Leadcore and deep divers

[greenboatluke]

First, if this has been discussed please direct me to the proper thread.

And the question:

Can you use leadcore with a deep diver and achieve greater depth? Say I run a diver that goes 15' deep on a 2 color... Will that add up to 25' down?

Edited December 22, 2015 by greenboatluke

[FishingTheFL]

Wire line helps go deeper but you need roller tip or twirly tip. You can get and Runnings. I think someone said max depth with Magnum Dipsey on wire can get down 120 ft.

[greenboatluke]

I'm referring to running a deep diving lure, like a reef runner, on a leadcore set up.

I have wire on my dipsey rods and use the magnum size dipseys.

Edited December 22, 2015 by greenboatluke

[AnglingAddict]

I personally think this would be a nightmare. If you want to get deeper with the diver let more line out or adjust speed. If you need a few extra feet of depth on a core add an ounce or two of lead via a half hitched rubber band or snap weight. The diver on a core won't work like you think it will...as the diver won't have the ability to "dig" when there is an effective upward force due to the larger diameter of the leadcore as it is pulled through the water...the result will be a large belly in the leadcore as a result of the diver and it won't work and will be even harder to trip the dipsey..

[Bosun Cowboy]

Just use snap weights. Like Guppys. As said above.

[Sk8man]

I think there may some missing details in the question -  A lot depends on the gauge of the leadcore (18, 27, 36, 45?), the size of the deep diver and  whether you use a leader on  the leadcore and its diameter and length, and most of all the intended trolling speed and underwater currents and direction trolled. All these things (and more) will affect the depth the setup will run. If you have a Fishawk TD you could get a pretty good approximation with it but again even the weight of that device will factor into the equation. You may have things working against each other down there. For example the belly of the leadcore may either help or hurt you depending on boat speed etc. At certain higher than intended speeds deep divers can go sideways too cancelling out some of the depth and the belly of the core may carry the diver up and down in the column too.

[Paul Czarnecki]

I personally think this would be a nightmare. If you want to get deeper with the diver let more line out or adjust speed. If you need a few extra feet of depth on a core add an ounce or two of lead via a half hitched rubber band or snap weight. The diver on a core won't work like you think it will...as the diver won't have the ability to "dig" when there is an effective upward force due to the larger diameter of the leadcore as it is pulled through the water...the result will be a large belly in the leadcore as a result of the diver and it won't work and will be even harder to trip the dipsey..

Leadcore and deep diving sticks work well together. Tens of thousands of walleyes die each year in Lake Erie to that very setup.

[RD9]

Yep. Reef runners, bagley and deep running cranks work great off lead core especially with the longer leaders. Personally I run more shallow sticks and add rubber band/snap wieghts a few colors above the leader. On Erie we run even ten colors with there or four ounces.

[greenboatluke]

Sk8man, I knew that there was way more to running depth... but wanted to keep the post short. I will add more details on the next time I post a question. I'm mainly thinking of using my short colors for walleye when they go deeper, so 12 or 15 lbs 50' leader. I have to check my spool of core for the size, but thanks for the tips.

 

Paul, that's what I was looking for. Do you have any tips on leader length, targeted and achieved depth?

[greenboatluke]

Great to know RD9. Thanks

[greenboatluke]

On a side note... I guess I should've put "stick bait" or "crank bait" in my original post! Lol!!! Would've saved a little confusion from the start! Great info... keep it coming! love this site!!!

[AnglingAddict]

No worries - like others stated it works well. I don't think it's an additive relationship - many factors to consider but a deep diving crank combined with leadcore definitely gets deeper than the leadcore alone.

Edited December 22, 2015 by AnglingAddict

[AnglingAddict]

Leadcore and deep diving sticks work well together. Tens of thousands of walleyes die each year in Lake Erie to that very setup.

My bad - thought he meant the use of dipseys with leadcore. Should have read original post more closely...

[greenboatluke]

Thanks Addict... Will definitely keep that in mind, but good to know I can use some of my short cores in other applications. We all spend enough $, it's good to know more ways to use it!

Edited December 22, 2015 by greenboatluke

[Sk8man]

I was giving the details so that new folks reading the post might be aware that some things or questions may not be as simple as they might appear at first glance and there can be numerous things to consider in an answer and your question is a good one.    I would imagine that setting your drag as light as you can without it falsely going out might be wise too as leadcore has a lot of drag from water resistance and eyes aren't always real "ferocious" when they hit (can carry the small ones for a long time without realizing it  much as in downriggers with the release set tight)

Edited December 22, 2015 by Sk8man

[Legacy]

Leadcore and deep diving sticks work well together. Tens of thousands of walleyes die each year in Lake Erie to that very setup.

[Xxx]

There are many different views and thoughts with deep divers on lead cores. A deep running lure will go deeper than say a spoon, but not anywhere near the the curve for long lining. I generally use a 50ft leader with my cores and use the 50ft leader as my "initial" calculation on the depth the lure will go and add the core depth in as well to my depth. This gets you close either way high/low. The best thing to do is run the calculated depth and see what the core-bait combo gives you, buy running them till they tick bottom at the speed you want to troll. I did this on our home lake where it is a sandy bottom and I wrote all the info down for my own reference. One day that's all I did and it seems that this theory works the best at 2mph. So to tweak it so to speak either slow down a little or speed up. I realize that on the LakeO' conditions aren't perfect to say the least like our home lake, so to say go 0.5mph faster will bring it up a foot would be asinine but a 1.0 mph increase will give results one way or another. This is just my thoughts with cores, I realize you don't need 50ft of leader to catch fish off of cores, but this is what a older gent who is very successful at our home lake told me, and the dive curve for 50ft for the deep diver is added to the core depth give or take.

[greenboatluke]

Thanks pap... Anyway you want to include your test info?! [emoji51] with 2 little ones at home I don't have the time to go out and test!!! The logic makes sense and I will get a feel for it, but a shove in the right direction won't hurt a bit! [emoji23]

[Big Water]

You can also run short cores (2 or 3 colors) off of your downriggers to achieve greater depth and a more stealthy presentation.  Some refer to this as a special weapons rig, SWR.  Just add the depth that the cores would achieve to your downrigger depth.  There have been days where this has been the trick, especially on negative fish.  With this, you don't need to worry about running diving plugs to get greater depth.  Just one of many tools in your arsenal.

[rolmops]

I use deep divers (Yozuri tuna stick bait) on 10 colors. Between the resistance of the stick bait and the thickness of the core I do not gain a lot of depth,but it is a great stealth representation that has given me kings in big O and plenty of football tuna off Cape Cod.

[John Kelley]

Just to test out how deep you are running, you can always start out in say 35' of water with a smooth bottom, and see if you are digging bottom.  If you are hitting bottom with your lure, keep running a little deeper, at the same speed, until you no longer are hitting bottom, and that will tell you how deep your reef runner and say 3 core will get you at a given speed.  Run it in the opposite fashion if you are not hitting bottom on your initial depth.  A little experimenting on your own will make you way more confident in the actual depths you will be running, than any of us telling you what works on our boats. If there is one thing I have learned about trolling, it is that no two boats seem to run lures at exactly the same tolerances.  Same general tolerances, sure, but never exactly the same.  Hope this helps.  Good luck, cranks on leadcore are a fun and effective tool in the arsenal, for multiple species of fish.       

[greenboatluke]

Thanks John, good advice and great point!