trolling with lead core

[blue oyster]

i think using a rod with a roller tip is a good idea i think it puts less strain on the line. the most important thing in my opinion is use a good quality ball bearing swivel , dont buy cheap hardware , the tube spins the whole time and if your swivel fails you will turn the line into trash real fast . i tie a spro ball bearing swivel to the lead core then attatch 5' of florocarbon leader , at the end of the floro i use a spro ball bearing snap swivel (these snaps cost over a dollar each) another thing to think about is if you are trolling the flats in say 16' of water or less you don't need to use lead core . in the shallower water i use 40# super braid with a 1oz tube and had real good luck last year .one other thing to watch out for is the lead core reeling up all in the middle of the spool . some times you have to level wind by hand i used a 113 last year this year i got a penn gt330 levelwind . good luck