# Lead core for dummies



## Jim_MI (Jul 9, 2012)

I kayak fish on Lk MI. Often I will mark large fish 80+ ft down. Downriggers is not an option on my kayak. For the past few years I had been pulling out my Torpedo Divers in this situation, as the 12 oz Cuda model will get me down there, but it puts a lot of strain on the rod. This year I spooled 20 colors of Suffix 832 Lead Core onto my biggest reel, tipped it with 50 ft of fluoro leader and am trying to get used to fishing for these deep ones using lead core. A few days ago I was marking lakers near the bottom in East GT Bay in 95-100 FOW. I put out 15 colors which I figured should put me around 90 ft. I trolled along with no problems, but when I got into some shallower water I was pulling in some line and it just felt different. I retrieved all 500 ft of line and found a nice laker on the end. I don't know how long I had been dragging him around. I figure that the long bow in that much line just took up whatever shake or pull the fish would have transmitted to my rod under other conditions. So what's the best strategy when fishing leadcore that deep? A friend suggests adding inline or dropper weights along the leader. Other suggestions?


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## davesolson (Apr 9, 2011)

I also kayak fish on Lake Michigan mainly in East and West GT Bay. I live a couple blocks from the water. I have tried lead core, snap weights, Torpedo divers and have not found a solution I really am satisfied with to get down below 50 feet. I also tried wire a couple years ago and that proved to be a tangled disaster. With twenty colors of lead out, that is a tremendous amount of stress on the rod and I have not found a way to keep my rod in a mount due to the horizontal load on a rod sticking out from the side. I have caught a lot of salmon in the fall, but have to keep the rod tip almost straight ahead or back to paddle at all effectively. I now use snap weights of about 4-8oz or the Torpedo diver, but prefer this time of year when the lakers, right now, are in shallow 10-20 feet of water and easily accessible to light weight spinning rods on standard rod mounts.


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## Jim_MI (Jul 9, 2012)

Thanks for the follow-up, Jim. I hope our paths cross out on the big lake this summer sometime. I am in a Hobie Pro Angler, so paddling with 15 colors out was not so much of a problem as the Mirage Drive has my legs doing all the work. I had hoped to find some browns or lakers in shallow as you say, but did not mark anything until I was out pretty deep. I was using my 8'6" Med-Heavy salmon rod, so the rod was not stressed much, but was also not at all sensitive to the bite 500 ft behind.


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## sswhitelightning (Dec 14, 2004)

How do u like the 832? I decided to go 60# copper instead, but the 832 was calling my name. Maybe later. What reel did u spoon yours on?


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


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## slightofhand (Jul 21, 2010)

60lb Copper from Blood Run will get you down 90' at 400' of line out...2.3 or so gps speed. That will be your deepest with least amount of line out without snapping something else on your line and guessing at depth.

You will need a Okuma Soltera 50L for that however. You are looking at about 550' of 45lb or 32lb copper to get you down that far..you could use a smaller reel however.


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## Jim_MI (Jul 9, 2012)

sswhitelightning said:


> How do u like the 832? I decided to go 60# copper instead, but the 832 was calling my name. Maybe later. What reel did u spoon yours on?
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


Whitelightning - I spooled onto an Okuma CLR-450D linecounter. Ended up with about 100' of 20# mono for backing, then 20 colors (600') of 18# Suffix Advanced Lead Core, then squeezed in another 50' of 20# Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon leader. That's a very full reel but it holds it all. This is my first experience with lead core. I find it troublesome. In my kayak, the rods face out to the sides rather than off the transom as is usual for a "real boat". Consequently, the line has to make an immediate 90-deg or tighter angle as it comes off the rod tip. The suffix is stiff enough that there is a good bit of resistance to this when playing the line out. I have adapted by pointing the rod tip aft, freespooling out what I need, setting my reel drag and clicker, and only then parking the rod in the holder. I also like to minimize that angle when pulling my line in so as to avoid kinks and wear. Because I usually have one other line out and don't want to turn turn the kayak to retrieve the lead core, I end up holding the rod over my shoulder and reeling in with the butt end forward and the tip aft. The lead core has caught a few nice fish that I would not otherwise have access to, but it is still an awkward learning experience at this point.


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