chowder

Couple questions; 1. what's the difference between a map and a chart? and 2. How do you use the Gold chart and the fishing chip at the same time, load one and then load the other? I checked the navionics site and my units(Lowrance 525cdf, and a global map 5200c) are compatible w/ the x 14, but these units have only one S.D. card port. I am in the process of installing the Navionics Platinum Lake Map in both but I believe it only covers the eastern basin and the flx so I am wondering what is in the "chart" vs. the "map" and if I can run them simultaneously.

Raider, I can't remember if you said you had a wire dipsy setup or not, but if not I would put one or two of those together before investing in copper or lead core- just my uninformed opinion!

I thought that mono can "rot" when used as backing, I have no experience w/ using mono backing, maybe somebody will comment on this? On my super braid diver rods I just spooled on the braid w/ out backing.

Elliot, and the rest of his crew plan to be there, Split, PM me at some point about the grilling program if you want, I would be willing to help with that.- Chowder

I called the guys at Slide diver yesterday & asked them what they thought the lite bite w/ the big ring would do for depth/ ft of wire out and he said he always figured "less than a mag dipsy" because the mag dipsy is 6 oz and the slide diver is 4 oz.I told him it seemed like it dived deeper and he was surprised. I wonder if the reason the slide diver seems to dive deeper is because of the long lead after the diver- maybe that long lead amplifies the divers tendency to wave around and so it rides both higher and lower than you would think? Ray K., which SD are you using when you say you figure you are getting the same depth/ ft of line out w/ your power pro setup as you would with wire & do you use the big ring, small ring, or no ring?

Get the light bite, one size only, in black or clear plus the rings to go w/ it.

I put together the wire slide diver combo for the exact reason Ray states in his post - wire presentations catch fish. At the same time that I put the wire slide diver together I also put together a super braid slide diver setup (which I re spooled this winter using Jeykll's instructions). Both combos allow the SD to be "snapped" onto the line up to 60 yds ahead of the swivel going to the bait leader on a long piece of 30# mono. Ray, couple questions; 1. Which Slide Diver/ ring combo are you using when you figure you are getting the same depth/foot of line out as wire? 2. Do you run flasher/fly or spoons behind the slide diver? After I twisted off a couple flasher fly combos last summer I took Stinger's advice and started using a superbraid leader from the dipsy snubber to the terminal swivel.

Stan,you need to get some lead core in there too !

Leader length behind Dipsy; Longer leaders catch more fish, for most of last year we used 10' leaders on the Blue Diamond 8'6" roller rod in a 16.5" boat because the rod with the 10' leader would catch fish after fish but the rod with the 7' leader would sit around too much of the time. Landing fish w/ 10' leader on 16.5" boat is a real circus! Even in the larger boat we got at the end of the season there were some anxious moments after the fish was sorta in the net but because we needed such a long handle it could be tough to lever the whole mess into the boat. Because of all the issues noted above I did put together a wire slide diver combo at the end of the year. I found out a couple things; 1. The SD lite bite with the big ring on wire dives till hell won't have it! Does any body have any sense what you get for depth/ feet out on this setup? The depth chart that comes w/ the divers is all based on mono. 2. Because it dives hard it was kind of tricky to get the lite bite trip set right. 3. Like Tim said above, these things don't bump bottom but a couple times and they are there permanently. 4. They do catch fish!

I know what J-plugs look like but that's as far as it goes.They seem to be in a category all by themselves, or are there similar baits that I just don't know about? Are they a starting in the middle of the summer bait on Lake O? Somebody give me a basic rundown on these things-thanx

Raider, you are getting copper and lead core mixed up. Copper is a soft wire cable which sinks at the rate of 22'/100' out. Lead core is lead line, sheathed with colored plastic, the color changes every 10 yards, it sinks at roughly 5'/ 10 yards. Both can be run off inline and dual boards and both can be sent down the chute. There is plenty of room to use a diver when either one is "out" on a board.

Are there any basic guidelines for choosing a bait to use with copper on either the Big O or the FLX? Are there seasonal/ temp, or depth factors that come into play in making a choice?

A track system is going to give you a lot of versatility. There has been a number of threads on rod holders, search through them- there is a lot of things to consider if you are starting out from scratch.

