Trolling Rod: is this normal?

[Bemoredog]

Picked up a trolling rod last week and loaded it up with lead core so I can fish the deeper reservoirs like Spray, Ghost and Old Man (and Lesser Slave, tho not a res). I went this route since it was cheaper than a downrigger and would seem to achieve similar results for a 1/3 of the price.

Thing is I was trying it out and whenever I released the spool line wouldn't come out freely on its own--I would have to feed it out myself. I've adjusted the resistance on the reel to the minimum and it still does this unless I'm using a fairly heavy lure.

My question: is this normal? Or should I return this reel? If it is normal, how the heck do you get your line out on a trolling rod with any kind of reasonable speed?

[brewster29]

More info please: what brand and model of reel??
What weight of leaded line?

[kenh]

I have to do the same thing with my lead core reels as well a bit of a pain.

[Elkaholic338]

Picked up a trolling rod last week and loaded it up with lead core so I can fish the deeper reservoirs like Spray, Ghost and Old Man (and Lesser Slave, tho not a res). I went this route since it was cheaper than a downrigger and would seem to achieve similar results for a 1/3 of the price.

Thing is I was trying it out and whenever I released the spool line wouldn't come out freely on its own--I would have to feed it out myself. I've adjusted the resistance on the reel to the minimum and it still does this unless I'm using a fairly heavy lure.

My question: is this normal? Or should I return this reel? If it is normal, how the heck do you get your line out on a trolling rod with any kind of reasonable speed?

Because of the soft core of the line, and the weight of it, it tends to bite on itself on the reel spool, causing it to be difficult to free spool it out. It will get a bit better with time, but you will often have to hand strip the line off the reel to get the desired number of colours out. Lead core is great for its purpose, but can be a pain in other ways.
One thought with trying to troll deep water, have you tried a Jet Diver, or a Dipsy Diver? they can get you the depth that you need without the need for lead core.
I personally have almost quit with lead core and have started just using inline and snap weights to get to depth.

Good Luck, YMMV :budo:

[Walleyedude]

Because of the soft core of the line, and the weight of it, it tends to bite on itself on the reel spool, causing it to be difficult to free spool it out. It will get a bit better with time, but you will often have to hand strip the line off the reel to get the desired number of colours out. Lead core is great for its purpose, but can be a pain in other ways.

I personally have almost quit with lead core and have started just using inline and snap weights to get to depth.

Good Luck, YMMV :budo:

X2.

[Bemoredog]

More info please: what brand and model of reel??
What weight of leaded line?

It's just Cabela's house brand reel. Depthmaster III. DM 30LX http://www.cabelas.com/product/CABELAS-DEPTHMASTER-III/1750480.uts

I might exchange it anyways since this one is left hand reel and I prefer right. Didn't notice at the time :/

27lb leadcore. I wanted 18lb, but of course it was all gone. So it was between 10 lb and 27lb. 20lb mono as backing and leader. There's about 8 colours of leadcore on the reel and 70 ft of mono leader. I mainly got this rod for lake trout/char.

[Bemoredog]

x2, used to use lead core, used to use Jet and Dipsy Divers (I prefer Dipsy), and now I use a downrigger mainly (and occasionally Dipsys on Guests rods if I want to avoid the hassles of running more than one line on one downrigger.

Dipsy's you can direct offside, kinda like planar boars which is a huge advantage for multiple people.

With the downrigger, you know exactly where you're fishing and some can follow bottom. You can also get cheap down riggers.

Dipsy's you know where you're fishing if you have the correct line, but it can vary a bit and if you're using braid you'll need to experiment.

Is it possible to use planar boards with inline weights?

I may use the inline weights/planar boards if the lead core doesn't work out since I already have a rod that can handle them. I think a down rigger is in my future, but probably not until next season.

[brewster29]

Thanks for the info. As previously stated by another member, lead core tends to pinch into itself on the reel. This would be more noticeable on a small arbor reel like a level wind. I have had good luck using it on large spool reels such as a mooching reel.

[Bemoredog]

That amount of lead on a reel adds to the mass on the reel. What I used to do when I had lead core is play it out for a while whilst trolling and then after a point, there's enough drag on the line / lure that it will play itself out.

Yea, this seems to be how it goes for me as well. I think I'm just missing the ease of letting out line on a spinning reel.

It became a major hindrance when I was fishing with millsboy last weekend. He would have his line out at 50 ft in a single cast and be trolling before I was even double digits out with my setup. Many times he'd have a fish on before I even had my line out past 20 or 30 feet. Then I'd be reeling back in so we could handle the fish. Rinse and repeat. Not very productive.

*To be fair, I was just testing the rod out and switched back to a spinning rod pretty quickly. I would think in situations where I was alone or with another person deep trolling this wouldn't be an issue.

[huntsfurfish]

Is it possible to use planar boards with inline weights?

I may use the inline weights/planar boards if the lead core doesn't work out since I already have a rod that can handle them. I think a down rigger is in my future, but probably not until next season.

Yes it is, there are boards of various sizes. Up to the Church Tackle TX44 which will handle leadcore with a one pound weight or dipsy divers. All the way down in size to small TX 6.

[CDNPiper]

I bought a cheap downrigger for my kayak. Couldn't find one locally so I bought it on Amazon. It's a Scotty 1073 manual one. Suits my needs, one turn of the spool=1 foot so I can get my line down to where I want it and lock it in place.

[wildwoods]

I just run manual down riggers. Sometimes can find them on Kijiji. Well worth it. Depth is perfect. No hassle just more trolling.