Long Line Setups

[Paulywood]

Thought I would get some opinions on this, here are my current core/copper setups:

2 Fullcore

1 7 color

1 Halfcore

1 3 color

1 2 color

2 300' copper setups

All the core rods are on Okuma Convector 45's. The 7 color needs to be redone. Here is what I'm wondering.

Should I keep the 2 copper setups as 300' or shorten 1?

Should I turn the 7 color into a 3 color, 5 color or a copper setup?

I just got the copper setups last year and 1 has never seen the water. Needless to say I'm not real confident in the copper as I am with core. I also have an assortment of Divebombs that I use to adjust to different depths. Thanks for your input.

[fishsniffer]

2-300s are good but if your looking to change one you can knock one down to a 250..250 has been hot for a while

[mriversinco]

+1 on the 250 copper but I'm not sure I'd do it at the expense of the 7 color. Some days that's done well for me. I guess I'd say look at your setup and do you remember taking many fish off the 7 color? If not then change it. Personally, I like having another shorter segment of lead. I usually go out with at least a couple 2 colors to use one for an swr and I figure I can always add a dive bomb to get it down lower.

Hope this helps.

[EdB]

I like your spread and like to have 2 - 300 coppers in August when the fish are deep so I can have one on each side. Rather than knock one done, start saving to buy another rig for another copper. I want to add a 400 copper on my boat.

[mayvillemark]

I like your spread and like to have 2 - 300 coppers in August when the fish are deep so I can have one on each side. .

[Just Hook'n]

Nick, I'm in the same pickle of a situation.

We added a few this year as we are going to try to run one side copper (100, 200, and 300) and one side lead 3, 5, full. However, I am wondering what I wiill do if all the copper is firing and the lead is dead. HMMMMM. More rods and reels I guess.

We did not break down the 2-300 coppers we have. I just added the short ones. So, we can always still run how we did last year 2 -300, 2-fulls, and 2-5colors.

I'll let you know how the 1/2 copper side works if we ever get on the water.

[Killin' It]

I am changing mine up a bit this year.....

Port

300 45 pound

300 32 pound

200 32 pound

Starboard

350 32 pound

250 32 pound

5 color/3 color (depending on water temp up high)

2 riggers

2 divers

I change will run 1 diver 2 riggers or 1 rigger 2 divers depending on condidtions and what has been firing.

If the divers are dead I have extra lead for the top 20 feet and I can run 2 extra 1-4 colors on the boards way out to the sides.

If I want to fish real deep, bust out the DB on the inside copper!

[fishy1]

I would make the one of the 300 coppers a 200 and you can add different sized torpedo divers to give the numerous depth ranges without having to purchase more rods . I have 24 rods on my boat and refuse to run anything longer than 300 ft and there is no need to . I can run my 150,180, 210,shorter coppers with torpeodos and achieve the same depths as 400, 450 500 coppers without havivg more than 300 ft of line out and my friends and I find it less tourture than cranking in the long coppers , and catch just as many fish as when I used the longer coppers , just my take.

[Killin' It]

Fishy,

Long copper, is the way on my boat.....

I want the rods as far out and away from the boat as possible. They seem to take more hits. It does suck brining up a shaker on the 350, but come 10 am and the sun is high... the long lines seem to keep working.

I have tried the shorter lines with DB, torpedos ect and needless to say I have the torpedo away and I run DB from time to time to fish 100 plus.

In saying that there is no right way to do it. We all do things a bit differnt that is what makes it half the fun.

[Paulywood]

I think for this year I will keep the copper's at 300' and change the 7 color to something else. I can always run the 5 color with a divebomg to get deeper. I'm thinking a 125' or 175' copper. Will that fit on a Convector 45?

[seahawk]

I have 200 copper on an Okuma 45 with 125 yards of backer behind that. It is tight but it fits.

[BlueCollarOutdoors]

Seahawk I did the same. 200 of 45 copper and 450 feet of power pro 50 lb on an okuma 45. Got it for 38 bucks new online. Plus a little mono to put the board on and a leader, there was not much room left.

Funny thing was I put on the 450 of Power Pro and winding it on my line counter said i had put on 850 feet of line. Thats shows how bad those counters are without a full spool or using the right line.

Copper was at 225 on the line counter, someday I will actually measure it in the yard to see if its at 175 or 225 or ????

[ekbelt]

I would keep the 7 color. I do really well on 7 and 8 color for some reason.

A 175 copper is really going to be the exact same setup, just a little shorter length.

[jimcr]

Seahawk I did the same. 200 of 45 copper and 450 feet of power pro 50 lb on an okuma 45. Got it for 38 bucks new online. Plus a little mono to put the board on and a leader, there was not much room left.

Funny thing was I put on the 450 of Power Pro and winding it on my line counter said i had put on 850 feet of line. Thats shows how bad those counters are without a full spool or using the right line.

Copper was at 225 on the line counter, someday I will actually measure it in the yard to see if its at 175 or 225 or ????

I put my line on using a device that measures foot for foot of line that goes on , you would be so surprised on what actually fits on a reel , most of the reel numbers are off 5-10 %. Don't' use the counter that you see in the picture its off too, it slips some .

I have a measuring wheel that the line runs around in a grove.

I wouldn't go over 8 color for rods and then go with copper. It shortens up things so you don't have 2 miles of line out to get depth. I had to stretch out a couple of coppers that I wasn't sure of the lengths , turned out I have them marked wrong. Mixed up a 150 and a 180 copper. Its easy to due if you don't' mark them. I now mark all my copper in the depth they are suppose to run. Saves time and tangles. So lets say you have a 300 of 32 LB copper , I mark it 60 or a 180 it will get marked 35.

