Saltwater Trolling with Leadcore Line
This past season I did a fair amount of trolling using leadcore line. It was especially useful when trolling niners rigs loaded up with 6 inch shad. It is difficult to get the line down low enough without the added weight of the leadcore. You have to be careful not to kink the leadcore line when you tie your knots. One small kink will significantly degrade the strength of the line. In a pinch a surgeon’s knot is a good choice to attach leadcore line directly to a mono leader.
It isn’t a very complicated knot to tie and it is very strong. However, if you have the time and you don’t want to leave anything to chance you would be wise to use an Albright Special knot to join the leadcore and mono line. This knot is extremely reliable and super strong and it just takes a bit longer to tie. If you decide to use the Albright Special be sure not to cut corners, you need to wrap the leadcore at least 10 times for this knot to work properly (I recommend twelve).
Take a look at the Captain’s Fishing Knots page for examples of all the knots mentioned above.