bloodruntackle

We do not recommend backing anything with stainless wire, certainly not with a wire that has 19 chances of breaking. We always recommend a quality braid or mono for backing copper and leadcore setups, particularly when using planer boards and planer board releases that put tremendous pressure and chafing effect on the material. The durability of braid and user friendliness of both braid and mono are well documented. We have tested letting out more braid or mono backer and have noticed little additional depth attainment at average trolling speeds. Braid backer with a much slower trolling speed there is an increase in depth, though variable, with copper. No effect with leadcore.. We do agree that different presentations have different fish catching abilities, which is why we offer stainless wire for divers, two sizes of copper and two sizes of leadcore for a variety of depth attainment options each with their own fish catching characteristics. There could be nothing easier than fishing with leadcore as a novice, and we feel the same to be true with our 32lb copper. Our 45lb copper is also recognized as being extremely user friendly compared to differently stranded and twisted coppers available on the market. Both are definitely more like a line rather than a wire, and any kinks that do occur can easily be straightened and continued to be fished. In fact the claims of the manufacturer of weighted steel has and continues to specifically state, even on the actual product label, as having the "same sink rate as copper". This would imply the exact same depth attainment as copper, when it in fact does not and can not in a foot by foot comparison. Having a vast arsenal is very beneficial as you suggest.

Not a problem! We get asked this question periodically about weighted steel vs copper. 45lb weighted steel weighs the same as 32 copper but has almost 60lb copper diameter. So the marketing materials used to promote weighted steel as "sinking the same as copper" is misleading. They should read "45lb weighted steel sinks the same as 32lb copper but is larger in diameter than both 32lb and 45lb copper and must be used with 19 strand wire backing in order to achieve stated depth claims and to fit on standard sized trolling reels with ample amounts of backer left over". We also get asked how much of our tournament mono backer or braid can be used with weighted steel. It is important to note that depth attainment is greatly diminished by not using stainless 19 wire backing and going with a mono or braid backer, and that the diameter of weighted steel is so large that it consumes noticeably more space on your reel, allowing for less backer overall, not to mention larger knot connections that must past through all line guides and level winds. We contemplated putting this exact product on the market about 5 years ago, and decided against it for its lack of depth attainment vs diameter issues despite its user friendliness. Weighted Steel vs Copper Truth.pdf

It certainly is not anything close to an equivalent of our copper or any copper we are aware of. Weighted steel is significantly larger in diameter and significantly lighter than copper. Calling it equivalent would be defying the physical properties of the wire. A fatter and lighter wire (weighted steel) cannot and does not sink the same as a smaller and heavier wire (copper). The depth attainment of weighted steel is dictated by letting out more stainless wire backer not by the properties of the steel wire itself. Whether a person wants to spool up and use stainless wire as a backer material is a personal choice but most prefer less expensive and easier to use mono or even braid backer. If a person chooses to use mono or braid backer with weighted steel then all depth attainments are dramatically reduced

We will be interested to hear how your meetings went. We can say this regarding Lake Michigan, and what we are hearing from Lake Ontario. The very same verbiage being used on Lake Ontario was used on Lake Michigan about 10 years ago. Missing year classes of alewife (no cold winters back then), need to continue to establish "native species", etc. We are up to our eyebrows in the very same issues you are now all just beginning. Your four main issues of concern are the following. 1) Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Read about them, who are they, what is their agenda, and how does it affect your fishery. 2) Baitfish trawls and surveys. Who does them, where, when and why. You guys trawl in spring, we trawl in fall. Serious discrepancies in timing and locations of all baitfish surveys. We found in Lake Michigan, many of our acoustic and trawl surveys were starting at 5 miles offshore and going out 20 miles...and all of the bait was inside 4 miles. We also found all of our "missing year classes" spent their time on the Wisconsin shoreline during spring (no spring surveys), while the mature ales were all on the Michigan side. This is due primarily to nutrient particle distribution and baitfish food size and availability. 3) Lake Trout. You guys dont fish for them, we have to. They consume nearly 50% of our alewife biomass per year, and live to age 30. You guys dont fish them enough to see on a daily basis their guts full of ales. They are your poison pill. They will completely decimate your alewife populations without you even recognizing it. You need to stop the Great Lakes Fishery Commissions agenda of restoring your lake to a "lake trout lake". 4) Make this chinook cut the last chinook cut. Once you give ground, you most likely will never get it back. There will always be a reason to continue to cut kings, with minimal lake trout cuts. Does that make sense? Plus, you have NO way to remove those lake trout once they are stocked. Again, you guys don't fish for trout like we do out of desperation, nor do you have any commercial fishing operations of significance to remove those trash compactors from the lake. We have some commercial activity and are pushing for more. Visit the Great Lakes Salmon Initiative at greatlakesalmon.org to learn about what is going on in Lake Michigan....coming to a theater near you.