Should I just sell my 600', I used it 1 time? If the 300' can truly produce the same results with a snap weight or dive bomb why keep one around? Do most people run spoons with copper or are flasher/flies used a lot too?

Flashers, flies,spoons,stix, can a guy ever have too many? Thanks for the links- just what I am looking for!

Ok, it's not as interesting as which end of the spoon the eyes should be on but I am wondering what favorite ways people have to keep flashers organized. I have seen the unfolding things with the clear plastic, I got one- don't like it. I am thinking about getting a four drawer plastic unit from wally world and delegate a drawer to each basic kind/ size. I have seen some nice hand made units in which the flashers are secured in rows in plastic boxes at an angle so you can see them pretty well but don't take up much space. Is there a commercial product like that?

The manufactured spoons do basically all have the eyes on the other end. I am not saying they are right but it is true you don't often find a bait fish head first when you gut fish.

Do you have online ordering? I really like the 2cd and 3rd from the left! Nice work

A dipsy setup will work well on the lakers, probably better than downriggers some of the time. Musky is right though, take it one step at a time, I started trolling last spring and it can be overwhelming. Even though it's more oriented to Lake Ontario, I found Keating's book on "Great Lakes Trolling for Salmon and Trout" to be very helpful, it will give you an overview of most of the techniques used in the Finger lakes(you can order it from Amazon). The Finger lakes forum on this site will have more specific info for you some of the time. After reading/ chatting some more you will have a better handle on the whole picture but I do think you might be on the right track with the dipsy rig. I think I would go with an 8'6" rod, it's easier to handle. I would go with the 47 size reel because it can be used for practically every trolling application- and things will change for you as you get into this! You might want to experiment with spooling up w/ 30# super braid. I would only get the largest size diver , the magnum divers can go from deep to shallow depending on how much line you have out(Walkers are probably the best deal). Lakers really like the Flasher/ Fly combo behind a diver. Start simple with a few spin doctor flashers in white, mtn dew, and chartreuse and some Atomic flies in white, green, etc, get flies with the "tournament rigging". Although the dipsy rig is less $ than a rigger + rod & reel, you will still need a heavy duty rod holder (Bert's, Traxtech, etc) because the diver exerts a tremendous amount of strain on the rod and rod holder. Trolling speed is usually not as critical with lakers as it with some other species but you will need to find a way to monitor speed and be able to repeat what works. This can vary from watching the action of the flasher at the surface and relating it to a throttle setting to employing some serious electronic wizardry. For better or for worse, you will probably find yourself considering at a "wire line" dipsy setup after playing around with the superbraid for a while. Wire line dipsy setups just really turn on the lakers ! The main reason I even say this is to encourage you to get stuff (rods & reels) that can evolve with you as evolve- I am not saying you have to eat the whole enchilada, just start out with stuff that can be used different ways especially when they don't cost much more. It's recreation, enjoy it!

I thought that part of the attractiveness of the 600' was the long setback which enables the fish to "see" a single bait isolated from the rest of the spread. When you crank the copper down with a weight or dive bomb don't you lose some of that effect? (Just curious- not much experience with this copper stuff!)

Can't seem to find anybody selling these smaller DWs. Anybody know much about these spoons or where I could get a few?

Bill, will an inline hold 600'? I was told that 300' was it, did not mean to misinform, but the 300' was pulling that church board pretty good! Maybe I am using the wrong boards?

The 600' is a monster + you will not be able to use it on a board (the 300' is nice that way), just started messing with them late last summer and you might want to start out thinking in terms of getting both a 300' and a 600', so don't go hog wild on rod & reel for one and not be able to get the other. Just a thought.

For planer/surface duty I use the Eagle Claw 8'6" "LIGHT" rod with the 17 or 27 LC reel spooled with 10 (last year I used 12 and 15, and I think it hurt me), these rods are inexpensive but rugged and have an awesome action for smaller browns. I have used these with both inlines and dual boards, they were a bit soupy when we tried 2 colors on them off the inlines and I switched those reels to a pair of Cabelas med.light rods. I use the Eagle claw setups to troll using inlines for walleye,pickerel and small mouths in my canoe outfitted with an electric trolling motor and they are great for that too!

Rollie, just curious where the map was off and by how much? Also, what unit are running the map on? Thanks-Andy