momay4000

If opportunity doesn't knock, then build a door

Sounds like a cluster F@@k. 1.)The Dipsy isn't running vertical, instead the wire will be planing near horizontal within 20' of the Dipsy so the only thing you will wind up with is one big tangle. In order to run a slider effectively, you need you main line to be near vertical like a downrigger. 2.) It a fish hits your dipsy, you don't want to be messing around with removing a fixed slider when you're retrieving your wire line. This is asking for serious trouble given that the wire has no stretch. Bad idea all around, Chris

Agree 100% with this post - spot on.

Holy mackerel Vince!!! And just when I thought your fantastic vessel made me salivate....now there's a 52 footer out there! Wow that's awesome. As always, thanks for the feedback and your superb posts over the years, Chris

Awesome video - super professional. Correct me if I'm wrong but was the last boat in the video a "52' Viking" from Toronto? If so, that's unbelievable!! Thanks for sharing, Chris

Fantastic stuff! Looked like some split rings in there.......lol. I think Gill-T hit the nail on the head. It makes we wonder if I should be paying more attention to tuning my spoons by bending them a little more if they go cold? Thanks for sharing Frogger, Chris

Good advice - I will honestly give it a try. My catch rates are quite good, but I would love any edge I can get to make them better. I will keep you posted. Cheers, Chris

Not trying to be a d##k here, but how does a split ring allow a spoon to spin more since it is fixed to the eye of the spoon? The only thing which allows a spoon to spin would be a swivel. Please explain this to me. Also, since I highly respect many of the opinions in this post regarding spoon action and catch rate, I'm going to test all my spoons in my pool with rings, no rings, light spoons, heavy spoons, mags, etc and try and see how it affects the lure action. I'm not sure how I can do this (i.e. artificially create trolling speed) but I plan on filming it with my Gopro and slowing down the footage to see how/if the spoon action changes. Thanks, Chris

I'd like to add a few cents on this: Without a doubt, I think much of what we do on the lake is cemented in experience, but that can also come at the expense of doing things just because "a charter captain told me so" or "because someone writes it in a blog it must be true". I think the argument of a split ring is a classic example: there are 25 different ways to skin the cat and honestly all 25 probably work to some degree (split ring vs. no split ring, tie directly to the spoon, in-line swivel with a snap-lock, whatever). That being said, I think it's impossible to know what way is best unless someone actually took the time to compare the catch rate of a split ring spoon vs. a non-split ring spoon in some sort of controlled scientific fashion (think Myth Busters). In my opinion/questions: 1.) There's no way a tiny split ring weighing only a few grams is going to affect the action of a spoon which weighs a few ounces, especially when the pivot point for the action is the front of the spoon! Perhaps it might affect fluid dynamics of the spoon by creating more water resistance, but the weight is negligible so the argument that it will affect spoon action is weak at best. If someone wants to do a controlled comparison on their boat - ring vs. no ring - and tell me the findings, I'd love to hear the results. 2.) I think most manufactures don't add rings to the smaller spoons b/c it's more cost or the spoons are so thin they don't need a ring. Nothing more, nothing less. 3.) I think a ring simply allows the swivel to slide around a little more when fighting a fish, exactly like what Tom says above, especially on the spoons which are thicker like an NK. The cup on a DW SS is much thinner so the swivel slides around just fine in the eye of the spoon. I simply use all the spoons the way they come out of the package (i.e. an NK spoon stays intact with the ring, a DW SS stays intact without). Don't overthink it. Chris

Been trolling 26 years......copper about 5 or 6.

Excellent comment from SF - there are always 50,000 extra things you can do with all of these things (look at your fish finder for example) yet it's all about convenience and keeping the boat straight. I have a Raymarine Smartpilot and absolutely love it, love it, love it. When fishing with two guys (or solo) it is the best thing I have ever put on my boat. It can drive straighter than I can any day. Good luck, Chris

Also - I have always run my longest lines on the outside while using my Otter boards which is contrary to the logic stated above. Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I think it works both ways. I have never had a tangle when a fish hits the outside line even when it's a deeper running line (let's say a 600' copper on the outside vs. seven color core on the inside). My guess is the fish hits the line and are pulled back and up. That being said, I used to have many tangles when I was trying to deploy a deeper line over the top of a shallower running line, so these days I will always reset my lines after there's a hit on the outside to avoid this issue. I also bring my divers in on the side when there is a hit to avoid tangling with them as well and re-setting the whole side of lines. I do not run multiple coppers on one Otter, but I do run multiple lead cores or a copper plus a lead core. Personally, I think there is more than one way to skin the cat (deeper line inside or outside) and it's all what works for you. Cheers, Chris

Amen Dan! I agree 100%. - Chris