Luhr Jenson-Big John mini disks off riggers

[grandpa fish on]

Have any of you used the mini disks off downriggers and found it to be sucessful?

I'm thinking of running a disk-spoon combe off my two higher outside riggers maybe 100' back and set the angle to drop below and outside the cannonball track.

Good or bad idea ? any help would be appreciated. Gary

[final flight]

i have tried this and could not get it to run with out tangles.

[FLXTroutman]

Troutman John Oravec did an article for in fisherman mag many years ago discussing this topic. I think if you are running the mini discs as stacked lures above the rigger weight as you stated on your two higher outside riggers it is possible but I don't think you want a 100' lead. I copied this link from a previous thread, it will give you a good idea of how it can be set however this is a 10 rod spread utilizing outriggers too. If you have four or more riggers and run wire dipsies on a 3 setting and keep your mini disc lead short you should be able to run it. Corner riggers with short leads set higher than your out and downs may play a role in minimizing tangles. Also your out and down would need to have an extendable boom to get it further away from your corner rigger. If you click on the image it will zoom in and show more detail. Note the "cookie trap" is only on one side, I don't recall if the mini divers were directional or not but it would certainly help avoiding tangles.

http://s1.postimage.org/2rHTor-cedf9553 ... 1197b7.jpg

[Big Dave]

Used the size 0 dipsie with flasher and cutbait to get more baits down to the fish level. Used a stacker twenty feet above the ball and a #3 setting.

[ray koziatek]

we always called it the " down and out" just run the minis 25 to 50 out gives those fish one more chance for a meal and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[mgatley]

Never tried the mini's but have tried jet divers and in-line weights off the boards. I can tell you that one 20 foot jet per board is all the otters could handle; two jets wanted to sink the otter. In-lines work well.

[ray koziatek]

psst mgatley..(riggers)

[Pequod1]

When I was chartering at Pt. Breeze and targeting steelhead, I always used two #0 dipseys on my outside riggers. I would set them at 3 and run them less than 20' behind the ball with a spoon or dodger/fly. This was my hottest rig when set up high in the water column. Never had a tangle on them. When they went, you knew it!

[skipper19]

That diagram posted above looks kinda familiar....Yes the #1 dipsy..WITHOUT RING...less drag for the stacker release to deal with. I have run that #1 dipsy on the outboard riggers setting #3 to plane out and down.

I set back 50 feet on the diver on #3 without ring and that usually will achieve 20 ft down give or take a foot or two due to line diameter and speed up to about 3mph. after that the diver will place a lot of pressure on the rigger stacker release.

The diver rod line is clipped to the stacker at 20 feet above the ball. The drag of the dipsy will have an effect of pulling the rigger ball slightly outward and away from the middle rigger sets, thereby helping with the separation of the rigger cables.

The diver lure will be at the approximate same level as the rigger ball lure, but further back and out from it offering the second chance at the buffet.

This is OK as long as you keep forward progress and do not stop or slow too much or turn too quickly or FUBAR!

So having said that, it is best to run this setup when deep water is below and no chance of hooking bottom and when boat traffic is very light where you can control your destination to eliminate short turns and such.

Of course thd main choice of diver rod line in my case is 30lb ande since it holds well in scotty releases set tight and the no collection of fleas. The rigger ball and cable provide the depth of entry for the diver, similar to as if you were able to place the rod tip under the water at say 40 or 50 feet below the surface. Low resistance baits such as spoons run naked behind the diver work well for me.

Here is some more fun with dipsy I will try this summer in the deep water. I have a center rigger that is really not useful except for shallow presentations. The beam is only 8.5 ft on my boat and is too crowded for 4 riggers running deep without snafu. So I plan to try the center rigger shallow and rig a dipsy directly to the ball release on a 0 setting set back 150 to 200 ft straight back behind the boat. The drag of the dipsy should have the effect of pulling the ball back slightly from the rest of the set and help the ball track more straight, eliminating some of the "Weave" that round balls exhibit. More diagrams again CLICK TO EXPAND

[JBoock]

I have had success on LO and on the Finger Lakes using Big Jon Mini divers setting them out , then running them deeper off the downrigger. I always thought of it as an walleye technique but it works great on every kind of fish. I have since removed my downriggers on the sides of my boat and replaced them with wire and braid dipsey divers. They are easier to set up and you'll catch more fish using dipsey divers then you will with this downrigger technique. Purchase some Walker 107/124 divers and watch the fish come in.

Jay

[Fishtails]

What Ray K said.....the mini divers work great as down & outs. Popular Brown Trout presentation and also a good way to get a spoon or grease trap down close to the bottom for lakers without dragging the ball in the mud.