my lead lengths short. I put the weight right were the leader meets the leadcore and i use a 50ft. fluro leader.
Speed is a big deal though. But if your running what you stated above you should be fine. We run between 1.8 and 2.5mph and our setup works awesome.

[thump55]

Yes, three colors will easily get those baits to 25 feet (you may need to let some extra mono out depending on your speed).

I run a 50' leader on stickbaits, but if you are using a bait that dives deeper like a shad rap, I think you can easily go shorter like 20-30 feet. My preference is to have the bait 4-5' deeper than the end of my leadcore line.

You may want to consider only using 2 colors of lead. You can always let more mono out behind the lead to get deeper, but you can't shorten up on three colors without clipping on the lead.

[locomoto]

Originally Posted by Mike7759

So anywhoo, I need to know if 3 colors on the reel will get a flicker shad or shad rap to 25 ft and how long do you run for a leader off leadcore. My leader will be 15lb flouro.

Mike

I can't speak for the floro leader but 3 colors of 18# lead with a 50ft 10# mono leader will get a #5 Flicker Shad down to 25 ft with 45-48ft of 10# backing let out beyond the lead at 1.0-1.5 mph. Maybe 40ft beyond the lead for a #5 Shad Rap.

That should be a starting point anyway.
Good Luck

[Mike7759]

Thanks, that's very helpful, all of you. My concerns with spooling up more than 3 colors was the effects of the extra on the planer boards. By running only 3 colors I can clip the boards to a mono backing.

I may run 2 colors on a couple of the reels like suggested by Thump and snap weights if I need to go deeper.

Mike