Leadcore Setups

I’m looking to get more into some lead core trolling this year and I thought who better to ask than the guys at IDO. I’m looking at the St. Croix Eyecon rods and also I’m looking to pair the two rods with either Daiwa Accudepths, Daiwa Sealines, Okuma Cold waters, or I might even consider the jump into the Tekotas.

I have a couple questions regarding the setups. For line, what pound test are a majority of you running for your lead? How long are the leaders that you tie? I would assume that would be based on water clarity.

As far as reels go, I would think that the 47 sized Sealines would be the ideal size for enough lead and backing? Are there any reels that I won’t be able to hear the clickers as well? I’ve heard that Tekotas have a very soft clicker sound. How many colors can I expect to get on a size 47 Daiwa or other similar reels? I will be fishing the lead anywhere from 20-40 ft.

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to gather as much info as possible from guys that use lead very frequently

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I’m looking to get more into some lead core trolling this year and I thought who better to ask than the guys at IDO. I’m looking at the St. Croix Eyecon rods and also I’m looking to pair the two rods with either Daiwa Accudepths, Daiwa Sealines, Okuma Cold waters, or I might even consider the jump into the Tekotas.

I have a couple questions regarding the setups. For line, what pound test are a majority of you running for your lead? How long are the leaders that you tie? I would assume that would be based on water clarity.

As far as reels go, I would think that the 47 sized Sealines would be the ideal size for enough lead and backing? Are there any reels that I won’t be able to hear the clickers as well? I’ve heard that Tekotas have a very soft clicker sound. How many colors can I expect to get on a size 47 Daiwa or other similar reels? I will be fishing the lead anywhere from 20-40 ft.

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to gather as much info as possible from guys that use lead very frequently

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Running 18 lb leadcore. Historically, that has been the highest strenght line, with the thinnest diameter, depth/strength combo is as good as it gets. Recently, Suffix introduced a leadcore that is thinner diameter. I have switched to that – but no time with it yet. If you like suffix products, their leadcore seems to be the hot commodity recently.

I run leaders that are the length of my rods, attached with a Willis knot. You can do it other ways, but I’ll suggest to choose one, and stick with it to get familiar and accustomed to it. Just have all leadcore rods setup the with the same leader length. The rod length leaders is simply what I chose, not any more right than another method.

Reels – I like to spool all 10 colors on a reel. With the 47 size, there is very little room for backing. Fleet Farm still carries the ADP57 reels – and I’m switching over to them. The 57 size will allow more flexibility on amount of backing, length of leader, and it’s surprising how much better they work to let line out. Fleet Farm is the only place I’ve seen the 57 size reels.

Leadcore reels are bulky – I keep the reels in a reel bag, off the rod, unless I know I’m going to use them that day. It does not take much time to attached the reel, and they store much better – for me anyway.

Stay away from the accudepth reals unless you like repairing them a lot. They are not built to last. I run sealine 47s for my leadcore. I spool them with 150 (yards I think but might be feet) of #20 braid for backing and then 10 colors of lead. I have learned that the vast majority of the time, I don’t use more than 6 colors, so I plan to respool them this year with Suffix 832 advanced leadcore and run 6 colors. Since the 832 runs deeper, that will still allow me to run up to 40+ feet and run more backing.

For leaders, I use about a 20 foot leader of braid because when I’m pulling lead, I’m usually running it right on the bottom through a lot of junk. If I was going to run it for suspended fish, I would change the leader out to a fluoro leader.

For rods, I run the jason mitchell lead core rods. They work well for me, but there are probably better or at least other good options out there.

Let’s start with the easiest question first… Last year I made the switch to 832 Advanced leadcore and hands down it is the best leadcore on the market. I also found that it really was 30% stronger and I reccomend running the 12# line unless you plan on using the same set-ups for salmon then I would go with 18#. This line has a smaller diameter than the traditional leadcore and you should be able to get the full 10 colors on a 47 reel.

For rods the St. Croix Eyecons are an awesome rod, but if you’re looking to squeeze the most out of your budget I’d say the rods are where you can save a few $$ as I also have some old cheaper trolling rods from cabelas that also work just fine for leadcore. Yes they are heavier and not as sensitive but for pulling lead your rod with be in the holder most of the time and the bend in your line takes away much of your “feel” anyway.

