Frustrating lack of hits on dipsies

[MadPerry]

I was previously using only riggers, but have put together a pair of dipsy rods/reels with 30lb big game mono. Using size 1 metallic blue and silver with o-rings. To date I have ONLY used flashers/fly combos on them and do not get much action from them compared to spoons on the riggers. Have tried spin doctors of all colors and patterns with atommik flies, luhr jensen flies, and dreamweaver flies. Tried Echips, Champion flashers, luhr jensen dodgers, etc. In other words, i've tried a lot of combos. The only real action has been from a blue/green atommik fly with blue crush spin doctor a few times. My leaders between flasher to fly are dead on between 24" to 20". I use luhr jensens chart for how much line to let out, and go just a touch longer to account for the 30lb mono. I generally troll between 2.3 to 2.7mph.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong? It kills me hearing about how effective these are for seemingly everyone else and I can't get a hit on them.

[TyeeTanic]

what is the length of your lead between your dipsey and flasher?

I get the majority of my hits on the dipsies towards the end of the season when the fish are lower in the colum, so there must be something here we can fix.

Mark

[bluewater]

One of the problems you might be having is because you are using mono you can't get deep like you can with the wire, but having said that I have used mono in years past and still did real well with it it's just harder to get good hook-ups with mono though because of stretch. I would say 90% of my fish come from dipsys. I am also curious what your leader length is between dipsy and flasher, I always keep it about the length of my dipsy rod (10ft). I have mine set on a 2.5 setting I usually only run 2 dipsy's though.

[MadPerry]

Thanks to both of you for replying. To answer your question about leader length, mine are approximately 4 feet between dipsy and flasher. My poles are also 10 feet long(ugly stiks). Could it really be that simple? I have been doing 4 feet because that was the luhr jensen recommendation.

[bluewater]

yes sometimes it can be that simple stretch it out to 10 ft and see how you do, I get hits on my dipsy rods everytime I go out.

[MadPerry]

yes sometimes it can be that simple stretch it out to 10 ft and see how you do, I get hits on my dipsy rods everytime I go out.

That is exactly what I'll do. Will see what happens on next outing.

[TyeeTanic]

Well I'm not going to make any promises, but for sure you need to increase the length of your lead between the dipsey and flasher. I use anything from 6 to 10 feet, with preference towards the longer length.

So get yourself some 30# floro and try that.

The other question is, are you 100% sure you are putting the flasher on the right way around?

The forward end is only slightly narrower than the back end, and it is easy to get them mixed up, especially when in a hurry to get the lines in the water.

That is why I prepare my tackle the previous day - I choose a dipsey, attractor (SD, flasher, dream weaver), and fly/lure/meat rig - I pay careful attention to the colour coordination, and make sure all the connections are good. I normally prepare 3 different color patterns (greens, blues, orange/red/pinks) and that allows me to see what the fish are attracted to the next morning, so I can then start switching everything over to what's working.

Once I have the setups all ready, then I connect them all up, and I set the dipsys to work on left or right side. I wrap the leaders around the attractor and put everything into a bag.

Next morning all I have to do is get to my fishing waypoints (need to know where the fish are!) take my tackle out of the bags, but them on the right rod (left side or right side of boat according to dipsy setting) and drop them into the water - fishing in about 2 minutes.

Now - one more trick - you also need to understand what depths to put the dipseys in - I normally drop three dipsys in right away and get them to 30 ft, 40 ft and 50 ft. I then drop my temperature probe (Fishhawk TD, as I don't have down riggers on the boat) and figure out where the 45F to 55F temperature range is and then adjust the levels of my lines to stagger them into this range. I troll this and normally get hits and zero into what depth is working.

If this doesn't work for you - then pack the bags, sell the boat and try and new hobbie.

[GAMBLER]

As stated above, ditch the mono and ise wire. Mono will not get you down enough on most days.

[BAZOOKAJOE]

Wire line and 8-10 ft lead from dipsey to flasher.

[Skippers Trophy 01]

Dont be afraid to run a spoon behind one either. 10 feet of floro leader, 17 - 20 lb. works good for us.

[MadPerry]

I do have the flashers connected in the proper direction. Most of them came with illustrations. With all of my spin doctors, I have connected the fly leader to the hole on the end with "more action". I also have all of my flies matched and wrapped around the flasher. Like you said, saves a ton of time. All of my leaders from dipsy to flasher are flouro.

I'm going to try both rods with the longer leaders and see how it goes. May get wire, but probably not till next year.

Well I'm not going to make any promises, but for sure you need to increase the length of your lead between the dipsey and flasher. I use anything from 6 to 10 feet, with preference towards the longer length.

So get yourself some 30# floro and try that.

