Leadcore Trolling rods

I know theres a few threads on this – but as new products come out and old ones fade out looking for opinions . Looking for a set of Leadcore rods to use on Pepin / Pool 4 . Would like to keep cost under 100 a rod . Okuma GLT Leadcore rods decent or too heavy ? Not a fan of the Scheels trolling rods I have . 2 piece or telescoping . 8.5-10 foot. As far as a leader I was planning on using a 6-10ft braid leader direct tied to the leadcore – then a micro swivel then 3-6 foot flouro. Thoughts and ideas ?

Thanks

Imo daiwa wilderness or shimano tdr will be plenty sufficient and come in well below your budget.

For a leader I just tie the lead sheath directly to my flourocarbon leader, no swivel and no extra length of braid in there. Experiment with different knots and find the one that works for you. Willis, blood, and double uni can all be effective. Different knots work better with different leadcore sheath. I find the more expensive of the 2 versions of suffix is easier to tie leaders to.

I went with a pair of the GLT’s end of this last season. I think they’ll work, but I notice I didn’t see the crank wobble with them like the buddies wilderness rods. Don’t think they’re too heavy, just not in tune with the cranks I was running.

I use the okuma GLT Downrigger medium light rods and like them. I have 30 series Convector reels with 30# cheep bulk braid backing leaving room for up to 10 color lead. I like a small swivel in front of some mono before a clip. Great for protecting the lead core from line twist from white bass, foul hooked sheepshead or whatever. Walleye, Lake Michigan Salmon, also drop off the lead and use for dipsey divers. Works for everything I need.

I have a few too many to remember all of them. I’ve got the Scheels more expensive ones (extreme or something like that?). IMO they are nice, but I can’t say they necessarily lead to more fish

I do know that if you are the casual lead line guy…the cheap Cabelas depth master combos put a lot of fish in the boat. I’m not a believer that for this application you need to break the bank. It’s all about knowing which specific crankbaits look like when they’re running in-tune and at speed on each setup.

I don’t generally use braid for leader, rather fluorocarbon. I also use a swivel rather than just a knot as I think it saves the crank from getting fouled at times…specifically with cottonwood fibers that hit your line and get pulled down towards the business end. In June when that crap is flying my swivel is generally a clump of it but the crank is more likely to stay clean behind it. If your are pulling current areas with tons of sediment I don’t think braid is a bad choice as water clarity is next to nothing and it’s a reaction bite. If you are pulling in the lake more and there haven’t been significant rains lately, that water can be surprisingly clearer at depths hence the fluoro. A buddy dives out there and often talks about how clear it can be at 6-8’ down in the lake compared to what it appears like on the surface as grass and debris washes around at the top.

Shoot me a PM if you ever want to compare notes or ideas. I’m out there a lot, and once the water temps get into the mid 50s I’m done sitting still or fishing slow. It’s cranks, cranks, and occasional bottom bouncers for me. The older I get, the less patience I have for working negative fish slowly in the boat. The river has s great walleye/sauger population, so I keep moving until I find the ones chowing.

buckybadger wrote:

I have a few too many to remember all of them. I’ve got the Scheels more expensive ones (extreme or something like that?). IMO they are nice, but I can’t say they necessarily lead to more fish

I do know that if you are the casual lead line guy…the cheap Cabelas depth master combos put a lot of fish in the boat. I’m not a believer that for this application you need to break the bank. It’s all about knowing which specific crankbaits look like when they’re running in-tune and at speed on each setup.

I don’t generally use braid for leader, rather fluorocarbon. I also use a swivel rather than just a knot as I think it saves the crank from getting fouled at times…specifically with cottonwood fibers that hit your line and get pulled down towards the business end. In June when that crap is flying my swivel is generally a clump of it but the crank is more likely to stay clean behind it. If your are pulling current areas with tons of sediment I don’t think braid is a bad choice as water clarity is next to nothing and it’s a reaction bite. If you are pulling in the lake more and there haven’t been significant rains lately, that water can be surprisingly clearer at depths hence the fluoro. A buddy dives out there and often talks about how clear it can be at 6-8’ down in the lake compared to what it appears like on the surface as grass and debris washes around at the top.