Nice! Yes our 450's and 500's are very steady right now mining. We have been picking up more coho and steelhead right off the bottom on spin n glo's now also. No bead chain for sure, just direct spin n glo on your copper leader. 60lb never seemed to work good for mining, too steep of dive curve. 32lb and 45lb works better.

Franks Great Outdoors does have some 60lb copper in stock http://www.franksgreatoutdoors.com/fishing/fishing-line/copper/blood-run-tackle-copper-trolling-wire.html

Thanks Wishn. We had some technical limitations with the new site/mobile format, should be fixed now for access with or without logging in. Let us know if there is still something that cannot be accessed and we will check it out.

Some of the content on our website is accessible only after logging into your account, and if you are not logged into your account an error page will display.

Thanks Hairbone! You can go either way with the mining thing, usually just the spin n glow on the end of the copper leader is the ticket. Often times we run a chrome spin doctor with a spin n glow off the mining setup and it works as well. Sometimes no flasher is best, some times the chrome spin doctor works better. Depends on the current. Good luck

Just use your regular copper setup. But instead of snapping on a spoon, or a plug, or a flasher....just snap on your already pre tied spin n glow setup and send it out. We usually tie our spin n glo's with 18-24" leaders that we run behind tin can's. It doesn't matter when you are mining, there is no flasher.

Great looking site Chad, looking forward to some great contributions from guys out there on the east end of Erie in particular. There are many similarities between that fishery and LO. Deeper water, multi species (walleye, trout, steel even a stray coho or two). Most guys can easily bounce back and forth and use the same gear riggers, divers, coppers, cores, boards, etc.

Not exactly. 32lb runs withing 5-6 feet (shallower) of 45lb all the way out to 600' of copper, as shown on our depth charts and Android app. The weight of 300' of 32lb copper is just less than 1 lb. 300' of 45lb copper weighs 1lb. So that separation in ounces between the two stretched out over 300' of line just makes the difference negligible for the most part from a weight perspective. Diameter difference is 6 thousandths of an inch. Usability there is a significant advantage to the 32lb over the 45lb, even being the 45lb is much more pliable than other copper wire designs. Psychologically 45lb sounds 13lbs heavier than 32lb, so for some that is the difference maker

Thanks for your support Sk8te, always enjoy your posts. You definitely touched on a big point that many overlook, but is important. Everyone does have their favorite program, setups, rigs, colors, baits. But it is all of those things that come together at that particular place at that particular time which is most important..and then then ability to duplicate it over and over again for the rest of the trip to fill your box. And then, recognizing that same set of variables three years from now, and putting that same program back down and having success again. Confidence in a certain color, lure, speed, lead length, leader material, mono color, bead color, etc are what matters to the individual. If you are catching more fish than anyone else is that day, that week, that month, that season...will tell you alot about how good your game is. If you are not catching at the same rate other top guys are, that is when you look closer at the little things to impact your program. Do the top guys use fluoro, wire, braid, leadcore and how/when..what speeds do they troll, what lead lengths they pull, etc. We have had guys come up to us on various occasions and swear something we sold them made a big impact, thats great. Even we see it ourselves...example...we catch lake trout 10-1 using our blue tournament mono over our clear tournament mono. What's up with that? Fact as we see the results, or random occurrence happening over and over again for multiple seasons? Doesn't matter, all I know is I won't be trout fishing without our blue mono down