I run 3,4,5,6,7,8 colors and then its all copper, braid and stainless. If I need to run shallow I will run keel weights .

[BlueCollarOutdoors]

Well i used a reel calculator that I think I found on this site. According that that calculation, 150 yards of of power pro, about 30 yards on mon, and then then 67 yards of 45 copper.

Jim whats your guess on depth for 45 pound copper at 200 feet?

[jimcr]

Well i used a reel calculator that I think I found on this site. According that that calculation, 150 yards of of power pro, about 30 yards on mon, and then then 67 yards of 45 copper.

Jim whats your guess on depth for 45 pound copper at 200 feet?

I used the same calculator , but if the volumes are exaggerated it will be off, as I have found i most.

For 200 feet of 45 lb Super copper it should be 45-50 feet down . The easiest way to find out how deep its running would be to remove the hooks and let it out and watch the pole you should see some difference almost like a tapping as it hits the bottom. Almost the same as checking for depth with a dipsy diver.

[BlueCollarOutdoors]

Yeah might have to do that. I have seen so many different numbers on how deep that rig would get me. I guess I thought closer to 65 - 70 feet.

So the 75 to 100 feet that I have left, would be roughly 20 to 25 feet deep if I threw that on another rig?

[CITM]

Change one of the full cores to a 200 copper. Maybe change one of the 300s to a 250, 350, 450... whatever.

[jimcr]

Yeah might have to do that. I have seen so many different numbers on how deep that rig would get me. I guess I thought closer to 65 - 70 feet.

So the 75 to 100 feet that I have left, would be roughly 20 to 25 feet deep if I threw that on another rig?

yeah thats close, depending what your running on it , plugs run deepest then spoons , and last flasher and fly . You can loose about 10% of your depth running flasher and flies , and this is due to the surface area on the flasher.

[Consummate Sportsman]

You're a little light on the short cores. Swap the seven color for another couple 2 & 3 color set ups. Reason being, later in the summer as the kings begin to run the rivers, right out front is great fishing in shallow water. Regardless of temp. 2 through 4 colors = HOT.

[Paulywood]

A couple of other things that are specific to me is that I refuse to run anything over 300' on principal. I'll use Divebombs to get deeper. I also don't combat fish. I hate it and refuse to do it. I am thinking about a short core or short copper on the extra rod. What is the copper equivalent to a 3 color and 5 color core? Maybe I'll try some short copper setups.

[BenLubbs]

You combat fished last year

[ekbelt]

This is what I use for depth calculations:

Leadcore - sinks 4 ft per color

Example: 5 color

5*4 = 20ft

32lb Copper - divide the feet of copper by a factor of 5

Example: 200ft 32lb copper

200 / 5 = 50ft

45lb Copper - divide the feet of copper by a factor of 4

Example: 300ft 45lb copper

300 / 4 = 75ft

It's not 100% exact but it gets you close. I personally think 45lb copper doesnt get as deep as some think it does.

So a 3 color in a short core would be 60ft of 32lb or 50ft 45lb and then a 5 color would be 100ft of 32lb or 80ft 45lb. At that short of a length I bet 32 and 45 are pretty close in depth.

[mayvillemark]

This is what I use for depth calculations:

Leadcore - sinks 4 ft per color

Example: 5 color

5*4 = 20ft

32lb Copper - divide the feet of copper by a factor of 5

Example: 200ft 32lb copper

200 / 5 = 50ft

Thats also some pretty heavy leadcore you got there.

45lb Copper - divide the feet of copper by a factor of 4

Example: 300ft 45lb copper

300 / 4 = 75ft

It's not 100% exact but it gets you close. I personally think 45lb copper doesnt get as deep as some think it does.

So a 3 color in a short core would be 60ft of 32lb or 50ft 45lb and then a 5 color would be 100ft of 32lb or 80ft 45lb. At that short of a length I bet 32 and 45 are pretty close in depth.

um 45 is heavier than 32 this is blood runs dive chart for 32

25′ copper – 5 feet down

50′ copper – 10 feet down

75′ copper – 15 feet down

100′ copper – 20 feet down

150′ copper – 30 feet down

200′ copper – 40 feet down

250′ copper – 50 feet down

300′ copper – 60 feet down

350′ copper – 70 feet down

400′ copper – 80 feet down

450′ copper – 90 feet down

500′ copper – 100 feet down

550′ copper – 110 feet down

600′ copper – 120 feet down

I would say the 45 is close to what you got.

Thats also some pretty heavy leadcore you got.

Edited April 18, 2012 by mayvillemark
Thats also some pretty heavy core you got there.

[southtrollsouth]

Hey you guys your waaay overcomplicating this thing. I had a thread on another board regarding this, so maybe this will help out. Break the water into thirds...top third, mid third, bottom third. If you are fishing the top third, or shallow, fish a 50, 75, 100, 150 32lb copper. Mid third (like 40-60 down) fish a 200, 250 or 300. If you are catching fish deep, throw out your 350, 400, 450. It does not matter one single bit to try and estimate the exact depth of your coppers. Just stuff the active strike box with as many legal lines as you can without getting tangled...that's the game. We fish all 32lb, we just like it better. We sell 50-50 on 32lb vs 45. Whoever said the 45 and 32lb fish almost the same, you are 100% correct. If you straight line troll, no turns, constant speed, you will see exactly that result. If you turn or let your buddy drive and dont watch the throttle, your rigs are all over the place on depth so why even worry about where you might think your rigs are fishing. If you are that particular, dont turn, dont touch the throttle, and 50 foot spacing on copper rigs will cover everything in the active strike box.