Managing your spread with leadcore

[Symon]

Howdy All,
Well, I searched this sub-forum (and others) and have not been able to find answers/suggestions to my query;
This will be year 4 on LO for me.  21' foot sylvan with 7' beam. I have rigged it with 2 downriggers (stacked 2 x 2 lines) + 2 wire dipsey set ups. I think maybe I had only 2 tangles last year. So, now that I am comfortable with 6 lines and the crew pays attention, I am finally adding leadcore to the spread. My question is;
How do you manage/work your leadcore in your spread?? I spoke with Matt & Yvan at the Sportsmen Show and they have given me some good advice and I was wondering what some of you are doing? Don't know how comfortable I am running a planer board off of PC due to traffic congestion and sailors (plus it would make me a bit of a hypocrite). That leaves the chute which leads me to believe my tangle ratio may well skyrocket.
I'd appreciate your feedback.

Thx,
Symon

[SpoonPullers.com]

[dp]

When running lead, you are going to need to make a point to stay clear of other boats either way due to the length of the line you are running.

You can use an inline board and bring it in if you need to in a pinch without much effort, and I expect you would spend less time doing that than you would spend trying to avoid tangles running it down the chute. Just my .02 but I always prefer to have the water behind the boat as clear as possible for fighting fish and clearing lines. I always run lead off inlines or big boards.

[Trannyman]

After you get accustomed to running a chute rod you'll find it produces a lot of fish. Hell the odd tangle keeps the day interesting.  As far as Yvan and Matt go, these dudes are pro-staffers but also professional anglers. Pay attention to their wisdom.

We run cores and coppers off the big boards and also in-lines. What system we run is predicted by the weather. 2 big boards in the water leave less of a foot print than 6 in-lines, especially in shallow water for browns or on flat sunny days. Whether you running coppers or cores once the line is out on the board that is the depth that you are running, and to change the depth you have to change the rod. A lot of work.

Now that chute rod depth can be changed very quickly by reeling line in or letting it out. It can be the best fish producer in your spread. During tournaments is when I run it the most and you can ask the guys on the team and they will tell you that I have triggered a lot of kings by fiddling with it at times.

When 1 of the other rods take a shot we just move that chute rod to the other side of the boat. At times I will make the call to get it out of the water. I can count on one hand all the tangles that we have had over the years.

Try the chute rod, you'll like it.

Al

[chadk]

Leadcore is less tricky than copper due to lower depth achieved.  When deploying your leadcore the line will be floating above your riggers and divers.  Distance back will often be similar to your divers.  For example, a seven color will be about 275' back when including the leader.  If you are running these off the sides on boards, the only way you are going to have problems is when a big fish rips the dipsy and goes sideways across your spread (rare).  When deploying copper, you have to let it out SLOWLY with a straight trolling pattern as to not dump it into your divers.  If you driver is making "S" turns when deploying.....FUBAR city.  Make sure you let the copper run a little before attaching to a board.  You want the copper to rise up to it's running level (it has been dropping during deployment) before you send it across your diver spread on a board.

[skamper35]

During one of the King of the Lake tourneys, in 6 to 7 foot waves, we ran 2 big boards, with cores and copper...We never got a tangle..Those two days of fishing were with Trannyman as our Captain in Wilson New York...Could not stand in the boat due to being tossed around and if I am not mistaking, we never even had one tangle...And, YES the Shute rod with core really works and bringing it in and letting it out once in a while triggers a lot of bites...Good Luck with it...Bernie.

[Symon]

Thanks for sharing your wisdom gentlemen. Most appreciated. I'm looking forward to running the chute. If needed, I'll move it to the opposite side or attach a church board to glide it out of the chute (tip from Matt). And yes, the "fiddling" technique will be implemented.

Looking forward to posting my first lead core fish.

Tight lines,
Symon