Cal Kellogg's hybrid leadcore trolling setup

Don't have a down rigger on my yak. Don't like the bulk and hassle of leadcore. I've been using a 1 to 4oz torpedo on a slider and it's been working just fine to get down to 40'.  Just picked up a Trip-Z diver that I'm going to try. Cal has a video on those too.

I keep an abu 5600 c4 set up with one color of lead core attached to mainline, then another 50’ of fluorocarbon. The lead core ends up sandwiched between the two sections of mono. When my family and I fish lakes like Almanor, Butt, Eagle, Berryessa, and New Melones, we use this setup a lot during the spring and winter.

 We’ve run the same lures at the same depth on a DR (which is about 5-7 feet depending on your speed) while using the lead core, and the leadline seems to outproduce the DR on at least a 2:1 ratio. Maybe it’s just the extra long setback, but that can be done when fishing with a DR too. Whatever the reason, I think it’s a really good tactic for cold water trout fishing.

 

I've bought and tried literally every diver out there and really never liked how they feel from a kayak.  Just too much drag and need to use heavier gear to pull it.  I use a DR, but i'm not very experienced in using one and play around mostly with adding weight like P-N-J.  This seems to be a good hybrid but I'm not sure if I'll fork out money for a new combo just yet.


Mickfish I had seen those before in someones tackle box and thought wtf is that razor blade thing for?