Lead core line

[seadog]

After years of fishing wire for spoons I switched to braid a couple of years ago. Not completely happy with it. Now I, thinking of going to lead core. Sinks better and is color coded for depth. Also thinking of getting away from the Penn HSP 113 and switching to either Tekota 800 ( not in love with the star drag) or TLD 25 ( problem there is people reeling in and balling up line). Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.

[HydraSportsPT]

I set both wire and braid out - I can tell you that over 2 years the wire out performs my baid - always. I just took the braid off and went to 2 wires. Strictly speaking umbrellas, not spoons or deep divers.

Curious about lead core as well - softer n less kinks is all I can gather.

[Andreas Toy]

Used leadcore for years, gets brittle after a few
Years. Dont like wire and braid not as accurate,
May go back to it next year

[Capt. Lou]

Stick with wire for spoon in' , this will get the depth & accuracy due to its diameter & weight .
Lead core has always been a mid depth line due to its diameter . There are new LD cores on the market that are thinner & stronger then any previous product , may get the job done .
However lead core has the penchant to stretch & sometimes the led core may separate ' possibly create a weak link!
Umbrellas & plugs LD can be fine in some cicimstsnces otherwise spoon action & depth on the money with wire ! The lack of stretch in wire enables the spoon to achieve steady pulse , can be critical in smaller lighter boats that are held by wave action!
Rods very important to match with wire dragging spoons , they can make or break UR presentation !
U should log all depths achieved , with various current & seas conditions & u will be fine !
Tony Majas got it right with his product line. !!

[Dave A]

Originally Posted by seadog

After years of fishing wire for spoons I switched to braid a couple of years ago. Not completely happy with it. Now I, thinking of going to lead core. Sinks better and is color coded for depth. Also thinking of getting away from the Penn HSP 113 and switching to either Tekota 800 ( not in love with the star drag) or TLD 25 ( problem there is people reeling in and balling up line). Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.

We have been spooling up more and more lead core each year with very good results. It does not sink as deep as wire but that is easily remedied by either letting out a little more or adding a drail. I have customers using it for 3 seasons now without a failure and one of them fishes at least 3 times a week. As for reels, I would recommend either the Shimano Tekota 800 or the Penn Fathom 60LW. Both of these reels are workhorses!

[Captain Rich]

Everybody hates wire line, spoons, and Penn 113's.....except the big cows

[Gerry Zagorski]

I tried using it several years ago... Maybe things have changed but the diameter of the line back then was too thick and when pulling it the resistance against the water would make it ride up to too high up in the water column.

Not a big fan of wire either but the smaller diameter and sinking qualities makes it good for trolling deep. The no stretch also transfers the rod tip action to your lure making it a good choice for Bunker spoons.

[NoLimit]

We had to work some real tight circles to present the umbrellas just right. The bass were so full, it was hard to get them to hit.

That meant using wire to get the lines down fast and short since longer lines would have meant more crossed lines in the turns.

[Capt Sal]

One thing is for sure,you can't put braid on one side and wire on the other.I find you need to put too much braid out to get down deep.Wire and a drail and you only need 100' in 30' of water.I do like braid for stretch plugs.We use yellow and a black magic marker to get out exactly the same each pull.I have tried the lead core and do not care for it.Pulling wire is not my favorite way of striper fishing but it sure works!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Here is an article I dusted off on Wireline Trolling. Hope it helps.


Many people, including yours truly, hate to troll. My brother Joe actually despises it. He says “ Id rather go to the Dentist”. However, in certain conditions wire line trolling can be one of the most effective ways to catch Stripers. This is especially true when the tide is not moving or there are no concentrations of fish or bait for you to set up on and drift or anchor and chunk.

Trolling allows you to cover more ground and find the fish and it keeps your lures moving when the tide slacks. In addition, it’s no secret that the larger fish are usually on the edges or at the bottom of a school. Just like us, larger/older fish are usually less aggressive, smarter and more opportunistic feeders then the youngsters. They tend to let the youngsters chase the bait around and casually feed on the bait that falls through the school to the bottom.

The reason wire line trolling in particular produces so well is because it allows you to get trolled baits deeper down in the water column then monofilament lines. The reason for this is that it’s heavier and sinks faster and it has a smaller diameter so it has less resistance in the water. A lot of people are also using braided line instead of wire these days. Like wire line braid has a smaller diameter and no stretch qualities, however it does not sink as well as wire since it is not as heavy. This can be cured with some extra inline trolling drail weights.


OK… Let’s switch to what equipment you will need….

