best combo on a dipsy diver

[BAITNH]

whats the best combo to run on a dipsy? flasher fly flasher lure ?? color size spacing distance ?

[BAZOOKAJOE]

Flasher fly or meat.  Longest lead you can handle between dipsey and flasher.

[steelydan]

depends,depends,depends. too many variables in your question

[BAITNH]

will this  help narrow my request.  lets say looking for kings  in early season  out of Fairhaven ?  I have  seen some  you tube videos  and  the leads  were so long that  they hand lined  in the fish to the boat.

[Gill-T]

This is a funny one....look at 333 tournament footage on Lake Michigan and you will see most of the top boats hand-lining. From what I can see some of these set-ups make no sense. If you want to run a super long leader off your dipsy for stealth....why in the world do you run

an orange dipsy???? Go to a clear dipsy and run your leader as long as you can handle netting for your boat and you will have no problems. My 10' dipsy rods rigged for travel with the dipsy at the rod tip has the a length of leader that goes down around the handle to a flasher/fly with the hook in a rod eyelet about 3/4 the way back up the rod.

[TyeeTanic]

I agree there are way too many variables to say one setup is the best. 

Firstly, I have multiple setups ready to go, so we can switch them out and zero in on works

better on any particular day. The ready setups are favorite combinations that work well, when they work.

There is a general trend in regards to colors vs. depth.  Reds/orange are good higher in the water column,

where silvers and blues work best deeper. Green is in the middle, and purple can be used full range.

 

I generally like to start by knowing where the temperature is (42 - 48F) and then putting lines at 42F, in the thermocline

and just above.  Depending on where they are in terms of depth will decide which colors get used.

 

I then put a spread off flies and meats out (either real meat or artificial, like an MC Rocket).  I generally like my meat rigs

deeper (don't ask me why, just had more success with them that way), and also on bigger flashers (11"). 

 

As you work the fish, you will see what color and setup works better on a particular day. Every fish caught, the color, bait type, speed, direction, depth is registered to highlight a working pattern. We start switching SOME of the setups over to more of the same to increase bites, BUT that sometimes doesn't work.  Sometimes one setup brings the fish in, but they then fall back and hit something else.  So if you change out the one setup that isn't taking hits, but it was the initial attractor, guess what? bite shuts down.  So (a) don't change too much too fast, and (b) play devils advocate to try and figure out why bite went from good to bad (many things including cloud cover, ambient temp, etc.).

 

Some of my favorite setups:

 

- chrome frog spin doctor, frog dipsey, screamer fly

- bloody death spin doctor and fly, with matching purple dipsey

- hawg wild spin doctor and fly, with orange dipsey

- black dipsey, big silver 11" flasher/paddle, silver/glow MC Rocket or cut bait

- carmel dolphin spin doctor and fly, with green or yellow dipsey

- black dipsey, police siren 11" flasher/paddle, with purple/glow MC Rocket or cut bait

- blue dipsey, blue/silver 8" paddle, with mirage fly

- wonderbread dipsey, wonderbread spin doctor and white/glow fly

 

Anyhow, I have 24 setups ready to go - dipsey, attractor and bait, all in pouches. So it's easy to switch out and try different things.

 

Having a basic knowledge of where to start, a game plan to change things out, and attention to detail is the trick.

 

Have fun!

[JakeyBaby]

Michigan guys can do that becuase a 18-19lb king is a big fish to them! Have fun hand lining a 35lb Ontario King!

[lineman49]

   Why couldn't Slide divers be used for longer leads ?  Can make lead as long as wanted.  Yes/no?

[BAITNH]

Mark that's  exactly what im looking for is to make up  about 20 rigs and have them ready to  go, anyone else with their fav combos   please join  in

[steelydan]

black dipsy, on wire with flasher fly or b. fuller king of sting green. 10' to 12' lead.

slide diver's :yes:

Edited February 3, 2014 by steelydan

[Blue Knight]

I run Slide Divers so I can run them at whatever length I want ahead of the flasher. What I also do is place a swivel about four feet ahead of the flasher so the diver can't slide down any further. As for tackle I run an 8" Hot Spot flasher, either a Bullfrog, white Lightning, Weasel or Green Haze ahead of a green or glow Howie Fly. All have produced very well over the years and for the last couple of years I've run a Hot Spot Agitator ahead of an Apex, other spoon or body bait depending on the time of year with good results.

[BAZOOKAJOE]

They're usually spent by the time you get them to the net.  I handlined a 32 lbs King last year.  He was about belly-up.  Seems like the bigger fish die faster from stress.  I had a couple smaller fish that were trickier. 

Edited February 3, 2014 by BAZOOKAJOE

[BAZOOKAJOE]

Do they make a slide diver that goes as deep as a mag Walker deeper diver?

[BAZOOKAJOE]

will this  help narrow my request.  lets say looking for kings  in early season  out of Fairhaven ?  I have  seen some  you tube videos  and  the leads  were so long that  they hand lined  in the fish to the boat.

 

Spin doctors with flies or stingray sized spoons.

[steelydan]

Do they make a slide diver that goes as deep as a mag Walker deeper diver?

i believe slide diver just came out with a larger one that is close to a mag dipsy

[BAZOOKAJOE]

I've thought about trying the slide divers.  I couldn't find anything on their website about a mag.  Then i thought you could use the regular size and add one of those diver diggers that Capt John King sells.  They are a 10 oz lead plate you add to a dipsey or slide diver for added depth.  One thing that worries me is reeling mono through a twilli tip.  I remember hearing somebody mentioning they experienced some break-offs from this.  Sharp edges or something inside the twilli?

 

 http://www.michiganangler.com/2013_New_Tackle.htm

[Tim Bromund]

I saw the new stuff and talked to the Owner for a while at the Triple S Show a couple weeks ago, it's not on the market yet as they are working out the price point, but in the very near future they will be offering an add on with a new base plate, a 7 oz (or maybe it was 9 oz) weight and a mag ring that will make the slide diver dive like a mag dipsy.

[BrokeOff]

nice.  I think they have 4oz add on weights on their website.  I also wondered about the wire/twilli on the mono splice.  That sounds like an expensive tackle loss right there.

[steelydan]

you only need a 3' or 4' mono leader with a slide diver. it can slide on the wire line

[Matthew]

We've been running long leads with regular divers for years. Just add two church clips on your diver and your done. Last year we were down 200 feet with our divers and running a 50 foot lead between our diver and flasher, no hand lining involved with church clips

Edited February 4, 2014 by Matthew

[BAZOOKAJOE]

We've been running long leads with regular divers for years. Just add two church clips on your diver and your done. Last year we were down 200 feet with our divers and running a 50 foot lead between our diver and flasher, no hand lining involved with church clips

I can't picture this.  Can you elaborate?

[BAZOOKAJOE]

I'd say the biggest problem with running a really long leader off a dipsey is deploying (esp a meat rig).  It's almost a 2 person job.

[BAITNH]

 Matt,  is not the  dipsy  fixed  to  the line ?

[Matthew]

The diver is not fixed to the line but is attached at any position.

[Diversion]

What he is saying is that he uses 2 clips for the 2 attachment points that a diver has, allowing him to attach the diver anywhere on the line. The diver is then removed when reeling in, kind of how an inline planer is clamped onto your line.