Adding another line

[HB2]

I have 2 boats 

 

16 ft side console  , 2 riggers,

 

21 ft hardtop . 2 riggers 

 

I fish each different. 

 

 

I love my 16 ft . 95 % of the time I use 1 line on each rigger and do well . If on occasion I put out a,dipsey , it changes the whole dynamic of my presentation . I loose my ability to turn on a dime and my  ability to be nimble, if that makes sense.  2 rods with a slider each ( which I never use) should be enough . 

 

With small boat tactics , we have a huge advantage over bigger boats to be able to stay on fish when we Mark them or hook up .  

Bigger boats with boards and junk lines take forever to turn and get back over pods of fish . There advantage , among others , is ability to cover a lot of water . 

 

You aren't a big boat so don't try to be one . 

 

I fish LO . I target kings mostly in the fall but this spring early summer I hammered them by running 2 flasher setups . The flashers call the fish to me .

 

If fishing shallow , less than 50 ft maybe an in line planer with a stickbaits or deep diver  or short core to get away from boat . 

 

But less is more IMO . Run what you have out correctly. 

 

 

I fish alone mostly 

[sstout]

I agree 100%. Depending on what I'm targeting I usually just use 2 riggers with sliders. If its landlocks or rainbows on cayuga I run just the two riggers so I can run fast and corner quickly. But, if I'm slowing down for lakers or fishing salmon in the fall on Lake O with a mix of flashers and spoons on rods, I add another line. That line in the past has been a makeshift braid dipsy rod. So I'm thinking the best option would be a dedicated wire dipsy rod. It wouldn't be used all the time, but I think would be a good tool to have later in the season

[HB2]

When I add a dipsey , it's braid slide diver . 

[sstout]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I made the decision today to go with a wire diver. I baught an okuma colwater 30 today and just ordered bloodrun wire for it. I still have to figure out what length rod I want to go with. I'd like 10 ft but being in a small boat that might be difficult, so I'm contemplating 9 ft. My downrigger rods are 8'6 at a 90 degree angle of the side, so itd be nice to be a bit longer than them.

 

First impression of the okuma coldwater is that is really nice and seems solidly built. Only time will tell. I'm optimistic about this setup, but we will see after my first time trying to spool wire haha

[Sk8man]

A wife can come in real handy for help putting the wire on if you don't have other less costly options

Edited January 5, 2020 by Sk8man

[sstout]

I already told her she might be needed to help put resistance on the wire spool. Luckily for me she was game. Theres alot of good info on here about loading wire. LOU is a great resource 👍

[sstout]

Played around with the camera on my phone last night. Here's the new cold water inbetween my two primary downrigger reels, made in the US Penn 210s. Cant wait to get the new reel spooled up.

[FishingFool34]

44 minutes ago, sstout said:

Played around with the camera on my phone last night. Here's the new cold water inbetween my two primary downrigger reels, made in the US Penn 210s. Cant wait to get the new reel spooled up.

Cold Water are awesome reels I have 8 of them. You are going to need roughly 100yds of 20lb mono backing plus 1000ft of wire to completely fill that reel so the counter will be accurate. Just FYI. 

[HB2]

Are those Penn 209 s ? 

[Sk8man]

Penn 210 high speeds

[sstout]

Yup, 210s. Both were ebay finds. Paid about $30 each. Both worked perfectly, just took apart, cleaned and greased. Cant beat them for downrigger reels. Made in the US and solid. They are my two workhorse reals. I absolutely love them. 

[HB2]

I have 2 . 

 

They are adequate IMO .  

 

But I sure do like my 47 H s for riggers . 

 

If it were me and I was going to add a diver it would be a slide diver . 

 

For flashers , a reg dipsy is good but for spoons , I  do better with a  length between the diver and spoon . 

 

Wire to 30 to 40  ft of 30# mono , bead , small swivel ,  6 ft 15# to 20# Flouro or mono , ball bearing snap , lure .diver goes on 30# section . 

 

I substitute braid , but I do well with this setup , especially on slow days . 

[sstout]

That sounds like a good setup. I do plan on running spoons some of the time. I will pick up a couple slide divers. I was thinking slide divers would be a good idea with a small boat and 9 ft pole. I would imagine it would make it easier to net the fish. Thanks for the advice

[prayingmantis]

That sounds like a good setup. I do plan on running spoons some of the time. I will pick up a couple slide divers. I was thinking slide divers would be a good idea with a small boat and 9 ft pole. I would imagine it would make it easier to net the fish. Thanks for the advice

On a small boat I believe the slide diver is more of a necessity. It is so much easier to net the fish. Especially when running meat off them. I would advise getting the weight kit for them. Toward the end of the season I bought a fishhawk TD. Needless to say I was nowhere near where I thought I was. If u happen to be going to the Niagara fishing expo slid diver will be there

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[sstout]

Makes sense. I was on slide divers website yesterday looking around. I just bought a fish hawk TD as well, so I plan on using that to help with the depth reading. I originally bought the TD to try to help with figuring out where the temps are at, an X4 isnt in the budget, and I also like the ability to use it to figure depth as well. I've always been curious what the blowback is on my 14lb cannonballs going 2.8 or 3 is. We will see in the spring. But for now, I think I'll pick up a slide diver and weight set.

