Trolling with dipseys

[Capt Eric]

I also don't try to trip a dip or jet that didn't release, sometimes that action can loose a fish

Good example of different technique from one boat to the next..... I 'check' every Tru-Trip and Dipsy before bringing them in... I try to teach this to customers, but it can be tricky...you gotta get the feel for it. With the TT's.... once it's off the towline and tightened up (unless I know for sure it tripped), I'll add a little more tension, then a quick but short pop - just to check the diver... sometimes I'll feel it drop a little tension, meaning it just tripped... if you don't feel anything different, same weight, that's the fish and it had already tripped. Usually you can tell prior, and with all these small fish getting larger it probably won't be much of a concern this year. Dipsy's - same thing - little pop just to check the trigger before reeling... with a snubber, that pop won't mean lost fish. Again, unless you can see that's it's riding damn near on top, which is usually where they end up if they hook up and you didn't see it right away.

I just want to be clear - just because this is how I do it - doesn't mean anyone else is wrong! Do whatever you've been doing if it puts fish in the boat!

[branhamautomotive]

I agree if set right a little bump us normally all that's heeded to trip the release, and what's done on a personal boat is and can be different then dishing with clients. As a first mate I would hate to bump 's rod to release a diver and somehow between point a and fish gets off, then I can be the one in their eyes that lost the fish. As you said a lot of these ppl have never fished this way, and honestly most do a down right incredible job at picking it pretty quickly

[Capt Eric]

I agree if set right a little bump us normally all that's heeded to trip the release, and what's done on a personal boat is and can be different then dishing with clients. As a first mate I would hate to bump 's rod to release a diver and somehow between point a and fish gets off, then I can be the one in their eyes that lost the fish. As you said a lot of these ppl have never fished this way, and honestly most do a down right incredible job at picking it pretty quickly

Yep! Most pick it up well... especially woman and children... they're the only ones that listen to us!!!

[branhamautomotive]

It's amazing how many fish can be picked up right under the boat. More than once I have used my down rigger to fish directly from, just add a snubber and 6ft leader and either a j7 or j9 or spoon. Somewhat hard to read with smaller fish. But if your boat is equipped and you have the men but not the rods it's a quick way to put a few extra lines in. I normally run them just a few feet above the bottom.

On our 19fter we can run 6 inline, 2 dips and the down rigger, so I could get enough ppl on the boat I could run 12 lines at 1 one time.......that's never going to happen on a 19fter. But it's nice to have all the options cause some days 1 method seems to beat the others.

On my dips and downriggers i use as 12 inch snubber. Different color on each side just to clearly distinguish which one goes on each side quickly

[fisherman 2]

ditto on checking them...if their catching fish regularly and one quits check it...either small fish on it or it could be tangled....been quite a few times we check and nothing on it and put it back out and it goes right away...must be the different motion of the spoon moving down into place...we fish mostly west of west sister and normaly the dips are out less than 75 ft...only takes less than a minute to check and reset...I had one day last summer when I fished alone and ran 2 dips both back 65 ft one with a purple demon and the other a uv helmut and I caught over 60 eyes and numerous trash fish to get 6 keepers...if one had a fish on the other one did too even though it didn't look like it...got to the point were I just checked them constanly, sometimes nothing was there...between all the fish and checking and reseting them I prolly did it between 80-100 times...got to say I was kind of tired when I got done at noon...helmut caught more fish but demon caught all the keepers.

[fisherman 2]

to the OP of this thread...if your new to dipseys it may take awhile to get them to work...just keep messing with them, moving them up or down a few feet at a time till they start catching...the chart on the back of them is not accurate but it's in the ballpark...most times dipseys are run deep. not to say they won't work up higher...a good idea is to write down how far back is working at a certain depth...example 38 ft. back in 20 fow...it's easy to forget when working different depths...also if trying to get a #1 and 3 to work the same depth you only need around 12 ft. difference in distance...example 60-48...also make sure the reels are calibrated... most times in the summer dipseys with spoons will catch more fish than cranks on boards...disclaimer...dipseys work 99% of the time but some days the fish will shy away from them.

[sherman51]

i guess i'll put my 2 cents worth in if you don't mind. i started by going out on a charter that ran dipsies. learned to run 3 dipsies per side. made 2 trips with him before going on my own. i learned more in those 2 days than i could have learned in who knows how many yrs. i started on my own with the same setup that the charter running dipsies. but had problems with the rings coming off. switch to the deeper divers and they was much better. then i swithed to the lite bite slide diver. but i didn't use the slide part. i just rigged them like a regular diver but had the lite bite function on them. i can set the rod adjustment just a little tight in rough water and the lite bite as loose as it goes. not so many false releases but even most small fish even white perch will trip the diver. i wouldn't ever go back to standard divers.

30# braid in the norm for eyes. and be sure to use a mono backing on your reels. i didn't at 1st and the line was slipping on the spool on some reels. i started with 65# braid for my main line because that's what the charter used. i went out to 50' of water with my diver set on a 4.5 setting at 2 mph with 65# line and let the diver out slow until it started tapping bottom. took 185' to reach bottom. did the math and got 2.7 feet down for every 10' of line out. now i set the front diver to the depth i want. then set middle diver on 3 20' less than front diver back diver set on 1.5 20' less than middle diver.

i also use downriggers for eyes on erie. i bought the chamberlain releases for them. i have rigger fished for 35 yrs and the chamberlain is the best there is for fishing on erie. check out downriggerrelease.com. they have 2 adjustments on them. 1 for rod tension 1 for lure tension .

[Capt Eric]

I may not be clear enough.... when I said I 'check' TT and Dipsy's... I meant I check the trigger before reeling.... With the 7' medium light Talora's, I don't need to check board rods for fish.....I can tell you if one picks up a 2" white perch... Dipsy's can be tougher - those I'll pull in occasionally if they're not catching.... and sometimes there's a little fish! Problem solved!

[itsbob]

For beginners to using dipseys, I would recommend only one dipsey rod per side.I would be running that at a 3 setting.Using multiple dipseys per side is more complicated and can result in tangles.As for comment that dipsey rings coming off,went to boat show several years ago and Jim Stedke seminar said he super glues these rings on.I glued them and they don't come off no more.Another great tip I got on OGF website several years ago,set your two dipsey at depth think going to catch at.Probably 5-10ft difference between the two.If not catching in 15-20 min move one up 5ft and other down 5ft.If still not catching,continue to move one up and other down till find active fish.Dont even got to reel them in,but I usually do because can have a fish or junk,stripped worm or tangle.Can check the dipsey rods much quicker than the boards.Have noticed the last few years that the dipseys seam to start outfishing the boards as the water warms up in July and into September.Not sure why, except the dipseys create a bigger disturbance of water near your lure that attracts the fish.

[fisherman 2]

dipseys are only a delivery system...spoons have the action the fish like...only bad thing if you want to call it that, is the stinger scorpion spoon is the perfect size for every kind of fish in the lake to bite.