copper, need help

[The Scottsman]

Quick question, I have a decent 300ft copper set up ready to go. What is the proper way to set it. I tried to set it out with a big jon side planner. do you let all the copper out and then attach to the board with the backing? if so how deep is it going. how do i get the board to plane out. seems to track down the middle. Is there any other way to set it other than the board?

Thanks Chris.

[Broadhorizons]

Check your pms

[chowder]

You can get some inline planer boards to 'pull' up to 300' and even 400'(w/ a spoon)copper rigs but, you would probably want to be using a Church Walleye or OffShore brand board. It sounds like the inline you are trying to use does not have enough draft to pull your copper line out & away from the boat. Always clip the release to the backing-not the copper. I find it's easier to use copper rigs out on a regular dual board setup, using a mast & planer line. These systems can pull 600' copper rigs w/ the correct release.

[stinger]

Chowder,.....just bought this copper reel from lyteline. He said it would really take all the work out of reeling in all that line but he didn't give me any instructions for it. Can you give me a couple tips on setting it up,.......... Thanks

[chowder]

That's quite the rig! I think you might need to change your ballast and your prop after you get it set up. When my coppers fire I usually try to get the kids to reel em in, but after a few fish they seem to get leery of 'fish on'!

[dcso]

I'm no pro by any means but copper swims over nothing. copper has a very fast sink rate and will defininately tangle with other gear if it crosses ( like if it came off a board ) i usually run it inside the riggers down the chute usually two off each corner. the worst tangle i have have had was between a wire dipsy& flie port side copper and my kicker what mess! if you run short leads off the riggers it shouldn't be problem but anything else may be a problem.

ted

[chowder]

If you are serious about running multiple copper or long core lines the best way to do it is out to the sides off big boards (I like Auroralites, they really pull). It also helps to run Mag size dipsies on 1.5 -2.0. Mags dive steep and don't trail out behind the boat. If you hook up on one copper while deploying an other it's best to get the one you are letting out back in & out of the way.

[jekyll]

You must let out copper slowly or it will sink to the bottom before you know it. Church walleye boards will handle up to a 400 though some guys report success with longer lengths. Slowly put it out down the chut, connect your board to the backing and then let out enough backing until the board is past your other junk on the side you choose to run it on. Lock the reel and let it move to the side past your other junk. Once it clears the other junk, retrieve it to the desired position.

Reverse the process to retrieve. Fish will keep the copper high so it won't tangle with your other junk.

Church walleye boards come with a lead keel weight which needs to be moved to the front when running copper. I wind the Power Pro backing around the pinch pad twice to lock it in. This works well.

I haven't had a tangle doing this with regular dipsies on the same side. I learned the hard way not to deploy slide divers on the same side as copper. I tend to shy away from deplying slide divers with anything else on the same side except down riggers.

45# copper sinks 22 feet per hundred feet at 2.2 mph (with spoons) but, will go deeper if you let out more backing. Enough backing will allow a 300 to go at least 80 feet down. Inside turns will slow the copper and it will sink even more. I've pulled up muscles from 110 feet with a 400 copper when too slow on inside turns.

Like I said earlier, let it out slowly. I strip out line while lightly thumbing the spool until it comes off by itself. I adjust the backlash friction on the spool so the spool can't get ahead of the line. If you let the spool get moving faster than the line going out, you will get kinks. It is not fun getting a sharp kink half way out. I've had to stop and cut the line and reconnect with a haywire twist because I got kinks while deploying copper. Can you say "fire-drill"?