The other question is, are you 100% sure you are putting the flasher on the right way around?

The forward end is only slightly narrower than the back end, and it is easy to get them mixed up, especially when in a hurry to get the lines in the water.

That is why I prepare my tackle the previous day - I choose a dipsey, attractor (SD, flasher, dream weaver), and fly/lure/meat rig - I pay careful attention to the colour coordination, and make sure all the connections are good. I normally prepare 3 different color patterns (greens, blues, orange/red/pinks) and that allows me to see what the fish are attracted to the next morning, so I can then start switching everything over to what's working.

Once I have the setups all ready, then I connect them all up, and I set the dipsys to work on left or right side. I wrap the leaders around the attractor and put everything into a bag.

Next morning all I have to do is get to my fishing waypoints (need to know where the fish are!) take my tackle out of the bags, but them on the right rod (left side or right side of boat according to dipsy setting) and drop them into the water - fishing in about 2 minutes.

Now - one more trick - you also need to understand what depths to put the dipseys in - I normally drop three dipsys in right away and get them to 30 ft, 40 ft and 50 ft. I then drop my temperature probe (Fishhawk TD, as I don't have down riggers on the boat) and figure out where the 45F to 55F temperature range is and then adjust the levels of my lines to stagger them into this range. I troll this and normally get hits and zero into what depth is working.

If this doesn't work for you - then pack the bags, sell the boat and try and new hobbie.

[TyeeTanic]

.... and what depths do you normally troll your dipsy's in??

[MadPerry]

I usually aim for just above themocline. If I'm marking fish regularly at a different depth, I adjust up or down. When trying to go really deep, I am doubtfull that they are really diving that deep with 30lb mono. I have gone as far as 240 feet, i think. Getting the dipsy to release with very long mono line can be difficult. The angle of the line at that length suggests there is a huge bow in the line or it is really not digging down.

[Tim Bromund]

I think you'd have a hard time getting deeper than 45 or 50 feet with a mono diver, no matter how much line you let out. 30 Lb mono is too thick and has too much water resistance and it also has too much stretch to get deeper than that.

Tim

[Big Dave]

30# WIRE!!!!

[TyeeTanic]

I would stagger the lines a good 40 feet in the thermocline - one below, one in and one slightly above - if you are setting your lines at one depth, change this.

I've caught most of my fish in awkward temps and unmarked on the fish finder, so you never really know where they really are until you start getting hits.

[hawkeye625]

30 or 40 lb superline (braid) will get you down deeper as well. Wire is a better choice in flea season, but braid has its days too and is a little easier to deal with. We run 1 of each until fleas show up, then 2 wires. Ran 1 of each this weekend and the braid took more shots than wire.

Might also want to go with different color divers. Many run black, green and clear. Leads 6' to 10' - 4' is too short. I keep mine as long as the rod, easy to measure and gives me enough leverage to net fish. If you go too long you'll have trouble with the net.

[BullGator]

Went 2 for 2 on my first time out (just 3 hrs) in my own boat this past Saturday. Using 27# wire, Walker Deeper Diver (setting 3), 10' of 30#flouro between dipsy and spin doctor, and finishing with a-tom-mik fly as rigged from factory, about 24" leader. Was in 115 fow, out 225-240 on line counter. Landed a 16# steelie and a 25# king. The advise was given to me by the Hot Pursuit team (Voorhees), as well as my reading here on LOU. I believe that 30# mono is killing your depth. Go wire. Troll speed will have a greater affect on the mono than wire, as will current. May have to slow up a bit. I will tell you this, there is no greater thrill than fighting a king on wire, you feel every movement of his head. It is incredible.

[LakerTaker85]

we run wire and the length of our leader from the attractor to the dipsy is about the same length as the rod (8-10ft).

We also constantely changed the amount of line we let out until we start bangin fish.

Most of the time its spin dr. fly w/ meat, but the spoons (glow) have been doing some damage behind our dipsys.

I believe it depends on what the fish want... some days its all riggers with the occasional dipsy hit and other days it the opposite.

My suggestion would be to get wire and change the amount of line you have out alot until they start gettin hits!

O we also run size 0 dipsys, i also recommend that.

Good Luck!!!

[TyeeTanic]

We run size 0, size 1 and mag dipseys. The Mag's are a pain in the butt.

size 0 and 1 are good sizes - I make the most use out of my size 1's - I think they are the most versatile and cover a very wide depth range so if I picked one, I would go with size 1.

The other thing with size 1 is you don't have to let out as much line to get to a certain depth as the size 0, so it is a bit easier bringing the fish in.

This is especially important if you use mono line, as the further the fish is from the rod, the more line stretch you have to deal with, and the more difficult it gets to land big fish.