dipsy diver set up

[Pj Weber]

Hi guys, looking to get started using dipsy divers this year it will be my first year with my own boat on Lake Ontario. I have gone on charters and saw they used wire line at 275' out to get down 75'. This depth seemed to produce fish in august quite well. I have purchased 2 10' eagle claw diver rods with okuma reels that came loaded with braided line. Now question is what size dipsy will I need to get down 75' and what rod holders should I get without going broke? PJ

[Big Dave]

Size #1 is what we use. With a snubber and a 7' leader. 2.5 to 3 setting will get you 60 to 70'. I made my own rod holders. They hold the rods parallel with the water and away from the rigger cables. 1 1/2" stainless tube with a bracket welded to the front and a through bolt through the back of the tube. You don't want them to stick out past the side of the boat. Good rod holders are worth the money, if you can't make them. Thats a lot of money to go splash when a fish hits , or the pull of the dipsie breaks a cheap one

[daker1979]

There's a bunch of rod holders out there that will work. Titelock, Big Jon, Berts. to name a few. Stay away from ball mounts, plastic holders for dipseys they just won't hold up to the pressure.

[IRISH56]

Do yourself a favor and get the book "Precision Trolling: Big Water Edition". The book has dive curves for all the different divers using braided line, wire and mono. This will give you a good starting point when trying to figure out what amount of line to let out for your target depth at what setting and speed.

Watch your drag also - you want the drag to be set just beyond the point of creeping when the rig is set. If the drag creeps a little when you hit a bigger wave or every few minutes you're in good shape.

As far as rod holders - depends on how much $$$ you want to spend. I've been using Tite Lok's for quite a few years with no issues.

DAN

[Erbyjoe]

Pj Weber if your looking at getting down to 75 feet with a diver in August.I would think about going with 30 to 40 lb wire line it has a 3 to 1 ratio(ballpark #)so 3 feet of wire out 1 foot down.But there is a lot of variables that will change the depth but this is a rule of thumb.Once the fleas show up the braided line will be a flea magnet.They could be gone by August but I myself wouldn't take the chance.There is a place that you can buy wire line by the foot.I put a 1000 feet on each of my rigs.I use 30 lb 7 strand mason wire on my wire rigs but when I need to replace the wire I will go to this site.I belive alot of guys run the 40 lb with no difference between the 30 to the 40lb.Maybe some one will post there own experience with this size wire.I don't know what size reels you have but I use SG47LC Diawa reels and If your rods are dipsey rods they should be fine.I also run twill tips on my rods but you don't have to if you don't want to It's only my opinion.Like I said I'm not sure how deep you can get with braid but I will look it up when I get home from work.

As far as rod holders go.Like has been said already go with a strong rod holder don't go cheap or you could be setting your self up for a fall.There is alot of pressure on the rod when your fishing down deep with a dipsey a cheap holder won't take the pressure for very long I would hate to here that your rod went over the side because the rod holder couldn't hold the rod.I installed Berts track system last year after someone recomemded them to me (Thanks again to Steve ) I wish I had done this years ago.There ratchet rod holder is awsome.I'm no expert but all this info was what I got from all the guys on this site There were some great posts on wire line and dipsey's here before the crash.But it's just my 2 cents.Here are a couple of sites for the wire and rod holders.Good luck.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

http://www.teclausa.com/bert/

[Shellback]

A question or the Bert's holders. Does the rachet hold them them from going down once you select the desired position, but allow them to pull straight up freely? Or do you have to push or pull a button to pull them straight up? Thanks.

[Erbyjoe]

Shellback once you go all the way down with them and start to come up they stay at where you put them (I belive there is 5 settings or something like that)and they come up nice and easy to pull the rod out they are great holders and there is no buttons to push or pull Some were down the road I will be buying more of these.

[browntrout]

The ratchet will only let the holder come up after you set it. There is a release lever on the back that you lift when setting the desired angle. Once you set the rod holders position, it will not fall down. When a fish hits, it's nice to be able to grab the rod and come up with it....rather than try to slide it out over the water in 4' waves. I have had these for 2 seasons now and absolutely love them. One hint....don't buy short mounting tracks.....get the longest that will fit on your boat. Also, the swivel bases are great too!

[Erbyjoe]

Browntrout your right I forgot about that.Shellback I lied SORRY he is right there is a lever to push down I forgot all about that.My mistake( I hate it when I flat line )I keep thinking that it comes up then you can bring it down but you do have to push down on the lever to get it to go down but once it's down it ratchets up with out pushing any thing.Once again I apoligize for being brain dead about the lever.

[waterlogged]

One thing no one mentioned regrding the braided line is the flea issue. If the use is August and later it might not be a problem but earlier :?: :?:

What ya'll think :?:

Clarke

[Erbyjoe]

I agree I said that they might be gone but why take a chance they S***.If they are still there braid would be no good

[waterlogged]

Sorry Erby I just scanned the posts and didn't see that!!

[Erbyjoe]

Clarke Don't worry about it.I couldn't have agreed with you more about the flea's.That's why I would just set up with wire.Even if they are there the wire is still fishable the braid is NOT.

[jimski2]

The early braids had a wax coating that wore off and the line fuzzed up and became flea magnets. The newer braids have a different coating systems that shouldn't fuzz up, but I can't say there is not a problem now, we'll just have to see.