 

I'm planning on spooling the wire this afternoon with the wifes help. Hope it goes well haha.

[Sk8man]

30 minutes ago, sstout said:

 

 

I'm planning on spooling the wire this afternoon with the wifes help. Hope it goes well haha.

Yeah Be patient, give careful instructions beforehand and "play nice" because if she becomes "agitated" you'll end up with kinks before getting it in the water

[Legacy]

On 1/5/2020 at 8:46 PM, sstout said:

I already told her she might be needed to help put resistance on the wire spool. Luckily for me she was game. Theres alot of good info on here about loading wire. LOU is a great resource 👍

 

No matter how well you think you spool wire on your new reel I would highly suggest before the first time you use it that you respool it under tension on the water. I typically attach a spin doctor and let all the wire out and rewind it all back onto the spool. 

Also an okuma 30 series reel will require some backing to ensure the spool is 100% full. 

[Fishmaster 196]

On a small boat I believe the slide diver is more of a necessity. It is so much easier to net the fish. Especially when running meat off them. I would advise getting the weight kit for them. Toward the end of the season I bought a fishhawk TD. Needless to say I was nowhere near where I thought I was. If u happen to be going to the Niagara fishing expo slid diver will be there

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What was the difference between advertised depth vs what you found out with the fishhawk TD? I was thinking of trying them out but am afraid they dont dive nearly as deep as my walker deeper divers, which I'm fairly confident in the depth they are running.

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[prayingmantis]

What was the difference between advertised depth vs what you found out with the fishhawk TD? I was thinking of trying them out but am afraid they dont dive nearly as deep as my walker deeper divers, which I'm fairly confident in the depth they are running.

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With wire and no weight out 210' I believe I should be in the 75' range. I was around 40'. That was on setting 3. I have yet to use the weight yet. But from what someone at slide diver said it should be 2.5:1 ratio with the weight.

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[sstout]

What's the opinion on slide diver color? I was thinking black? 

 

Spooling wire for the first time was definitely interesting. It was hard to get it started without it free spooling. My wife helped me hold tension on the spool while I reeled it on. I put 100 feet of 30lb mono on as a backer, then the wire. It filled the spool perfectly. I can see one loop in the wire that looks a little loose near the surface of the spool. Tomorrow I'll tie the wire to a tree or something and walk it way out, then reel it back on under more tension. Overall I think it went well for the first time. It definitely helps to have a helper put tension on the spool, like many others have said

[prayingmantis]

I run 4 divers. Black for low, green for high divers. I have green reflective scale tape on the high diver. For some reason the steelhead seem to like it. Usually I'll start running flies or meat on the low diver and spoons on the high till I see what they want.

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[chowder]

8 hours ago, sstout said:

What's the opinion on slide diver color? I was thinking black? 

 

Spooling wire for the first time was definitely interesting. It was hard to get it started without it free spooling. My wife helped me hold tension on the spool while I reeled it on. I put 100 feet of 30lb mono on as a backer, then the wire. It filled the spool perfectly. I can see one loop in the wire that looks a little loose near the surface of the spool. Tomorrow I'll tie the wire to a tree or something and walk it way out, then reel it back on under more tension. Overall I think it went well for the first time. It definitely helps to have a helper put tension on the spool, like many others have said

I run black or clear slide divers. I use slide divers on powerpro pulling spoons as my outside (high) diver rods. My inside diver rods are mag dipsys pulling flasher/fly or flasher/meat on wire. Depending on how many people I have and weather conditions I will sometimes run a slide diver rod on one side of the boat and a wire mag dipsy rod on the other side of the boat.

Edited January 12, 2020 by chowder

[HB2]

If there is 30 to  40 ft between the lure and diver, does color really matter ? 

 

I own 2 slide divers , 1 I got at the show last year with the mag ring . Pulls like heck  gets down to 100  ft with 65 # power pro . Black . 

 

Another I won many years ago that was one of the originals according to the guy at the show . I like it best. Gets down I figure 80 ft . It's lavender. 

 

I tried it close for staggers this year . Put it back 40 ft . Max side setting and put it so it was maybe 6 to 8 ft under  water with like 8 to 12 ft of line rod tip to diver . It worked .

 

I would think the smaller size would be excellent for spring fishing used that way with longer leads . 

 

Still would rather use my riggers .  

[glh456]

Isn't New York 2 rods per person?

 

[wishinfishin]

3 rods

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