I saw someone using what he called a trolling lead-core presentation – can you explain how this works?
Well, the first thing to understand is that the lead core line is very old, it dates back before the downriggers. The reason for using lead core is that it gets your bait into the strike zone or the vision if you wish, of the walleye. Walleye’s strike what they see and if it have movement. For the most part your presentation of the lead core line will be with a hook and a minnow. You do not need any other weight, because the line will sink on its own.
Some anglers do use an artificial bait, but if you want to work successfully, you should use a minnow or even a night crawler. In order to rig the line, you need to remove about three to four feet of the soft lead center. Once you do this, you will have enough line for the backing and the leader. The recommended knot to use is either an Albright knot, surgeons knot or the blood knot.
The trolling speeds will determine you sink rate. You should troll slow enough to have a sink rate of one foot for every six feet of line that you give out. If you are going at a faster troll, you will get a shallower depth. The slower you go the more depth you will get. If you go to water depths of more than sixty feet, you made need to add a little extra weight, but it might be easier to use a different presentation and save the lead core for another time instead of adding weight to the presentation.