If you're like a lot of Great Lakes trollers you've no doubt been contemplating the value of copper trolling wire. A host of charter captains and tournament anglers have already embraced copper with open arms. As is often the case, it's these hard core anglers who are the first to pioneer new fishing techniques. Many of these anglers are enthusiastically singing the praises of copper wire. Enthusiasm is contagious and in the case of copper wire it's safe to say an epidemic may be brewing.
The buzz regarding copper wire is that it fishes deeper than lead core. That's true. It's said that you can fish with much less copper wire out and equal the depth of much longer lead core leads. This is also true. Copper wire is also reported to transmit a low voltage current into the water that attracts fish. This might be a bit of a stretch, but it's obvious that copper wire works for whatever reason.
The point is, most of the reports on copper wire indicate this unique trolling line has found a niche in the Great Lakes and especially among salmon anglers who are pushing the limits of depth and creative presentations.
The general public however has been a little slow to make the plunge. Hesitating about using copper wire is understandable. Copper is so uniquely different than trolling with other lines, anglers need to consider a serious look before taking the plunge. Copper line has some things in common with lead core, another sinking trolling line, but copper line is uniquely different and requires a whole different mind set to fish effectively.
THE SIZES OF COPPER WIRE
Copper wire is commonly available in two sizes including 30 and 45 pound test. The 45 pound test (.035 thickness) has quickly become the primary copper line size in service on the Great Lakes. Since most anglers are using copper line to achieve substantial depths, the larger and heavier line is the most practical choice.
Both sizes of copper wire are made by twisting smaller strands of wire to form a larger and stronger line. The wire itself was not designed as a commercial fishing product, but rather as wire used in electric motors, etc. Salmon anglers being the adaptive soles they are, discovered a niche in open water trolling for copper wire.
HOW COPPER WIRE IS RIGGED
Copper wire is rigged and fished in much the same way as lead core line. A backing of super braid or monofilament line is first spooled onto the reel. The copper line is then attached to the backing using the Albright knot. The desired amount of copper wire is then spooled onto the reel and the rig is completed by adding a leader of monofilament or fluorocarbon line.
Known as segmented copper, this rigging method allows anglers to spool up various reels with different amounts of copper wire designed to target different depths. Because of the braid or monofilament backing, these rigs can easily be fished in combination with in-line planer boards allowing anglers to achieve not only significant depth, but also substantial outward coverage.
Larger in-line boards like the Off Shore Tackle Side-Planer and SST boards are required to handle the considerable weight and drag of copper wire. Copper wire can also be fished in combination with dual board mast systems for anglers who want to stagger three or more copper lines per side.
REELS FOR COPPER WIRE
The popular 45 pound test size of copper wire is thick stuff and requires a large saltwater sized reel to handle significant amounts of copper line and the required backing. Some of the reels being used for copper line trolling are hard to find and most are very expensive.
The Okuma Clarion 553L is moderately priced and readily available. This particular model has a monofilament capacity of 680 yards of 25 pound test. This reel size will nicely hold up to 450 feet of copper wire, plus adequate amounts of super braid or monofilament backing. Even better, these high quality reels feature a fast line retrieve ratio that makes reeling in long lead lengths much easier. The Clarion 453L reel will handle up to 300 feet of copper wire with ample backing material.
RODS FOR COPPER WIRE
Lead core line can be fished with ordinary trolling rods, but copper wire is more commonly used with rods equipped with roller guides. Most of these rods retail in the $80.00-$100.00 range. A number of manufacturers are currently producing roller rods targeted at copper wire fishing.
Okuma's new Classic Pro GLT rods feature a copper wire/lead core rod that doesn't feature roller guides, but instead uses super hard Titanium Oxide inserts set in a stainless steel guide foot. These extra hard guides are designed to stand up to the torture of fishing with copper line. The retail on these new rods is around $40.00 making them a popular choice among anglers who are concerned about the cost of rigging up to fish copper wire.
SOME COMPLEXITIES OF COPPER
Copper wire fishes much the same as lead core line, that is to say it sinks at a rate in direct relationship to how much line is deployed and how fast the boat is moving. The biggest difference is the density of copper wire per foot of line is much greater than lead core. This is why copper runs deeper than lead core line. No mystery here.
The mystery comes in a different form. Even while deploying copper line at normal fishing speeds, the line is sinking at a rate much faster than lead core line and much faster than anglers realize. In part this occurs because copper wire has a density much greater than other trolling lines, enabling it to sink rapidly. Secondly, copper wire sinks quickly because while being set the angler is building slack in the system.
The type of terminal tackle deployed at the end of the copper wire also impacts on the sinking rate. Lightweight trolling style spoons, shallow diving crankbaits and other floating lures aren't much of an issue, but large and negatively buoyant attractors like dodgers, rotators and flashers cause copper wire to sink at an escalated rate.
This excessively rapid sinking rate potentially creates a problem, that few anglers realize is even happening. When setting long lengths of copper wire (300, 400 or more feet) it's possible and even common for the wire to sink and make contact with bottom before the trolling process even begins. Often when zebra mussels or other debris are discovered on terminal tackle this fouling occurred when the line was set, not during the trolling process. Anglers mistakenly think the copper wire is therefore running deeper on average than it really is.
