Never used lead core before but picked up some Cortland Kerplunk 18# and want to give it a try for walleyes.
Wondering how many feet per color?
How many feet down do you get per color?
Do I add the depth of my crank bait to the depth of the line for total?
General speed with how many colors = how far down?
How long of leader to run off the lead core?
As you can see I am totally lost here and would appreciate any help.
Thanks!
I ran the same stuff you have before. I believe I would get about 7ft of depth per color at 1.8-2.0 miles per hour. Any slower than that drops the line any faster than that raises the line. I typically run 10 feet of fluorocarbon line from the end of the lead core. In real clear water situations like Lake Michigan I run a 50 ft. fluorocarbon leader. I run a nail not to tie the lines together check out this link:
http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php
Just peel out a foot of lead and tie the knot as instructed. Lead core is fun to use. Play around with the lures and depths and you will get a good feel for how they run in a short period of time. I was lucky and drew Steve Bisset as a partner in the very first FLW tournament I ever fished. He pretty much wrote the book for trolling lead core on Mille Lacs. My best day of fishing ever trolling lead. It seemed like we caught 20 eyes just shy of the 28″ mark. 
You will see 5′ per color sink rate and 2mph with courtland.
Also look up the Willis knot on youtube.
You will add the dive curve of your selected lure for the amount of mono or super braid leader length you are running
River guys run shorter leaders it seems and lake fisherman go longer 30-50′. Its based on water clarity generally.
hi Scott,
what I learned about leadcore, I learned from Brad Juaire on Mille lacs. If you have not already read ALL his reports, even back a few years; there is a wealth of info he has written.
You should also plan a day SOON and get out there with him with a few friends. You will learn all you need to know in one day.
But to get you started:
It is 30 feet per color. The older original #18 pound you get 5 feet per color, and the newer 832 suffix lead is 7 feet per color (smaller diameter).
It is easier to add backing, leadcore and leader to a larger capacity line-counter reel, but counting colors does work, but line counters are more accurate. You get bites, you want to duplicate that on all your rods in the water.
The previous poster was right that speed does change the lead depth. Brad runs at 2.0 mph.
Use a 50 foot mono or floro leader.
here is an example, water depth is 32′, and you have fish arcs 2′ off bottom in 30′. You would want to have your lures about 2′ above the fish, so you need to have your lures at 28′. You need to know what depth your lure goes on the 50′ leader, use a lure depth/dive chart to find the depth of your lure at 50′ leader length, let’s say 10 feet; so 10 from 28′ gives you 18′ depth you need to get to with the leadcore. I have the older #18 core (that is 5′ per color) so that would be a little more than 3 1/2 colors of leadcore out to get your lure to near 28′ feet down.
If you have the line counter, that would be
50′ for leader, LC 3 1/2 colors at 105’= 155′ total on counter to get your lure to 28 depth.
Same example with newer #18 LC (7’/color)
50′ leader, 2.6 colors 78’= 128′ on counter.
Hope that helps,
Jack 
Leadcore is a great thing. I have just started using it and am happy with it. The one thing is that its harder to feel the vibration of the crank. It works though and is great for those deep eyes. This is one I caught today on it. A nice 22 incher.
Thanks for all the tips guys!
I will post back when I have a chance to give this lead core a try…. hopefully soon!
Thanks for all the tips guys!
I will post back when I have a chance to give this lead core a try…. hopefully soon!
Well it’s been a couple of years since you posted how did you do with your lead core fishing. It’s practically all that I’ve used for 20+ years now.
Love it because I can fish and relax at the same time.
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