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

[Dr.Ed]

This works for me. I paint black zebra strips on the side of Chartreuse/Pearl Bandits and the walleye love them 80' straight off the back and side of my boat at 1.7 to 1.9 mph. I'll see you tomorrow on Ch. 79.

[Frank]

I did good on humble bee,and fruit dots, so I been painting black heads on everything an adding green hologram, lol! Might just try trolling off the sides save putting boards out!

[ebijack]

A lot of folks put too much into other folks line out numbers. It is only a guide, which helps you know if someone is in the upper column, middle or near the bottom.
Perfect example: 2 fisherman in the same boat. Each using their own rods/reels pulling Jet 40's. One fellows jet tag bottom in 40 fow at 105 ft braided line out, the other 135 ft of another brand of braid ( same brand/model reels)to tag bottom. This was running 4 rods/2 each.
The amount of line backing, line type/size and amount of main line type/size all changes the calibration equation/line out numbers. Some folks calibrate their reels, some only to 100 ft. Me, I don't care as long as I start with all my reels spooled exactly the same. I know they are all very close, till someone looses a lot of line
Once I know at what water column area/level the fish prefer the bait, I can start working on giving them plenty of it
If the bait's profile, bill length and angle are real close to each other. They should/will dive very close to the same depth. Given all the other variables.
Just more stuff/experience that has changed the way I think about fishin compared to when I was starting out.

[wakina]

Don't read to much into the # test line the line is unless you compare the diameters, braid to mono or Fireline to mono. Power Pro is smaller in diameter than the Berkley fire line. Here is a comparison , the info is taken from the two manufacturers respective web sites. Berkley Fire line 10# .008 inch/.20mm comparable to 4# Trilene XL. Power Pro 10# .006 inch/.15 mm comparable to 2# mono. Most of the Fireline products are a larger diameter than the Braid from the other manufacturers. The reason is that Fireline is a fused line and braid line is well, braided. They are actually two different types of line in the way they are manufactured. Braided line is pretty much ranked like this Braid #test/mono #test with equal diameters. 30/8, 40/10, 50/14.

[Frank]

Wakina is right what I was thinking and what I wrote are two different things .the diameter is important,

[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