DO YOU LOOSE FISH ON DYPSYS ?

[ray koziatek]

Ok i know i just saw a simular post but could not find it to check answers ,but here is what i have discoverd this weekend.After SOMEONE lost one of my 5 yr old FAVORITE dypsys ,I had to dig a new one out of the box.I did my usual trip with finger adj and even triped it many times with little twitch of the rod. The answer was too easy the trip setting was too tight .now after 7 yrs fishing dypsys i loose very few fish After the hookup and in the last 2 years ive put around 1700 hrs fishing time which translates to the equivelent of 215 -8 hr. days on the water which is a good amount of time for a rec. fisherperson(not enuf for me).After reading so many post about people loosing the fish on dypsys i took my turn with about 8 fish lost this last weekend (LAKERS)Head shake.Now my dypsy rods are the 10ft 6in broomsticks ugly stix,i use a snubber,with 8 to 10 ft of mono to the spinny.At speed 2.4 to 2.7 mph they do bend about 2 feet back and give the dypsy great action in bumpy water.Problem and theory is when the fish hits the bait the dypsy dont always trip there fore the dypsy pretty much stayes flat in its path the fish gets the chance or 2 or 3 to spit the hook before grabbing the rod there fore many got free this weekend before backing off on the release screw after that it was back to a near 100% hookup on the dypsy rod .So this is what having a soft release and stiff rods do im my humble opinion,as soon as the fish hits the fly the dypsy trips releasing a lot of pressure on the rod tip the rod instantaly straightens out taking up slack and flipping the dypsy which heads to the surface thus causing the spindoctor to go side ways in the water causing more pressure on the hookpoint and setting the hook deeper with each headshake instead of allowing the fish time to shake it loose .so thats my story and im sticking with it ...after having better than 50% lost fish to 100% hooked up and landed with the only diff being the set screw i am 99.99% shure this was my problem this weekend.

[skipper19]

I agree Ray, Last outing with Mick and wife, we had a similar problem. New dipsy, real tight, even with the screw nearly falling out of the thing (something to be said for buying garage sale dipsies, broke in). Fish hit the dipsy and the thing wouldn't trip, so consequently, the fish shaking it's head on the short leader from the dipsey and spinny it had a lot of things with weight wrenching back and forth working against the hook. Therefore, speculation would have it, that due to some peculiar irregularities in newly manufactured dipsies, they can't be trusted to perform as intentionally designed, and must be tweeked by an outside force. Note to be filed...(the dipsey lever pinch, not the note)

Thanks Ray (Baldy), direct descendant of the ancients, You da dipsey doodle noodle guy, now go eat some more ice cream (brain food) and give us some more scientific evidence that the consumption of high calorie foods was clearly the leading cause of the evolutionary advancement of the early man.

[Zebedee]

There I go having to spend more money again! I bought the 9 1'2 ft Heartlands for my wires....That stiffer rod taking up slack makes sense...Thanks again Ray!

[on the lam]

Loose the snubber and you will land 110% IMHO

[FLXTroutman]

I agree with OTL, lose the snubber. I troll Canandaigua. Even king fishing YT doesn't use snubbers. I caught biggest fish of my life, 30 lb fall king on the YT in Oswego harbor off the wire dipsy on a 3 setting 30' out (yes 30 feet out) no snubber, and she ran to 420' at least, maybe more.

[ray koziatek]

I know many dont run snubber with great results,its just kinda tuff to change what has worked with great results for me . but i did make a snubberless dypsy and ill run it next time i head to the pond

[CBish]

Ray,

I think that with all those days and hours on the water you are to tired and TOOO slow to get to the rod!!!

IMHO

CC

PS. Instead of snubber you may want to try this: attach 20' - 30' of 50# mono between the wire and the diver. I have done this and it is not too shabby when in flea season and your wire does not curley Q from pulling out of the tip when rigging.

[Gill-T]

Ray, I assume you were fishing the fingerlakes where the fish are smaller (generally). A Laker of the 2-7lb size does not have a big mouth compared to Kings on Ontario. Compounding hook-up problems is that the fly is whipping around behind the flasher (hard for the fish to track and hit accurately). Consider the problem may be the hook size... . try downsizing on the fingerlakes. We also had east winds this past weekend, which in my experience means more negative "nipping" fish. Just some thoughts. We have all had rubber hook days. I don't remember loosing as many fish when we all used mono/dipsys, so maybe it is the no-stretch braid and wire tearing the hooks out. I have seen video of some top tournament guys who back off the drag before pulling the rod out of the holder to help facilitate easier rod removal and ease the fish into the initial run.

[ray koziatek]

hook and everything was fine after backing out the trip screw on a new dypsy100% hookup no need to downsize for fingers jason and i have landed 2to 3 hundred lakers in the last 2 years with same setup we only did 42 fish in 2 days this weekend but in feb,march 40 fish days are common on seneca.

[Gill-T]

Sounds like you already figured it out, thanks for sharing.

[Yankee Troller]

I agree with OTL, lose the snubber. I troll Canandaigua. Even king fishing YT doesn't use snubbers. I caught biggest fish of my life, 30 lb fall king on the YT in Oswego harbor off the wire dipsy on a 3 setting 30' out (yes 30 feet out) no snubber, and she ran to 420' at least, maybe more.

Man that was a fun weekend!

[muskybob]

Nope, I don't use them neither.

[Silver Fox]

Put some ski's on that dude!