Bigwater, I can take a whack at this ...as it is a common question asked for many Great Lakes fishermen, walleye and salmon (and, steelhead, bass & musky). Rarely in Great Lakes or many of its tributaries is the water so clear that complete invisibility of the line is required. Sometimes however in top layers of the water column, or certain streams...it really is required! 99.9995% of the time Fluorocarbon is used in freshwater (and stained water) is for its durability, abrasion resistance, and in some cases stiffness. 100% fluorocarbon leader material is not the same thing as fluorocarbon fishing line. Fluorocarbon fishing line is a mix of fluorocarbon resins and nylon resins used in the manufacturing process of standard monofilament. Fluorocarbon line is a less costly product that excels neither in durability nor invisibility, so essentially offers no benefit whatsoever over standard less expensive clear mono.. Short answer, 100% fluoro is used by salmon fishermen (and walleye, steelhead, bass, musky) in freshwater for its properties other than invisibility. Nothing is better when it comes to flies and meat rigs either, particularly with stiff brands which transmit roll and whip from rotating flashers like we use while trolling for salmon. We coat some of our mono for example with fluorocarbon, to add better abrasion resistance and durability to notoriously soft and stretchy mono. Zebra mussels, nets, coolers, diamond plate deck, tangles into copper and stainless, wrapping fish around downrigger cables. There is probably no more of a line/leader abusive fishery than Great Lakes trolling. Hope that helps!

If you are a licensed charter captain or fishing guide, please email your business contact information to [email protected] to learn more about our 2016 Charter Captain & Guide discount program for Blood Run Tackle fishing line and leader products.

We at Blood Run Tackle would also like to thank everyone who visited the show, and we greatly appreciate your support and business. Being from Michigan, we are spoiled with fantastic fishing opportunities and enthusiastic hardcore salmon/walleye/steelhead/ice anglers who participate at our multiple shows each year. The Greater Niagara Show is quickly becoming a similar event, and we encourage everyone to come out in future seasons to learn and share information with fellow anglers, and to cash in on some fantastic deals on new tackle/gear. See you all again in 2017!

15% off Blood Run Tackle Line & Leader products only through January 1. Use Discount Code HOLIDAY at checkout. Does not apply to pre spooled reels, clothing, planer boards, stainless pins, line bundles, etc. Merry Christmas to all!

Copper trolling wire is a great tool for targeting suspended fish away from the boat.  However, wire of any kind, particularly copper wire, was never designed to be submerged under water and constantly wound and unwound onto a small diameter fishing reel under any kind of tension.   Even plated super copper eventually becomes stressed from […](Read more...) View the full article on Blood Run Tackle website...

Here are a few tips from Blood Run Tackle Pro Staff to make you more effective and efficient in rigging, deploying and fishing copper trolling wire setups for Salmon, Walleye and Striped Bass. – Levelwind reels are not required but generally preferred by salmon and walleye fishermen for ease of retrieval and packing copper […](Read more...) View the full article on Blood Run Tackle website...

We are wrapping up tradeshow season, and one of the many benefits for us as a company is the ability to interact with new and existing customers.  It is always great to hear some success stories, a firm handshake and “thanks” from a guy who had a successful prior season and whacked fish on a […](Read more...) View the full article on Blood Run Tackle website...

Not to hijack our good buddy Russell...but here is another way to look at it.. http://www.bloodruntackle.com/planer-board-mods-tips/

After spending the past few years playing around with different weights of coppers, backing material, rods, rod holders and planer boards…we have figured a few things out. We would be remiss if we did not give a shout out to our good buddy Jim “MANIAC” Main for coming out with us this past summer […](Read more...) View the full article on Blood Run Tackle website...

If there is not a reel or configuration that you need but do not see, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We can get any reel with any setup made custom for you..all with carbon fiber drag upgrades and free shipping. Solterra 50L long coppers 600-800' of 45lb copper will be available starting next week! Don't overlook the 60lb copper 500' as a substitute for great depth attainment.