Copper leader

[rdebadts]

Hey all- do you find there is any magic to leader length with copper. I’ve gotta be honest- I just sort of eyeball it- maybe like 30-60 feet. I had a guy on my boat last year that said he’s seen others run much shorter leaders, as the thought is it imparts better action on the setup. He said the longer the leader, the more stretch of the mono/floro, which made a lot of sense to me... just wondering what you all think

 

 

The Fishin' Physician Assistant

[Sk8man]

Not much stretch in fluoro. I run  a 20 ft fluoro leader on most of my coppers and leadcores. 12 lb test for the Finger Lakes and 20 lb for Lake O and seems to work out pretty good.

[Legacy]

17 hours ago, rdebadts said:

 

Hey all- do you find there is any magic to leader length with copper. I’ve gotta be honest- I just sort of eyeball it- maybe like 30-60 feet. I had a guy on my boat last year that said he’s seen others run much shorter leaders, as the thought is it imparts better action on the setup. He said the longer the leader, the more stretch of the mono/floro, which made a lot of sense to me... just wondering what you all think

 

 

The Fishin' Physician Assistant

 

 

For coppers 200' or less I use 20# fluoro because 99% of the time I will fishing spoons or plugs with these. Since my 250'+ coppers spend the majority of their time in the water pulling flashers, paddles, etc I will use 30# fluoro. As for leader length... Short coppers get a longer leader. I start out about 55 feet. This adds a bit of stealth and give me enough leader to retie if needed. Long coppers get a much shorter leader and start out around 35 feet due to the fact that stealth is not needed pulling flashers and paddles in deeper water. Once these leaders get close to half their original length then its time to retie.

[bout time]

I run 300/450/ and 600 coppers all with the same lead (or close to it). Like you stated I eyeball it, but I have somewhere between 35-50’. I had a lead get short maybe 20’ or so and it went “dead” after i lengthened it, it started producing again. Maybe the day ? Couldn’t tell you but if it ain’t broke ........


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[Sk8man]

I guess I look at the long leads a different way. If you already have hudreds of feet out away from the boat turbulence etc. a fish isn't going to be "spooked" by it and the "stealth" factor may not be the critical one at that point and may be more important with surface related things like planerboards run shallow, shallow run downriggers and toplines. I've always thought that both the coppers and leadcores may actually "attract" fish to it because of the vibrating action (different for each) in the water and a 20 ft leader following it wouldn't spook them unless they were maybe wearing virtual reality glasses or something

Edited March 9, 2018 by Sk8man

[Legacy]

1 hour ago, Sk8man said:

I guess I look at the long leads a different way. If you already have hudreds of feet out away from the boat turbulence etc. a fish isn't going to be "spooked" by it and the "stealth" factor may not be the critical one at that point and may be more important with surface related things like planerboards run shallow, shallow run downriggers and toplines. I've always thought that both the coppers and leadcores may actually "attract" fish to it because of the vibrating action (different for each) in the water and a 20 ft leader following it wouldn't spook them unless they were maybe wearing virtual reality glasses or something

 

Stealth is needed though when you are fishing short coppers. 50, 75, 100 coppers are fishing very close to the surface and also very close to the boat. Ill sacrifice the theory of metal attraction for stealth any day. Its obviously less critical with long coppers. They are a long ways from the boat and fishing much deeper in the water column. Leadcore is a different story. I tend to fish shorter leaders (start at 35' and typically retie at 20') with leadcore to take advantage of the snaking action. 

[Sk8man]

Good points Rob and I fully agree. I've never run coppers shorter than 200 ft.long

[Silver Fox]

Rob got me running short coppers under 200' and they produce well.

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[Sk8man]

Good to know....maybe I can use it as an excuse for when I tangle it up with leadcore and end  up with short one

[RD9]

6 hours ago, Silver Fox said:

Rob got me running short coppers under 200' and they produce well.

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Do you find them more productive then cores run at same depth? 

[Silver Fox]

No clue. I only have a couple short cores left.

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[rbtking618]

Short coppers are very effective. Tried it because I had some extra copper and old reels around and haven't stopped running them. We run sections as short as 35 feet.

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[Legacy]

12 hours ago, RD9 said:

Do you find them more productive then cores run at same depth? 

 

Short coppers rule! They find their way in the water almost all year. Cores have their day. I still have a pair of 3 colors and 5 colors that see a lot of time in the water.