This phenomena occurs because as the line is being set there is less friction on the line than when being trolled. This in turn allows the line to sink more quickly than if the line was under a steady and constant pull. Futhermore, the dynamics of fishing copper wire is a complex issue. If the boat wanders even slightly from a perfectly straight course, the line is allowed to sink more rapidly because there is less forward drag or resistance on the line. In a practical fishing situation it's literally impossible to keep steady forward pressure on copper wire or any trolling line.
Every time the boat wanders from right to left, the copper wire is rising and lowering in the water column. On turns, the lines positioned on the inside are sinking like a rock, while lines on the outside are rising rapidly in the water column.
When trolling subsurface currents can also dictate the running depth of copper wire. In general it's best to either run directly into the waves or troll directly downwind to avoid cross currents that can play havoc with the running depth of copper wire.
Unless a boat is equipped with an auto-pilot to insure a straight and constant course, chances are the copper wire is sinking faster than anglers realize much of the time! Once the line is completely set and experiencing a steady forward pull, consistent water resistance on the line causes the copper wire to stabilize somewhat in depth. At slower speeds copper wire runs deeper and at faster speeds resistance is increased and the copper wire runs higher in the water column.
Most anglers understand that speed influences the running depth of sinking lines like lead core or copper wire. What many don't take into consideration is the average running depth of copper wire tends to be less than depths anglers have come to believe as gospel!
The key word here is average. Because copper wire sinks quickly, boat speed plays a huge role in how deep the wire will ultimately run. Because even modest fluctuations in speed influence how deep the wire is running, it's difficult to maintain a stable target depth when trolling with copper wire. The best we as anglers can do is target a range of depths using different lengths of copper wire and let the fish dictate which is best on any given day.
TRICKS TO CONSIDER
Trolling in a downwind sea helps to keep the boat moving at a constant rate and straight course. This situation works to stabilize the running depth of copper wire and yields the most consistent trolling depths. When trolling into a facing sea, boat speed fluctuations can cause the copper wire to run deeper than the angler realizes or is targeting. In part this happens because the boat course wanders and also, wave action pushing against the hull tends to make it impossible to maintain a steady and constant over ground speed.
It helps when setting copper wire to deploy the line slowly. Use your bait clicker on the reel and allow line to slowly play off the reel. This setting method reduces slack line in the system and helps to control the sinking rate of copper wire.
When setting copper wire, consider raising the rod tip to keep as much of the copper wire out of the water as possible. This simple trick helps to keep the copper suspended in the water column as much as possible until the line is completely deployed.
When fishing copper as a flat line, consider keeping the rod tip positioned up off the water a few feet. This again will help to keep the line suspended as much as possible and reduce the chances of slack line enabling the copper wire to sink rapidly and potentially contact the bottom.
It's best to set copper line at a little faster than normal forward speeds. The extra speed helps to keep the line suspended in the water column. Once the line is set, slow the boat down to the preferred fishing speed.
HOW PRECISION ANGLING TESTED COPPER
Precision Angling, producers of the popular depth guides Precision Trolling and Precision Trolling Big Water recently tested copper wire for their Big Water Edition 2 book. Copper wire (45 pound test) was tested in four different lead lengths and two popular trolling speeds. To insure the line was not allowed to sink prematurely, the copper line was deployed slowly and the boat speed increased to maximize friction and keep the line suspended in the water column.
Once the desired amount of copper line was deployed, the boat was slowly brought down to the desired trolling speed. Once the target speed was reached and stabilized, the copper wire was then trolled along the measuring device and a depth reading taken.
The testing for Precision Trolling takes place on Higgins Lake in Northern Michigan where the water is very deep and exceptionally clear. The ability to test on calm waters that have no subsurface currents allows Precision Angling to collect the most accurate data possible. Still, testing sinking devices like copper wire is challenging at best and downright frustrating at times.
CONCLUSIONS ABOUT COPPER WIRE
On the positive side, copper wire runs deeper than lead core line or other trolling lines. Compared to lead core, anglers can expect to pick up substantial additional depth when similar lead lengths are deployed.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of copper line is it's ability to reach substantial depths without using leads as long as lead core line.
On the negative side, copper wire is expensive and the reels and rods used to fish it are also more expensive. Copper wire is also a little less user friendly than lead core line, but with caution anyone can learn to deploy copper wire with confidence.
As for the those claims copper wire produces a low voltage fish attracting quality; don't bet on that one just yet.
If you're like a lot of Great Lakes trollers you've no doubt been contemplating the value of copper trolling wire. A host of charter captains and tournament anglers have already embraced copper with open arms. As is often the case, it's these hard core anglers who are the first to pioneer new fishing techniques. Many of these anglers are enthusiastically singing the praises of copper wire. Enthusiasm is contagious and in the case of copper wire it's safe to say an epidemic may be brewing.
The type of terminal tackle deployed at the end of the copper wire also impacts on the sinking rate. Lightweight trolling style spoons, shallow diving crankbaits and other floating lures aren't much of an issue, but large and negatively buoyant attractors like dodgers, rotators and flashers cause copper wire to sink at an escalated rate.