I prefer to use a 7-foot pole with a soft tip and Carbaloy guides. The soft tip gives bunker spoons the action needed to be effective and Carbaloy guides are needed because wire line will tear through softer material guides. I also recommend using 300 feet of 30LB Monel wire line backed by a hundred yards of 30 lb mono. Join the 2 with a barrel swivel small enough to pass through your reel and rod guides. I don’t like Stainless since it kinks too easy and is difficult to handle. At the end of the wire use a haywire twist http://www.cptdave.com/haywire-twist.html to join a beaded chain swivel (this helps reduce line twist) and an 8-10 foot length of 50lb leader material. At the end of the leader get a 100lb test snap swivel and this is where you will connect your trolling lures. If you’re using braid or your wire line is still riding up to high in the water column replace the beaded chain swivel with a beaded trolling drail weight.


For wire line reels I recommend the Penn 113H or the Penn 330 GTI.
The 113H has a chrome spool, which is desired because it reduces the effects of the wire corroding the spool. I also like the 330 GTI because it has a line guide and makes it easy to get the wire back on the spool evenly when you’re reeling in. Although it has an aluminum spool the line guide can be used count how many feet of line you have out. The way you do this is to pull line off the reel and watch the line guide. Went it moves from one side to the other measure the amount of line it took then you can count how many times the line guide passes from side to side to judge the amount of line you have out. With out a line guide your stuck marking you wire every 50 feet so you can tell how much line you have out. Some wire line companies are pre-marking their lines. If you don’t have pre marked line you can use a small piece of telephone wire wrapped tightly around the line to mark it. The amount of line you have out is important but we will get to that later…..


Now that your all rigged up let’s get to the fun part. How to troll….

First of all it’s best to troll in an area where there are or there is likely to be fish (duh)
If your not marking fish on your sounder or seeing any birds I would concentrate on channel edges or any other structures like rips or tide lines you can find. Pay close attention to the depth of the area because here is where the wire line markings come in handy…. I typically like to troll the bottom 1/3rd of the water column. The general rule of thumb for wire is that it will sink at the rate of 1 foot of depth for every 10 feet of wire you have out. If your desired depth were 10 feet you’d want to have 100 feet of wire out. If your line isn’t marked then I would let enough line out so that your making contact with the bottom and then crank some line in so your running near the bottom. However, if your marking fish on your sounder pretty consistently at 20 feet you’d want 200 feet of wire out. Once you get the desired amount of line out you want to put your reel in free spool with the clicker on and adjust the line tension just tight enough so no line is coming off the reel. Put the rod in the holder or better yet out rodders. They keep the poles lower to the water and spread out further which tends to make the lines run deeper and keeps them from getting tangled when making turns

What and how to troll

Trolling speed and direction are very important. General rule is slow for Stripers, usually 2 knots or under. If you’re using Bunker spoons I would ignore the speedometer and look at the rod tip to determine the correct speed. When your pulling a bunker spoon at the correct speed the rod tip should be pulsing up and down and move from side to side once and a while. If your rod is constantly pulsing your spoon is spinning and that’s not good As far as direction is concerned this is somewhat trial and error since there are so many variables like current wind. In general it’s best to be either trolling with or across the direction of the current and make lazy S turns with your boat. Pay close attention to your direction when you hook up because often times the fish will only hit when your trolling in certain directions. One other tip is to take the boat out of gear once and a while. This allows the lures to flutter down and is often times enough to trigger a strike. I can’t tell you how many times this little tip made the difference between fishing and catching.

As far as lures are concerned, in general it’s best to match the hatch. You want to have your lures look like whatever baitfish is present. I’m after quality fish and there are mature Bunker around I use Bunker Spoons. If I’m after quantity and there are small baitfishes around I use Umbrella rigs with tubes or shad rigs. Other effective lures are single red tubes (usually a minimum of 12 inches) or Parachute rigs tipped with a pork rind. If you don’t have a wire line set up one way to cheat is to use Stretch 25’s 30’s and 40s. These lures will run 25, 30 or 40 feet down respectively on regular mono line since they have large lips on the front of the lure that works against the forward motion to make them dive.

OK so now you’re hooked up……..

Once you get a hook up you engage the reel so you’re now fighting the fish on the preset drag setting. No need to set the hook as the fish will set it themselves. Your drag should always be set to 30% of the breaking strength of the line. You can set your drag by using a fish scale with a hook at the end of it. Tie your line off to the hook and pull the scale. Your drag should start give line when the scale reads 10 lbs (in this example your using 30lb test). Make sure and heat the drag up before setting it by pulling line out against the drag several times. Here is the most important part of the whole wire line fishing deal……DO NOT PUMP THE FISH WHILE REELING AND KEEP THE BOAT IN GEAR. Wire line is stiff. If you let any slack in the line the fish will use that slack as leverage and spit the hook. If you pump the pole up and down you may create slack. Reel and keep the pole tip high keeping constant pressure on the fish. You can slow the boat down some but keeping it in gear keeps pressure on the fish.

Don’t blame it on me

If your not catching fish you need to try some different things. Speed up or slow down, use a drail weight on one pole and no weight on the other. Troll in different directions. Mix it up and find out what’s working that day and stick to it.

Happy trolling fellas!!