I'm at an awkward age

[horsehunter]

My young friends have to work weekdays and my older friends want to hold down a couch. To make netting fish on my own easier I would like to set up 2 shorter dipsey rods as I have problems with my 10 foot rods which I will keep for when I have crew . In the basement i have 2 okuma copper leadcore rods with a moderate action and 2 MH Diawa downrigger rods with a slow action both rods are 8.5 feet Which rods with the addition of a twilly tip would you think would better suit my purpose? Do you think 8.5 feet will be any easier than 10 when solo ( enough to make the effort)? My current wire rods have Convector 45's but I have 2 unused Convector 30's will they work for 1000 feet of wire?

Thanks

[mr 580]

You might want to look at type of diver and leader length as a means to make netting easier.  By using a slide diver you might be able to shorten lead length enough to make your 10 footers handle easier.  If you did decide to go with a shorter diver rod, an 8 foot diver specific rod would be best choice.  Diver rods take a beating especially with wire so having a heavy enough rod is important.  There are some reasonably priced diver rods available.

[horsehunter]

I have a couple of slide divers which I have run on braid for early lakers but not a fan of braid once the fleas start. I believe you need a long braid lead to run a slide diver with wire. I hate fleas almost as much as stable flies.

[john1947]

I fish solo often like you have difficulty getting a crew together at short notice.

I have found if you get one close enough i usually grab the diver and net the fish

I haven't had a break off yet as wire is tough to break if the fish has been played right

Salmon are usually kept till limit then I go in if alone.

I've also have 2 old eagle claw diver 10ft rods,got to over 30 yrs old still good only thing I put twilio tips on.I still can't get over how a rod can bend like they  still hold up,probably well over a hundred fish each,USA made is why,lol

[Sk8man]

I have a couple of Diawa Wilderness 8 1/2 ft. rods one with twilli and one with roller tip that I use when I go on other boats (as they are medium length) and they work fine and they handle decent salmon so they can be used but as Mr 580 indicated  a good choice would be a specific diver rod.. When I fish solo on my own boat Ii use 6 1/6 ft light/medium roller rods for easy management and if I wish to run 4 wires with two people the difference in length  of the 8 1/2 ft.permits it. I have never cared for the longer type (e.g. 10ft) as they seem less manageable and  harder to store.

[sszoldra]

I agree with John 1947's post. That's exactly how I do it, and never had one break off. I also don't use wire, only Blood Run Tackle sea flea.

[mr 580]

Slide divers can slide on either braid or mono.  I am currently using 40lb Maxima mono leader on my slides.  In the past I have also used 30 and 40lb Berkeley Big Game mono which has flea resistance.  I find the heavier pound test doesn’t need to be changed out as frequently as the 30lb.  Easier on your hands than grabbing wire.

[horsehunter]

The Diawa rods in the basement I was considering are the Wilderness and they have a softer action than the Okuma Leadcore but I was thinking the guides on the copper might be better with wire.

[Sk8man]

You might want to throw a twilli on one and try it out and see how you like it. Can always just put the regular tip back on if you don't. They do have a softer tip action but it isn't bad and actually may be advantageous sometimes providing a little flex since the wire doesn't give. They are inexpensive rods but  they seem to work Ok I have had a number of decent sized kings on them. Are they the "ultimate":? no  and I find a little better control with the stiffer 6 1/2 roller rods.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Sk8man

[horsehunter]

14 minutes ago, Sk8man said:

You might want to throw a twilli on one and try it out and see how you like it. Can always just put the regular tip back on if you don't. They do have a softer tip action but it isn't bad and actually may be advantageous sometimes providing a little flex since the wire doesn't give. They are inexpensive rods but  they seem to work Ok I have had a number of decent sized kings on them. Are they the "ultimate": no  and I find a little better control with the stiffer 6 1/2 roller rods.

Now you have me thinking ( and that tends to get dangerous ) but the basement also contains two 7.5 foot  Okuma Striper rods designed to handle wire but i thought they would be a bit two stiff and also concerned about clearance with my riggers which I run to the sides back on about a 45 deg angle. I have a couple of Convector 30's with 80 PP on muskie rods that I can borrow and try during early lake trout and decide before installing twilly's for wire.

[Sk8man]

Always worth experimenting with stuff as it often is a matter of "personal preference" with this equipment and fun trying out different things anyway. Good luck with it.

[prayingmantis]

I love the slide diver. I run the wire to a very short piece of braid the attach 30' of 30# big game to the barrel swivel. After the swivel I just use a 2' leader of fluorocarbon. It makes things alot easier when running meat rigs. If that's th he way u decide to go I would also get the weight kit they sell for it. U will have to use a lot less line to get where u want to be

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[horsehunter]

So I take it that6 the slide diver is on the mono what is the purpose of the braid will the mono not attach to the wire with an Albright knot? i do have 3 slidedivers some rings and the heavy weight kit. I will be playing with the slide divers on braid in April and May before the fleas ( mostly lakers ) but for kings I want to use the wire.

Edited December 31, 2019 by horsehunter

[spoonfed-1]

32 minutes ago, horsehunter said:

So I take it that6 the slide diver is on the mono what is the purpose of the braid will the mono not attach to the wire with an Albright knot? i do have 3 slidedivers some rings and the heavy weight kit. I will be playing with the slide divers on braid in April and May before the fleas ( mostly lakers ) but for kings I want to use the wire.

 

You can attach the mono leader to the wire using a small #8 spro swivel. They go through the guides and level wind of most reels without any issues.

[Gator]

I throw a small piece of braid between the mono and wire to avoid potential cutoffs, using an Albright knot, then add whatever length of mono suits the season. 70' for running slide divers in the spring which gets cut down to a couple feet for running Deeper Divers in the summer. I also redo the knots each winter and coat them with superglue.

[Miss em]

Here is a video of some solo netting techniques.  I only use seven foot rods that are a custom build.  

 

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2020 by Miss em

[Tyee II]

I use 7' Talora roller rods for both my wire and my wire slide diver rods. They work great and much easier to net when solo.

[whaler1]

Summer before last the only boat I had was my 15. No riggers, I just ran two slide divers. Caught a lot of fish but solo netting was definitely a challenge. Lost my share of fish and tackle but it was still a lot of fun.


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[horsehunter]

Question for those using 7' rods what action are your rods and any problems created with lack of clearance or spacing from the rigger. I always figured that was why most dipsey rods were around 10'

[Tyee II]

My 7 footers are medium power, fast action Talora roller rods. I extend my Cannon rigger arms to 3' and turn them back on a 45° angle, and my dipsey holders are far enough forward that the short wire rods are not an issue. I usually don't go less than a 1-1/2 setting on those dipseys.

 

The only drawback for me is if I want to dredge a dipsey off the bottom, it's much harder to differentiate between a bottom bounce and a strike with the short rods. To compensate, I have a 10' Talora wire setup for dipsey dredging only.

 

I think the shorter rods make for a better experience while fighting fish too!

[Sk8man]

I think Tyee II makes good points and it is basically what I do with my rods and riggers and thus far no tangles after many years of it. My boat is 8 ft wide and I have extendable booms but I keep them at 3-3/12 ft or so often with one straight back and the other at 45 degrees (one near the kicker). Plenty of fight on the 6 1/2 to 7 ft light/medium action roller rods for dipseys and 8 1/2 ft rigger rods.

Edited January 9, 2020 by Sk8man

[LongLine]

I've run solo for a long long time. (with 8 1/2's)  With any rod, after you've lost your 1st two decent fish, you'll have learned what you need to do to get them in the boat.