Reviewed by Captain Mike Schoonveld
Lead core line has been around longer than salmon have been in the Great Lakes. Some of the machines used to braid the nylon line around a thin lead wire 50 years ago are still producing new spools of ‘core today. The line is the same now as is was then.
Why not? Lead core worked as a method to troll lures deep below the surface fifty years ago and still works today – up to a point – that point being about 50 feet of depth if you are slow-trolling a lightweight lure with a standard 100 yard long measure of lead core. Speed up to salmon speeds and a full 100 yard ‘core may only put your lure somewhere in the middle 30s under the waves.
So when Sufix built a machine that would braid the same fibers used to make Sufix’s popular “832″ braided fishing line around a lead wire core, the result was a lead core line, thinner and “slicker” than traditional LC line. Thinner and slicker means less water resistance as the line trolls through the water allowing the weight of the lead wire to sink deeper.
“Thirty percent deeper,” reads the package. I didn’t go out and try to drag the bottom in various water depths. I do know the first day I used it pulling a flasher and fly, my best downrigger depth was 38 feet (with a flasher/fly) and the 832 had as many bites as the ‘rigger and far more bites than a traditional core with the same exact flasher/fly fished on the other side of the boat.
If there’s a downside to the 832 line is 18-pound test is the strongest available. I’ve always used 27-pound traditional LC line. However, since most of the wear and tear in actual fishing situations is on the backing on the reel or on the leader between the ‘core and lure, I don’t expect the 18-pound to underperform on my boat. Hasn’t so far!
Available many places or go to http://www.sufix.com
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