Trolling advice, still new

[eriedeerie]

New to trolling--Catawba Area. I have trolling rods with counters and last year experimented with dipsys and harnesses. Aside from getting my trolling bag caught in the propelar it went OK. I NEVER see anyone mention dipsys anymore. Without using boards, what would be an easy next step...or alternative. I see everyone mentioning "bandits". Do they dive all by themselves by design? Look like a giant rapala. Or do I need a diver or weight or some sort? Seems like it would be hard to tell how deep they are without a chart. Too many acronyms on this forum for me to figure out anything else for now. I would probably go by Rickards on my way out and buy some bandits as they seem pretty straightforward.

Thanks,

Mike

[Frank]

Bandits dive to approximately 22' on their own, most of the fish being caught on them is 45' to 80' of line out, a chart for them is a good thing, when marking fish you want to fish just above them, precision trolling app.online 1.99 per lure type. Also , weight charts there to. To get any lure past it's maximum depth you will have to add weight unless it has a small diving bill, in that case you can use jets, jets are not recommended for larger billed baits like bandits,because the bill effects the dive curve of the jet. They pull down on the back the jet.hope this helps some,

[eriedeerie]

So basically go by the bait shop ask for a typical bandit (suggestions?) and troll it back 60-80 ft with no other equipment?

[towac78]

So basically go by the bait shop ask for a typical bandit (suggestions?) and troll it back 60-80 ft with no other equipment?

inline planer boards.....humble bee is hot color

[Frank]

I have big board's to get them out to the sides of my boat, but yes , 45'= 12'down, 50= 13, 60=15, 70=16 ,80=17, 100=19, 125=20, 150'=21' 195'=22'down. All cranks have a dive curve bandits just have a large bill to achieve greater depth. The thing to do is to run them close to the fish you are marking, but not below them.most people use boards but they can be ran out the back, I did well on humble bee also,gold black back, blue chrome, fruit dots, black and chrome, I think another one called popsicle, there are more,the chromes seem to be catching them the past few days, blue chrome

[dgf2250]

I was having trouble getting started and read the book "Trolling Big Water Walleyes" by Chip Gross. It's on Amazon as a kindle book. You can download a free kindle reader for a pc or iPad. It covers the basics and lays the foundation to be able to understand the jargon used when members here post. It covers the basic tackle and techniques used on Lake Erie.

[Madd Matt]

Mike,

Dipsy divers are still used... even by a lot of charters, they just use them a bit different than what you would as a primary trolling weight.
The reason that most of us do not use them exclusively is because you can only really run about 6 rods max. and that is if you are really good and know what you are doing. 2 out each side and 2 straight out the back.

With big boards you can run 8-10 rods out each side. A lot of charters will run a dipsy straight down off the side. Dipsy's dive straight down enough to run them along side the boat and still reel in the other rods. Many times I run a Dipsy or two right on the bottom and forget about it all day and see if it picks anything up.

Bandits to not require any additional diver or weight to be able to place it wherever you want in the water column.

-Matt

[karloutdoors]

Keep in mind that the bandits that most everyone is referring to are the Bandit walleye deep divers.

[Frank]

Good post karloutdoors, I forgot to add that!

[Frank]

There you go eiredearie ,read post from Dr.Ed , catching them out the back of the boat,on boards, jets,weight etc.