Anglers Experienced in Tubing with Lead Core

[JapanRon]

Hey there guys,

Need a little advice. I slow troll and 9wt outfit with sinking line and a pretty heavy front end (350 grains) to fish 4 inch plus flies/streamers with no problem.

I'm looking to fish a coupla lakes where the trout habitually suspend around 50~70 feet. I'm interested in fishing lead core line to get some small spoons and mini plugs down deeper. I've done my homework and lead core how it works, sink rate, how much line out to get so deep, line resistance and this and that. It LOOKS like 18 pound rated lead core has less drag/resistance than my fly rod outfit! To troll effectively with lead core you need to flip 0.5 to 1.5 mph which in good conditions would be not to hard to do for a few hours. Being a pilot, I understand the difference between air speed and true air or ground speed! ha ha

Has anyone on the board had experience using lead core to pull spoons or mini divers? Looks good on stats/paper but...

Thanks,

JapanRon
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[Coldfooter]

Why not simply use a 3/4 once bottom bouncer to get down? Just a thought, but I've used them at a couple place (like the Gorge, and Powel) and it seems to work out quite well with no more speed that I tube troll. I commonly run back 6 feet from the bottom bouncer to the lure. Whats more I twisted a small loop in the wire that normally drags the bottom on the bouncer and attached a swivel and small flasher to the wire. To this point I'm not sure if it helps or hinders.
I have considered using lead core too tho'.
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[JapanRon]

Hi there Coldfooter,

In answer to your question, because:

1) As a sinker's 'pull-down' point tends to drag a bait or lure from 'that' position along the line, the line angle in not uniform throughout the length of the lne in the water column. I have a hunch this messes with the natural action of the plug or spoon.

2) Many lead core guys use these long 20 and 30 foot leaders to troll. Again.... to try to make the forward motion natural as opposed to being dragged with a taught line.

3) I don't have any lead core line and I want an excuse to go buy it and set up a trip. Ya ..... I'm a stubborn cuss but I'll bet there's somewhere out there than's done what I'd like to try. Well..... that's what I claim anyways.

Thank you for the good info on one good method.

JapanRon
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[Coldfooter]

I've used Lead core for many a moon from boats and believe it gets a fairly good sized arch too the deeper and faster ya run it. I doubt whether at best 6 colors gives a guy more than 30 -35 feet at best. Seems to me the rule of thumb was 6 feet of color gives a guy 1 foot of depth. I could be wrong.
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[JapanRon]

Hi again Coldfooter,

Thank you again for the kind attention. Yep, as you well know, it's 6 foot out 1 foot down.... problem is that....at that rate, is there anything at the end of the line that will 'help' the line plunge deeper or not? I saw nothing in my surfing that gave me an estimated depth of the line when using an 1 1/2 ~ 2 inch rapala mini minnow or spoon.

I'll bet you would be the man to go lead core lining with and experiment.

I guess that wire line is about the best answer to the line bowing business. I read some comments on guides fishing the Great Lakes and deep trolling.

Thanks for your help,

JapanRon
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[Bigfishrule]

I respooled my lead core last year. On the box was a guide on how deep your line went per color, while trolling at normal speed ( i think this was about 2 mph). With each color being 30 feet. The first color you would be 12 feet deep, second color 20 feet deep, third color 26 feet deep, fourth color 30 feet, fifth color 35 feet deep and so on at feet per color. The more lead core you have out the more lift you will get on your line. In a tube with just one color hooked to your main line as a weight you will get more depth.

John
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