Dipsys for dummies

[Sk8man]

If your riggers are Cannons it might be worth getting extendable booms  for them and that way you have a variety of options for running. I sometimes extend one of mine out in back of the trolling motor to keep it away from the other stuff and that motor as well (e.g. on turns) and as you mentioned you should be able to rig them without leaning way out if on swivel base.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Sk8man

[best57]

hey guys, I'm just getting started myself. I have a an 18.5 foot aluminum crestliner with 8ft beam. It has a rear fishing deck that I'm concerned will be an issue while setting downriggers. Currently I dont have riggers but was hoping to pick up a pair of cannon mag 10s with swivel bases. Should i run these in front of the rear deck with extended booms? That way I can set them, swivel out and run the dipsys to the outside. Also, do you guys have any advice on running 2 rods off of a rigger. Was hoping two on each rigger and then one dipsy on either side because it'll be mostly just me and my brother. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Finally, I'm in need of flashers, divers, wire spool, fishhawk and a kicker motor. 

 

Thanks for your help. It's awesome how you guys help eachother out as many fisherman keep things a secret. 

 

Rob B. 

[Sk8man]

Rob - I think some useful advice would be to get the downriggers witrh adjustable booms if you can and that way you may increase your options. Next actually try out various placement options by getting into the boat with your intended equipment (even in the driveway) and try out positioning everything to insure that it will function as you wish. Sometimes things that sound like good ideas don't translate well without actually seeing how they function. Consider running the downriggers with SLIDERS rather than stacking them. That way you can run 2 lures off each rigger without all the monkeying around and it allows you to run other stuff by freeing up the number of rods used. I often catch half the fish on sliders. The only time I don't run them is when I'm running very shallow water. related to my first comment set up all stuff you will be running in a trial run even without doing any serious fishing to see if there are any problems (tangles etc.) Placement of rod holders is especially critical n that although something may have sounded good  from someone on their boat it may be in the way of other stuff on your boat....Try out the divers  with both spin docs and flashers in terms of how they relate to the riggers as they both behave differently in the water.

 

Many of the "gizmos" can wait  until you have  the primary situation figured out (e.g. placement of holders, downriggers etc.)

having a good reliable depthfinder is important and a kicker as well for two reasons  control of trolling speed and potential emergency use.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Sk8man

[J.D.]

Rob, I fish out of a 17 footer, and run the program you describe. I stack the riggers 10 ft. apart with the probe 'rigger deepest in the cold water, then run lines up every 10ft. from there. One wire diver on each side, one deep, and one in the middle of the spread.  This is just a starting point,  fine tune the program from there. It's a very manageable program for 2 guys on a smaller boat. 

 

Edited August 25, 2017 by J.D.

[best57]

Rob, I fish out of a 17 footer, and run the program you describe. I stack the riggers 10 ft. apart with the probe 'rigger deepest in the cold water, then run lines up every 10ft. from there. One wire diver on each side, one deep, and one in the middle of the spread.  This is just a starting point,  fine tune the program from there. It's a very manageable program for 2 guys on a smaller boat. 
 

Thank you for your help. I was wondering what length dipsy rods you use on the smaller boat. I'm imagining anything over 8 ft would make landing fish difficult in a small boat.

Sent from my E6810 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[best57]

Rob - I think some useful advice would be to get the downriggers witrh adjustable booms if you can and that way you may increase your options. Next actually try out various placement options by getting into the boat with your intended equipment (even in the driveway) and try out positioning everything to insure that it will function as you wish. Sometimes things that sound like good ideas don't translate well without actually seeing how they function. Consider running the downriggers with SLIDERS rather than stacking them. That way you can run 2 lures off each rigger without all the monkeying around and it allows you to run other stuff by freeing up the number of rods used. I often catch half the fish on sliders. The only time I don't run them is when I'm running very shallow water. related to my first comment set up all stuff you will be running in a trial run even without doing any serious fishing to see if there are any problems (tangles etc.) Placement of rod holders is especially critical n that although something may have sounded good  from someone on their boat it may be in the way of other stuff on your boat....Try out the divers  with both spin docs and flashers in terms of how they relate to the riggers as they both behave differently in the water.
 
Many of the "gizmos" can wait  until you have  the primary situation figured out (e.g. placement of holders, downriggers etc.)
having a good reliable depthfinder is important and a kicker as well for two reasons  control of trolling speed and potential emergency use.

Thanks for your help. With the sliders do they release independently, do you have to bring the ball and both rods up if one goes off?

Sent from my E6810 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Sk8man]

When running sliders the slider may trigger the release of the main line if the fish is big enough but sometimes you see your rod tip bobbing with smaller ones or the initial strike of a fish and you then release it manually and the slider slides down the main line to the main lure and extends in back of it.Once in awhile especially with high speed trolling the slider leader may wrap around the main line. I carry several slide leaders made up on a pieces of styrofoam and just cut the screwed up one off and replace it rather than waste time untangling ....no big deal.

Edited August 28, 2017 by Sk8man

[J.D.]

3 hours ago, best57 said:

Thank you for your help. I was wondering what length dipsy rods you use on the smaller boat. I'm imagining anything over 8 ft would make landing fish difficult in a small boat.

Quote

 

I've been running 7 foot downrigger rods, and 7 1/2 foot wire diver rods for a number of years now. I think it's easier to get leverage on a fish with the shorter rods. My wire diver rods are 2 piece musky flipping sticks from Bass Pro at $25 a piece, add a twilli tip and good to go. If I'm fishing down 70 ft. or less I use Slide Divers with 20ft. of 30 lb. test mono attached to the wire with a #8 Spro Power swivel. I can have a longer distance between the diver and lure, but the diver sliding down makes netting easy. Deeper than 70 ft. I switch out to #5 Chinook Divers with 6 to 8 ft. leaders between diver and lure, harder to net on a small boat, but worth effort to get the divers deep. I've been using 50 lb. test mono between the Chinook diver and the  lure, easier to hold onto when hand lining the fish in. If I run a spoon, I add a fluorocarbon leader to the  heavier mono.

This is what works FOR ME...... lots of ways to skin the cat...

[JTowne]

I appreciate everyone's response . 

Bottom feeder thanks for the offer and taking the time to answer my phone questions.   After considering for awhile I said to heck with it and just ordered some convectors, rods, tips, and a couple spools of wire.