Lead core depth?

I finally managed to get out on Mille Lacs a few hours yesterday morning pulling lead core and boated a couple eye’s out in the middle of no where. I am new to this and am curious as to what actual depths I may have been achieving.

-Speed: 2.2 mph
-Line: Suffix per. LC at 18lb.
-7′ leader
-#5 shad rap

The first eye (16.5″) I got with 130′ out, second (25″) I got with 150′ out. I figured roughly 5′ for every color out, and then and addition roughly 4-7′ for for the shad rap. At 130′ I figured I was running around 25′ feet deep and at 150′ I figured around 29′.

Am I in the ballpark? What’s the best way to account for any extra depth for the particular crank you have attached?

At 2.0 MPH with 18lb leadcore, the general rule of thumb is 5 feet for every color or 30ft of lead.

Leadcore is speed dependent, so the fact that you were going a touch faster than 2.0MPH will influence youre overall dive rate a little.

Since youre only using a 7ft leader on your Shad Rap my guess is that the bait would only dive an additional foot or so after your initial lead has been let out.

With that said, my guess would be that you were around 19 feet deep with 130ft out at 2.2mph and 22 feet deep with 150ft out at 2.2mph.

I ran a 30 ft 8 lb flouro leader over the weekend at 1.8-2.2 mph and a few times ticked the bottom in 29 fow.

I ran 4 to 5 colors depending on the lures i was using at the time.

Leadcore is very speed dependent the faster your going the higher your bait runs the slower you go the deeper it will get

Don’t worry at all about what depth you are hitting… Just find what works first and then replicate, replicate, replicate!!!

Pick up a copy of this book at Fleet Farm

Quote:

---

Pick up a copy of this book at Fleet Farm

---

That book is now nearly impossible to find.

I have that book, but it only refers to segmented lead core trolling based on what I can see. I only see it refer to using 3 colors with a 50′ leader.

What pages refers to having various lengths of lead core out? Maybe I am missing something?

Here’s a link to another AMAZING lead core depth-chart resource:

http://www.hudsleadcore.com/hudsleadcontact.htm

Their charts break it down by different common reel brands, lures, etc. It is very comprehensive. It’s worth checking out.

One crucial part of this equation is whether or not your linecounter reels are calibrated correctly. Do you remember how many colors of leadcore were out? It wasn’t the new suffix 832 leadcore, correct?

If your linecounters are right on, (130′-7’leader=123′) of leadcore should be just over 4 colors. 4 colors of leadcore is about 20′ and your crank is getting another 2′ so I say 22′ total at 2 mph and 20′ at 2.2 mph.

With 150′, that would be 147′ of leadcore so just under 5 colors. That would put you at 26′ and probably 24′ at 2.2 mph.

An app for leadcore and various lengths / weights / leaders would be cool, especially if it took care of dive cures too. I understood that is where the trolling bible is supposed to be going. Is that hte web site you are talking about?

I fished lead core for years good charts are hard to fine.
Some may find this helpful.

Lead Core Depth Calculator
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=trolling.leadcore.depth&hl=en