For the reel I think the best overall value are the Sealines as they are a much better reel than the Accudepth but still at a reasonable price. However, if you want to splurge on something the smoothness of the drag on the Tekotas is very very nice compared to lesser reels… To me this is not as important for leadcore as for long-lining cranks but still very nice to have.

For the leader I personally think longer can make a big difference on clear sunny days so I go with a 30′ flourocarbin leader (30′ because it’s equivalent to 1 color of lead and makes for easy math if you’re trying to figure out depth) I used to use the willis knot to attach my leader as well, but lost one big fish where the knot failed and ended up going back to using a very small swivel because it’s much easier to tie quickly and correctly while on the water.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions

I run a 10XT leader anywhere from 50′ to my more normal 8-10′ in the river. 10XT is some strong stuff, and provides some stretch. I feel like I lose a lot less fish on my leadcore rods with XT than the ones with braid.

Do yourself a favor, get ahold of Dean and get a couple of the limit creek shorties. Best thing I ever did to expand my leadcore arsenal. Those little guys allow me to run 4 leadcore rods without the typical basket weaving.

I’ll probably switch over to the suffix stuff this year. I do run some accudepths, and really haven’t had problems with hundreds of hours on them. I will agree that the sealines are better though. One of the best 8′ leadcore rods I have is a Perigrine with the orange tip. I can really see a #5 flicker shad working that rod tip.

Hey guys I might be making the switch to that new suffix leadcore this year. At 2 mph what’s the depth per color. I know on other leadcore 1 color of lead equals 5 ft of water. Thanks for the help

The number I’ve seen thrown around on 832 is 7 feet per color.

I like Ugly Sticks for lead. I have two but my favorite is an 8’6″ medium heavy. CAS 1186-2MH $59

I have an Okuma reel. Its huge but fishing on the Croix requires lots of colors. I dont have line counter on my lead rods and just rely on counting colors. Line counters would be nicer. I also have a 7 foot Ugly stick. The size is nice and manueverable in the boat but the butt section is short and I dont like that. I dont leadcore that much so I try to put innexpensive rigs together.

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For rods, I run the jason mitchell lead core rods. They work well for me, but there are probably better or at least other good options out there.

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Which Jason Mitchell rods are you running, the 8’6″ Telescopic?

I have always ran 18 lbs. test leadcore. It has been the best for our set up and use. We have used many different rod types but the one we like best is the Jason Mitchell 7 footer. We then pair the rod with a Penn 209. I still use my dads that was made in the 50’s.

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For rods, I run the jason mitchell lead core rods. They work well for me, but there are probably better or at least other good options out there.

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Which Jason Mitchell rods are you running, the 8’6″ Telescopic?

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I run a set of 5 foot shorties and a set of the 8’6″.

If you are going to use braid or other slick superline such as Fireline Crystal for a leader I recommend that you do NOT use a Willis Knot. It’s great for mono or Floro leaders however, I have had multiple failures on fireline leaders with the Willis knot. The knot I use to join leadcore to a “superline” leader is fast, strong, easy to tie quickly in the boat and I’ve never had a failure – even on salmon it holds up.

To tie a Fireline leader to leadcore:

1. simply tie an overhand knot in the leadcore line about an inch from the end and pull tight. (you can double this to make a bigger bump in the line if it makes you feel better about it)

2. take about 12″ of your leader line, double it and tie a loose overhand knot – do not pull tight

3.take the leadcore end with the overhand knot in it and thread it up through the end loop and down though the main loop formed by the loose overhand knot in your leader until several inches of tag end are through

4. grasp the knotted tag end of the leadcore along with the leadcore line in one hand, and grasp the doubled over leader in the other, moisten and pull tight.

5. trim the tag ends near the knot

If it makes you feel better you can put a drop of superglue on the knot as well.

(this will not hold up with mono)

How well do the newer Jason Mitchell Elite Rods perform when pulling lead? I know that the rods haven’t been out that long, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the new rods. I would think that they would be a good rod for pulling lead, I am just not sure what to think of them…