For the Love of Copper!

[Silver Fox]

Rob, will you please test out a short copper, long copper and a 10 color on 1 board? I'm very interested and a video of this would be appreciated! 🤣

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[Xxx]

I could give a shyt less Fox!!!

[Todd in NY]

On 3/10/2018 at 10:02 PM, pap said:

Yea, holy shyt rick that was more than a mouthful to say the least!! Do you think a copper outfit would be a productive outfit for us walleye guys, doe the copper sink rate surpass the lead cores, most of the time we are fishing the top 60’ of water. So if the copper sink rate is faster with less line out, might this be a smoking gun for eyes??

 

He mentions 22ft of depth for every 100ft of copper deployed in the article, but it's just a general guideline.

[Legacy]

10 hours ago, pap said:

Hey Rob, I know you don’t like me but you don’t have to make it so obvious, I mean you answered everyone else’s questions some twice. I was the second guy to ask what the sink rate was of copper vs. lead, maybe I was to far up on the question list??? I’ll find out for myself. 

 

Sorry Pap. Ill post some dive charts for ya!

[Legacy]

 

This chart really tells the story. It really shows the track of copper vs speed.

 

Check out Blood Run for dive charts of an array of trolling coppers and leadcore.

https://bloodruntackle.com/dive-charts/

 

[Legacy]

On 3/10/2018 at 10:02 PM, pap said:

Do you think a copper outfit would be a productive outfit for us walleye guys, doe the copper sink rate surpass the lead cores, most of the time we are fishing the top 60’ of water. So if the copper sink rate is faster with less line out, might this be a smoking gun for eyes??

 

Copper has certainly made its way onto walleye boats. Some of the captains that do double duty and fish Lake Ontario along with Lake Erie have been using Blood Run 32# copper so they can use the same gear in both lakes. Blood Run has also developed 20# copper which has been a huge hit among the walleye crowd.

You cannot deny the attraction of snaking leadcore and fish. Unlike copper leadcore struggles to achieve depth. 5' per color has always been tossed around as a general rule of thumb but its far from truth at salmon speeds. In order to come close to these depths you must troll slow and be around 1.8 mph. At 2.5 mph you would be getting about 3' of depth per color. 

[Legacy]

15 hours ago, jaybird904 said:

I set up my first copper the winter and used 30 pound power pro. I see you are recommending 65 pound. A friend of mine recommended the 30 pound. Will this be okay or should I respool with heavier line? It is a 300 copper on an okuma connector. Thanks for any help you can provide.

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30# braid is not my ideal choice for copper backer. I think it will do the job on short coppers but on long coppers I would suggest at least 50# or the 65# that I use. The 65# Blood Run Braid that I use may seem like overkill but once you work with heavier braid you will realize that it is much more user friendly. I actually started using the 65# on my slide divers for this reason. The larger diameter braid holds better in planer board releases and on inline releases. Braid can be tough on the hands and the larger diameter line is also less likely to saw through your fingers. Larger diameter means better durability. One of the biggest reasons we use braid as backer is for spool space and its much smaller diameter of braid vs mono. There is really not a whole lot of difference in diameter between 30# and 65#, just a few thousandths. In the end it is really the piece of mind of better break strength that sets it apart from other options. You start pulling around a 700' copper and that tends to put a lot of stress on you backer. Before you even get a fish on you are pulling around a ton of weight on that line. In that scenario the backer becomes the weakest link in the setup and I don't like that idea. I like to fish my stuff to the limits of the leader and nothing else. At the end of the day it will be cheaper that way.   

[dick black]

Great read, Thank you very much! I am a avid copper fisherman and I am looking for 2 more Okuma Solterra 50 L level wind reels, seems Okuma has discontinued manufactureing them. Any idea where I could purchase two?  Thanks in advance!  Blackie

[Legacy]

5 minutes ago, dick black said:

Great read, Thank you very much! I am a avid copper fisherman and I am looking for 2 more Okuma Solterra 50 L level wind reels, seems Okuma has discontinued manufactureing them. Any idea where I could purchase two?  Thanks in advance!  Blackie

 

Okuma has not discontinued them, they have only stopped shipping them to the US.There are still a few around but its getting extremely tough to find them. Try ebay.

[dick black]

thanks Cap, i will keep looking

[Norm Moser]

Thanks Legacy, you are spot on, copper is a great tool for walleye and salmon. we have been fishing it for many years now for both we fish 32 lb blood run copper for both. as far as backing go's you are right 30lb is not our choice also, we were using 65 lb. power pro line, but now run 65 Kastking line also a braid works great at half the cost. To all the walleye guys give it a go, you can run it on the same rods and reels you use your leadcore on. The only thing you need to to watch is letting it out, slow is the way to go and the reel clicker is your friend. think of it as lead core on steroids. good luck, FinLander  Charters

[Sk8man]

The Power Pro braid loses it's dark color pretty quickly but it doesn't seem to lose its strength as fast. You can take it off the reel and switch it around to the opposite end also to extend its lifespan so that the "used" section is nearest to the spindle of the reel spool. It seems as though the actual breaking strength may be substantially greater than the listed pound test without any nicks or abrasions though. Try breaking even the 10 lb test..without cutting it.... Robs info is right on target about the larger the diameter the less it is prone to twisting up and creating knots that seem to be virtually impossible to unravel with the finer diameters.

[Pa223]

Unbelievable amount of info here.  Really appreciate it.   I have a couple copper set ups and big boards but have been a bit intimidated so the rods usually stay in the rocket launchers.   With this info I will try it this year.

Thanks again

 

[Jager]

Fantastic tutorial! Thank you very much for helping de-mystify this application. Back to the drawing board to re-visit adding copper sets!


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[garrymny]

 
This chart really tells the story. It really shows the track of copper vs speed.
 
Check out Blood Run for dive charts of an array of trolling coppers and leadcore.
https://bloodruntackle.com/dive-charts/
 

I like the fact that if I use my itroll in hunt mode and the speed varies between 2.0 and 2.7, according to the chart the 300 copper will be covering about 50 to 70 feet down. I am waiting for my okuma 55 to arrive so I can try copper for my first time.

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[jerome]

Excellent read. I'm totally new to trolling and learning a lot from this site. Questions. Does the full amount of copper need to be in water to sink effectively? I see you have many different depth set ups. Can I have a longer length on reel and just let out desired amount of copper needed like with leadcore?

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[gasman2438]

On 3/10/2018 at 10:10 AM, Sk8man said:

Thanks Rob Always great to see good info shared on here by folks who know what they are doing

Sk8man WOW copper fishing has gotten tricky. 60 years ago we put 2 pie tins together wind copper around it with a swivel 10 ft leader with a twin minnow or a fluger on the end.

[Sk8man]

I hear ya Dennis. I think I still have one of those wooden things that we wrapped the copper on.....different type of copper fishing trolling these days but still a place for jerking wire at least on the Fingers. Still have an old victrola I hold onto for sentimental reasons as well

Edited April 18, 2020 by Sk8man

[Legacy]

I'm damn good at complicating things!!!

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[Sk8man]

And damned good at explaining them too Rob

[signalman]

Hey Les someone just gifted me a double springer with wire on it,deadly when the fish are on the flat,s.

[Sk8man]

You're already too deadly with that stuff Mike