Shoot me a PM if you ever want to compare notes or ideas. I’m out there a lot, and once the water temps get into the mid 50s I’m done sitting still or fishing slow. It’s cranks, cranks, and occasional bottom bouncers for me. The older I get, the less patience I have for working negative fish slowly in the boat. The river has s great walleye/sauger population, so I keep moving until I find the ones chowing.

Maybe I should give the more expensive Scheels line another try. I have the cheaper version not the Xtremes. 2 reasons I don’t like the cheaper ones – #1 is they both don’t load the same when pulling the same crank on snap weights . One looks like it’s loaded up with weeds when the other doesn’t . Drives me nuts . #2 is the ends of the rod come off and the telescoping part shoots out the bottom the rod . I’ve glued them a few times but it’s aggravating .

Do you real the swivel through your eyes on your leader ? Or how long ya running . I’ll have to pm ya through the year see how it’s going out there .

isu22andy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
I have a few too many to remember all of them. I’ve got the Scheels more expensive ones (extreme or something like that?). IMO they are nice, but I can’t say they necessarily lead to more fish

I do know that if you are the casual lead line guy…the cheap Cabelas depth master combos put a lot of fish in the boat. I’m not a believer that for this application you need to break the bank. It’s all about knowing which specific crankbaits look like when they’re running in-tune and at speed on each setup.

I don’t generally use braid for leader, rather fluorocarbon. I also use a swivel rather than just a knot as I think it saves the crank from getting fouled at times…specifically with cottonwood fibers that hit your line and get pulled down towards the business end. In June when that crap is flying my swivel is generally a clump of it but the crank is more likely to stay clean behind it. If your are pulling current areas with tons of sediment I don’t think braid is a bad choice as water clarity is next to nothing and it’s a reaction bite. If you are pulling in the lake more and there haven’t been significant rains lately, that water can be surprisingly clearer at depths hence the fluoro. A buddy dives out there and often talks about how clear it can be at 6-8’ down in the lake compared to what it appears like on the surface as grass and debris washes around at the top.

Shoot me a PM if you ever want to compare notes or ideas. I’m out there a lot, and once the water temps get into the mid 50s I’m done sitting still or fishing slow. It’s cranks, cranks, and occasional bottom bouncers for me. The older I get, the less patience I have for working negative fish slowly in the boat. The river has s great walleye/sauger population, so I keep moving until I find the ones chowing.

Maybe I should give the more expensive Scheels line another try. I have the cheaper version not the Xtremes. 2 reasons I don’t like the cheaper ones – #1 is they both don’t load the same when pulling the same crank on snap weights . One looks like it’s loaded up with weeds when the other doesn’t . Drives me nuts . #2 is the ends of the rod come off and the telescoping part shoots out the bottom the rod . I’ve glued them a few times but it’s aggravating .

Do you real the swivel through your eyes on your leader ? Or how long ya running . I’ll have to pm ya through the year see how it’s going out there .

I only run about an 8′ leader. The swivel doesn’t go through the eyes intentionally but will fit. I’m always reminding people who come with when landing fish to NOT reel them in too far, and to just sweep the rod gently forward to pull it close enough to land instead of reeling swivels into the eyelets. If they do reel into the eyelets it’s not a big issue. I will carefully do it to stow them for travel with the leader.

I troll with leadcore alot and my favorite rods are Scheel’s and Jason Mitchell 10 1/2 footers. If they even make them in these lengths any more or not, I don’t know but I’ve always really liked them. I run 18 lb. leadcore attached to 6 to 8 ft. of 15 lb. Power Pro with a small swivels that will go through the smallest eyelet if reeled in too far for leaders. These setups have caught alot of walleyes for my wife and I in the past dozen years or so.
I troll heavy snapweights alot too along with leadcore and like 8 1/2 foot Scheels and Cablea’s Depth Master rods for that. If we can only troll 1 rod each, we’ll troll snapweights every time instead of leadcore because of the time it takes to let out and reel in leadcore vs snapweights and we’ve never noticed any difference in catch rate between the two methods.
I’ve never found any reason to break the bank on trolling rods either.
It all comes down to learning the ins and outs of your fishing equipment and making it all work together for you.