Which Cooper setup?

[Chas0218]

Would you guys recommend (2) 600 coppers or (1) 300 and (1) 600?

Thanks

Chas

Sent from my thinking chair...

[Gill-T]

I refuse to reel in anything longer than a 300 Cu, so I just add a musky torpedo to get deeper.

[Chas0218]

I refuse to reel in anything longer than a 300 Cu, so I just add a musky torpedo to get deeper.

So you would recommend (2) 300 units?

Sent from my thinking chair...

[King Slammin]

I don't deploy it often but the 500 copper catches fish. However it will take 45 min to over an hr per fish unless its a skippy. Honestly, I'd pick up a 150 and a 300 if u really want to run copper. 150 is great for steelies and browns most of the yr and the 300 gets you down to the 55-65' depth that produces kings.

[BrokeOff]

everyones got their favorites.  i like 400 on high speed reel (clarion).  the 600 is brutal ive only used mine one trip

[Chas0218]

I was thinking if I spooled up with 600' it would allow me to run anything up to 600'

Sent from my thinking chair...

[Gator]

Only if you're running it straight down the chute and don't mind a reel that weighs more than an elephant's a@@hole.

 

Single 300 and single 400 if you're West of Rochester, or a 500 if you're East, maybe. Personally, I like double-Ds.

Edited August 24, 2013 by Gator

[BAZOOKAJOE]

300 and 600

[challenged1]

I was thinking if I spooled up with 600' it would allow me to run anything up to 600. Now your finally thought it out correctly.

Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Chas0218]

I was thinking if I spooled up with 600' it would allow me to run anything up to 600. Now your finally thought it out correctly.

Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Haha thanks Brian.

Sent from my thinking chair...

[skipper19]

One 300 in 45lb and one 600 in 30lb. You are correct! Run 600 any length. The 30 lb is a heck of a lot lighter and can go on smaller reels for a 600. Run 300 anyplace if you want to put the backing in a release someplace. Maybe you want to run both at once, they run on different planes and you can put them out together even if ya don't use boards or outriggers. Just like a diver rod, run them off the sides flat out over the water on a 10 foot rod.

The 300 can reach any depth too if you want to stack it on a rigger cable with a release on the backing. 60 feet above the ball will get your 300 down to the ball level. No need to add any weight to get it down ...you want 110 feet down, let it out and when you get your rigger ball set with another rod, drop it 60 feet, hook the stacked release on the cable, attach the backing of the copper, drop the whole thing to 110 on the rigger counter and ya got two lures running at 110 down..one is 300 feet behind everything and 50 feet below the surface. It is often not even having to be moved when other lines take fish, especialy steelies since they generally hop around on the surface out of harms way with the copper down there.

It's just something I do if I feel that ambitious about hitting deep fish with copper and don't want to reel in 700 feet of line.

Mark

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[DJ 17]

No matter what you choose to rig up.GET HIGH SPEED REELS   Otherwise you will find yourself having this conversation with yourself.

 

Self:  "I should change the bait on the 600"

 

Lazy self: "I don't want to reel that    thing in"

 

Self:  "That F/F has been on there over 2 hrs and hasn't caught a thing.

 

Lazy Self:  I don't want to reel that    thing in!" 

 

Moral of the story:  Go high speed, or better yet..... ELECTRIC   Halibut captains have the right idea

[BAZOOKAJOE]

Lol~very true!!

[BAZOOKAJOE]

...I wouldn't run copper without boards unless you're an extra careful driver!

[Chas0218]

I was planning on running them on boards on straight down the chute. I really like the ideas you guys have given me. Looks like I will be running a 600 & 300. On the 300 what weight should I get? I going to go with the 45# on the 600.

Sent from my thinking chair...

[Chas0218]

For some reason it won't let me edit my last post. So it will be the pound copper skipper suggested. Is there a five chart for copper and is there any brand better than another.

Sent from my thinking chair...

