Segmented Leadcore - Big Water Trolling Part 1

I grew up as a self proclaimed “river rat” and I have spent thousands of days on the Missouri River South of Bismarck, ND chasing walleyes, getting beached on sandbars and honing my skills on the this unique and amazing system. However, growing up fishing the Missouri River I was never exposed to big water trolling. I was a jig guy that would troll cranks if I had to. In March of 2006 life took me in a different direction and I moved to Western, NY on the shores of Lake Erie. This opened an exciting new chapter in my life. I was forced overnight to become an open water troller. Believe me, I have experimented and struck out a ton on my way to finally putting together a system that works for me in the deep clear Eastern basin of Lake Erie. 

The System
The Eastern Basin of Lake Erie is very deep, very clear and as a result is also the greatest concentration of cold water on Lake Erie. During the open water season walleye are often found miles offshore suspended over 60-120 feet of water. These fish can be anywhere from 15-80 feet down and sometimes deeper. This means that some serious hardware is required to target this fish. There are many options that you have and below I will outline what I have found to be the most effective. I have consolidated my trolling to two techniques: Segmented leadcore and Dipsy Divers.

Segmented Leadcore and Offshore Planer Boards
Segmented leadcore is an effective technique to present your lure to suspended fish in open water situations. To assemble a segmented leadcore rig you need 5 components.

1. The reel
2. The rod
3. The backing
4. The leadcore
5. The leader
6. Offshore planer boards

Over the years I have come to trust Daiwa Sealine linecounters more than any other linecounter reel. For all of my segmented leadcore fishing I use Daiwa Sealine SG47LCA reels. Any other large capacity linecounter or levelwind baitcaster could also be used here. A linecounter isn’t mandatory here, but it sure helps.

The rods used for segmented leadcore trolling need to have a forgiving soft action to handle the planer boards and fight fish but it also must have a very stout backbone to handle the weight of the leadcore and the added resistance from the planner boards. You don’t need 500 trillion modulus graphite here; as a matter of fact fiberglass is preferred. Daiwa’s heartland models are an excellent and very affordable choice. I use Daiwa model HL-D962HS-G, a 9’ 6”, 2 piece downrigger/dipsy rod.

The backing is a critical part of this system because this is the line that the planer boards will be clipped too. This needs to be a tough line that is able to take a lot of abuse. Personally, I load my reels with roughly 250 feet of 18# Berkley XT. Any monofilament line 18-25# should work great here. I would stay away from superlines because monofilament works better with the standard downrigger releases on the Offshore OR-12 planer boards.

Leadcore line is simply a sinking fishing line constructed using a pliable lead inner core surrounded by a nylon outer shell that changes color every 10 yards. When referring to leadcore trolling it is common to count by the color as opposed to how many feet you let out. 18# test leadcore line is the most popular choice. This line has the best diameter to weight ratio of the leadcore lines, allowing for more depth achieved. Once the reel has been loaded with the backing I connect the leadcore line to the backing using a very small barrel swivel. To attach the lead core line to the swivel simply pull back some of the nylon coating away from the lead inner core and break off a 3-4 inch section of the lead inner core. This will leave you with 18# nylon line that is easy to tie knots with. Once the backing is attached to the leadcore simply load on the amount of leadcore line that is needed. Personally I usually have 3, 4, 5, and 7 color segmented rigs ready to go in my boat.

The leader material is where the rubber meets the road. This is the line between the leadcore and the lure. Once again I use the procedure outlined above to attach the leadcore to a small barrel swivel. The leader is then attached to other end of the swivel. For the super clear waters of the Eastern Basin I typically use 14# test fluorocarbon leader material. I use 100 or even 150 foot leaders for my segmented leadcore trolling. This is for two reasons. First I get extra depth out of my lures with the long leaders. Secondly, because of the clear water, I think I get more strikes being farther behind the boat. I think a leader anywhere between 10 and 50 feet would be adequate for most situations however. A small snap finishes off the business end of the deal.

Now it’s time to put it all together. Get your boat moving at trolling speed and let out the lure, leader and leadcore until you get to the backing. After letting out about 20 feet of backing engage the spool and tighten the drag. Now it is time to attach an Offshore OR-12 planer board. After the board is attached let it out directly beside the boat and be sure it’s tracking true. Now loosen the drag just enough so that the planer board starts taking out line and moving farther away from the boat. At this point I put the rod in the holder and move on to the next one. Once the board has moved out far enough tighten your drag a little bit and hang on!

As a point of reference with my 100-150 foot leaders trolling at 1.8 to 2.2 mph my best estimates for depth using a shallow running stickbait are listed below:

3 color	19-22 feet
4 color	23-27 feet
5 color	29-34 feet
7 color	39-44 feet

 Remember that leadcore trolling line is speed dependant. The slower the trolling speed the deeper that bait will run. The faster the trolling speed the shallower the bait will run.

Big water trolling part 2 will outline the use of Dipsy Divers to reach even greater depths...