Variety of fishing lines help in certain situations
The deep diving crankbait ticked bottom occasionally as I slowly trolled upriver against the mild current. After a few minutes the eight-foot, medium action trolling rod bent into a deep bow, one accented with frequent throbs that telegraphed the headshakes coming from the other end of the line, 60 feet behind the boat.
Pulling the rod from the rod holder, being careful not to allow any slack to develop as I did so, I began gathering up line, using the level wind reel to slowly winch in the fish. Within a minute or two a fat Allegheny River walleye was near the surface. I skated it the final few feet and coaxed it over the rim of the net.
The lower Allegheny River, that is the 70 miles under the influence of eight lock and dams that impound the river for navigational purposes, supports a good walleye population. Often the most consistent angling for these fish takes place from late fall through early spring, when the fish are concentrated in select areas. During the warmer months (such as now) walleyes are more scattered. And while they can still be caught, often it often takes covering the water to do so. Which is where trolling comes in.
The scenario just described happened a few days ago. The short outing produced several walleyes along with a two channel cats and smallmouth bass. A couple fish were lost, as well as momentary hook ups where the fish didn’t stay pinned. This took place over a mile stretch of river, one where I worked both sides of the river as well as the deeper channel to cover all the bases. This would not have been possible using traditional jigging methods common in fishing for river walleyes.
While lake-dwelling walleyes will at times suspend in the water column, making them vulnerable to lures fished at various levels, river walleyes tend to be bottom-huggers. This means it’s important to keep lures within a foot or so of the bottom if you expect positive results. Leadcore line excels in this situation.
Leadcore line consists of a thin filament of lead covered with a nylon outer sheath. This weighed line acts like a continuous sinker allowing the angler to place a bait at a specific depth. The amount of line let out dictates this.
During my recent outing most of the fish came from 10 to 15-foot depths. While there are deep diving crankbaits that achieve such depths – and can do so when fished on traditional nylon monofilament or braided line – it’s difficult to address rapidly changing depth when using such. Rivers rarely exhibit consistent depths for any significant length. These fluctuations can easily be tackled with leadcore line.
For instance, during my recent trip it was taking about 60 feet of line to reach the 12-foot depth while trolling against the slight current. Adjustments of five feet moved the lure about one foot up or down. In other words, as the boat moved from 12-foot depths out to 14, letting out an additional 10 feet (five per foot) of line kept the lure near bottom. Likewise, if the depth rose from 12 feet to 10 feet regaining 10 feet of line would lift it the necessary amount.
Leadcore line is speed sensitive. The faster you go, the higher baits will run, with the opposite being the case when you slow down. I kept the trolling speed around 2 mph. The diving characteristics of the lure will also come into play. Deep divers will get down quicker than shallow runners. Thus, when putting out a lure it’s wise to play out line until the bait begins ticking bottom. After giving things a moment to settle in regain enough line to where bottom contact is no longer happening. Then use the five foot rule to raise and lower the lure as needed as depths change.
Large level wind reels with line counters allow you the utmost accuracy when fishing leadcore line, especially in a river situation where keeping lures near the bottom is critical. High action lures such as Storm Hot n Tots tend to be most productive in the warm water of summer.
Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.