[zackblain]

http://www.bloodruntackle.com/copper-2-0-gps-depth-curve-dive-charts/

[John E Powell]

For spring kings and summer bows, look over the chart and select a 30lb. setup to target the 30-50 depths. At these shallower depths, choosing 30lb. copper will allow you to use a smaller lighter reel than the thicker and heavier coppers. Keep in mind that these depths on the charts were using a mag spoon and when using an attractor your depth will be 10-20% less due to the added drag. The Okuma Clarion 553 high speed is a great reel for this setup. If you happen to have a Convector already, you can change out the stock gears and install a set of Clarion gears. Upgrading to premium aftermarket carbon fiber drags at the same time would make some great reels for not a lot of additional money. The Tekota 700 is a good reel too, but do yourself a favor and change out the drags as the stock drag on the 700/800 reels is pretty bad; once upgraded, they are great reels.

For summer kings, I would select a 45 or 60lb. copper to reach 50-70 foot and a 60lb. copper to reach the 70-90 depths. The big advantage of the heavier copper is that you have to let out less line (and reel less line back in) to get to the same depths. For example, I'd much rather reel in 400' of 60lb. than 600' of 45lb. You'll need a really large reel for the longer setup; Penn 345 and Okuma Solterra 50L. For me, The Tekota 800 doesn't have enough capacity to have adequate backing for a really deep rig. Other people here will disagree with me on this, but I want to have 200 yards or more of backing.

I have a deeper rig than these, but it's a beast... Penn Senator with 500' of 60lb. copper and lots of backing. My point here is to suggest to you that you want to use reels with really large capacity to have adequate backing.

For rods, I suggest no more than 7' for planer board rods, but 8-9 foot is better for a chute rod down the middle; the longer length makes it easier to maneuver around riggers when landing fish on other rods, but it will tire the angler more than a shorter rod and most people will find it heavy handed. The main reason most people hate the longer coppers is they are using inexpensive reels with slow retrieve rates and they are using rods that are too long that tire the fisherman more than the fish.

Edited August 25, 2013 by John E Powell

[snowfool]

300 copper with yellow and blue dive bombs was just what the doctor ordered last week in mexico bay.

[skipper19]

Thanks for the info on the reels and capacity suggestions John! You are right about the speedy return of line on better reels. I know...I use a Penn 309 for the 600 30 lb and 30 lb backing of power pro. It's slllooowww. And the rod is an 8.5 heavyweight.

At least with the 30 lb you can use a smaller reel, and save some bucks there. As far as copper line qualities, I think the blood run is hard to beat. They don't have a 30 lb but do have 32 lb and it is about the same. I have used howies copper and blood run and the blood run is more manageable if and when you get a FUBAR in the copper. Most times you can straighten it all back out and be good to go without fear. Others...not so much...goes in the junk pile if kinks are bad. Think its the tin coating on the outside that helps bloodrun be more tangle resistant and kink resistant.

Being on different planes while trolling the different tests at the same time helps avoid a lot of that FUBAR stress. Also driving carefully as mentioned before, calmer waters, and less boat traffic all affect the amount of steering corrections you might do. One thing about turns if you have to turn a 90 degree or more, try to make it so that the inside of the turn is the one with the 45 lb and the outside of the turn is the 30 lb. That way the 45 just drops deeper and the 30 climbs up and the speed changes can get you a strike on either one which is very informative on fish depth and reactions to lure speed. Also the two will never be of a concern to get into each other. Separation of the two is key, and the different poundages will help with that.

Mark

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[Fish Hunter]

I hate/love my 600 set-up.

[Chas0218]

Does anyone use the okuma 8'6" copper/leadcore rods? I have 2 that I was planning to use will these work?

Sent from the awesomeness of Chas!

[challenged1]

Love the 8'6"copper colored classic pro copper/leadcore rod.  I own 3 of these.

[Chas0218]

Ok so I have the rods now I was looking at reels and was a little confused. Is the ratio,

rotations of handle : feet

OR

rotations of handle : rotations of spool?

Sent from the awesomeness of Chas!

Edited August 27, 2013 by Chas0218

[K Gonefishin]

Have you guys pulled TX44 boards with that rod? How does it do? I just added a 300 saltist and tried a cheap 9 ft rod and it was hell fighting a mature on the rod. I need something stiffer and shorter and was considering that rod. I'm almost thinking 8'6 is too long. 

 

Anyone know how the 8ft Talora is for pulling inline boards with copper. I have the 9ft Talora and it's an awesome chute rod but no idea what the 8 is like and would like an opinion before I drop the coin on one.