[Yankee Troller]

That was a NASTY Labor Day weekend. Strong East winds made the Eastern Basin Ice water. So about 60 boats trolled inside Oswego Harbor in Fog so thick you couldn't see 100 feet in front of you.

We were trolling the East wall in this pick and you can barley pick out the wall:

[Big Dave]

The trip arms arn't made exactly the same . Where the weld is sometimes hits the plastic of the main body and won't trip. I have had to file this weld and smooth it up. Then they work like the old ones. Its always hard to loose a favorite one and have to break in a new one.

[jeremyseg]

I just got my wire dipsy setup out for the first time last week. Both days out we had strikes on it and nothing on the riggers. First strike threw the hook, but the second time we fought the fish for about 4-5 minutes until the leader broke at the swivel/lure connection. I am using 20# vanish flouro for a leader and am I correct that I should loosen up the drag some on my wire rod? After the line broke, I realized that with the wire not stretching any, that's alot of stress on a 10' length of fishing line. Thanks, Jeremy

[GAMBLER]

Jeremyseg,

Get rid of the Vanish Floro. Vanish is cheap crap. Use a higher quality floro like Seagar. It is more expensive but you will not have those problems. I would also step up to 30 lb.

Tournament tied flies = fewer lost fish. I tourney tied every fly in my box and have noticed a much better hook up to landed ratio. Snubbers are a thing of the past. IMO snubbers = lost fish. keep the drag just tight enough to keep the drag from clicking out. If you have it too tight, you may lose gear and a fish. Having the proper reels also helps keep fish on. I used to have 2 of the Great Lakes Sealine reels for my dipsy reels. They sucked. The drags were horrible. I upgraded 3 seasons ago to Diawa SG47lc's and they are great reels.

[jeremyseg]

Wow thanks for the advice Gambler! Never had to deal with flouro before and didnt think twice about the brand. Hard to find 30# line anywhere local but Bass Pro, but now it's a good excuse to go shopping. I will try the other brand and see what happens. Also, I will lighten up the drag a little like you said. Again, thanks very much. Hopefully I can post new results next week since tommorrow looks like nasty NW winds out of Oswego. Guess I get to sleep in unless dad wants to go Pike fishing in Fair Haven. Thanks again, Jeremy

[GAMBLER]

Jeremy,

If you can't find Seagar locally, order it from A-tom-mik. He selles it for a good price.

[Mike C]

Ray,

I just read your post about problems with dipsy ( divers ) after spending all day today tied up in

my slip in Oswego due to high winds on the lake. I have had the good fortune to have three

divers outfitted with John Emory's ( Big Jon ) new " Wonder Set " kit that will make the Jenson

and Walker diver fully automatic. This device will eliminate several of the problems that we all

have encountered with our divers

Here are some of the things that the new "Wonder-Set will do.

1. Auto-sets and resets diver without taking out of the water

2 No more need to adjust release

3 resets self on false releases

4 less torque on hook-ups ( less pressure, better batting average on strikes )

5. Fits latest circular divers

6 sets and resets when fish hooks up or diver hits bottom

7 more hook-ups

8 Makes fishing more fun ( no yanking on divers to change lures )

9 Five minute installation and your diver is fully automatic

10 First major innovation to divers in twenty five years.

I believe that I have made a few people on the site curious ?

The Wonderset should hit the stores on the eastern end of Lake Ontario ( Fat Nancy's , All Seasons, A-Tom-Mik website as well as

St. Peter's Outfitters in Oswego , and Gander Mountain in Cicero before the 4th of July.

I am not including a picture of Wonderset yet, as the ones I have are prototypes, but I can assure you this, John is picking

up the final parts this week to make this thing happen.

Stay tuned

Mike C

Oswego

[ray koziatek]

yea i saw them in gla mag last fall seems like a good idea WHEN properly set a reg dypsy gives me as good a hookup or better than the riggers with 1 or 2 in twenty with no one home no matter what you run to get it down ,speed,presentation good knot and line proper drag and a sharp hook is a proven catcher sometimes its the other end of the pole that frees so many fish.

[Mike C]

Ray,

The Legendary Wonderset has been under production and testing for over five

years, and has been a concept for close to ten years. Nobody in

Michigan has seen it, and what you saw in GLA must have been something

else. Myself and only two other people have prototypes to run, and I

know for a fact John has no let them out of his hands until the last month.

John has done heavy field testing on Lake Michigan himself over the last

three summers.

The man who built the mold is doing the first run early this week.

Stay tuned.

Mike C

Oswego

[CBish]

Jeremy,

You may want to try Pline floroclear in 30#, I have had good luck with this coated line. Sometimes I wonder how important the floro leader between a diver and a flasher is; with all that hardware down there will the line be the thing that frightens the fish? IDK

CC

[jeremyseg]

Ok, I ordered some new 30# Seagur from Atomik this weekend. Nice and handy to sell it in 25 yard lengths. Finally a shop that understands fishermans needs! Also, I noticed that the last few feet of wire to the dipsy is curly que'd but no hard kinks. Is this normal? This is my first year dealing with wire and I'm a little bit nervous about the condition of the wire. I'd hate to lose another lure because I didn't pay attention and trim off the bad wire. Thanks, Jeremy

[ray koziatek]

yes the curl is normal just use caution NO kinks some use rubber band to keep tension during storage but i just reel to the tip and leave a little tension on it . you might consider P -line floura clear only 10.00 for a full spool .Im shure anything Tom sells is a proven and many times tested product hmmm maybe i should try to get on his research department..there is some newer wire comming to a store near you that is supposed to be more forgiving ,softer,and less curl...on can only hope.