raider44

I have never ran copper before- I know very little about it. I believe it is made up of several 50 foot several different colored sections to indicate length and weight? And there is no need for any kind of weight/device to get the lure down to the 46-48 degrees of water? Does copper have to be run off boards or can it be flatlined? And if it can be flatlined, is it still possible to run a diver on the same side?

Welcome black dog! There is tons of information here and people willing to help share that info. You'll find the people here are very helpful. I do the majority of my fishing on the central basin of lake erie, and once or twice a year take a trip to Ontario- so I am kind of new to the lake as well, and the people here are more than helpful! I use braid all the time on Erie when I use my downriggers, as well as on my divers, and other set-ups(no fleas on erie). Myself- I do not have a wire set-up on the dipsys, because wire is not needed on Erie, and I cannot afford the set-up for one week a year. So when on Ontario I use #30 mono and a one setting on my divers. Regardless what setting you decide upon, be sure that on the diver, the majority of the weight is toward the boat. The only brand of divers I use are Luhr Jensen. Then I would try a spin doc/fly set-up. I like using flys from Siggs Rigs. Or just pulling a spoon behind the diver will work just fine as well. Chowder is correct, if the majority of your hits came off the inside turn slow down a little bit. And if your still hot off the inside turn, find a honey hole and circle it, figure 8 it, as long as long as you can do that without running into anyone! hope this helps a little bit!

I too like 8' Spin Docs. Speaking of that, I received for Christmas a 10' Spin doc (they got the wrong size) and before I return it for an 8' doc, is there any real difference besides the size of the rotations?

I just got off the phone with my father and I was telling him about some worm harnesses I have been tying for walleye on lake erie.. Well to make a long story short, He told me that when he went to Point Breeze 5 or 6 years back he ran into a guy that swore he ran worm harnesses off a dipsys and swore that he would pull kings!! He claimed the bright greens and pinks worked the best.. Has anyone ever heard about using a worm harness on Ontario?? It sounded a little off and I'm hesitant to believe the story or not...

Just curious to read what other fisherman's favorite spoon/fly manufacturer and colors are? Mine are; Spoons for Salmon/Steels; Stinger, NK, Dreamweaver(super slims) Colors; NBK, Tranny, 42, Purple Thunder, Steelie Dan Flies; Sigs Riggs Colors; Blue/Green Hypnotist, 42 combo and what the heck favorite Walleye spoon are Stinger Scorpions; copper plated. Colors are Confusion, Blonde Chick, and Craig's Christmas

I just saw last night on the evening news that gas prices were expected to hit in the upper 3 dollar region this summer. Last summer I filled up one time at $4.39! BOGUS.... just like the buckeyes losing to texas!!!

Chowder- When using a free slider, Just take your leader and connect the swivel or snap to the main line or stacker line? And it will free slide down to a depth? I have heard that the free slider will find around the middle line I have heard? And if I read correctly you dont attach your free slider till you have your ball down to the desired depth, say for example 60 feet down. Then attach your free slider, then you tighten down your reels/rods... Is there any truth to the set-up or the depth that I discussed above? I just ask because when I have used free sliders I have never caught a fish on the free slider... thanks..

I think possibly another problem was we did not experiment with different sizes of spoons. We either ran super slims or Michigan stingers, which are pretty much the exact same size. Thanks for the tips guys!

I agree with fishman- if your batteries go out, and you dont have a flashlight, sunlight will work just fine. It will take several minutes.. Sunlight works but there is no real time indicator how bright or not bright your much glow you'll get.

Does anyone have any specific spoon color combinations that work well on the mup rig? I read the combination on the oak website, and it states that it is wide open for experimentation. Does it make a difference regardless bright colors darker colors for cheater or targets?

I understand how a mup rig works now. A question I have is, is it possible to run a mup rig off a stacker? Being from North Central Ohio and mainly fishing for walleye in Lake Erie in 22-35 feet of water(that is constantly changing) the downriggers do not often make the trip, and we only have 2 downriggers. I know a good amount of Ontario fishermen have 3-5 riggers on board. We ran stackers the entire time at Point Breeze this past year, and my father in law had run them in past years with much success. I know (or at least think) that it would be impossible to run a Mup rig at the ball, then run a stacker on the same rigger. So is it possible to run Mup rig off the stacker, to get more spoons in the water? Thanks again guys...

momay- thank you for the 100 rule of thumb... I remember experimenting with the length behind the ball and do not honestly remember going further back than 20 feet. No doubt this year we will be posting our spoons much further back of the ball. I think another problem could have been we were looking for 49-52 degrees of water to fish.. Good chance our riggers could have been to high. We'll try lower this year as well. Legacy- I followed everything you said except for the "cheater spoon". Is the cheater spoon just a word for the spoon off of a mup rig? Thanks again guys, you've been more than helpful -Troy

Thanks Maniac... I am heading back this upcoming summer around the end of July. I'm looking for anything that could help my downrigger misery from this past year. We did take a 28lb king that we just got back yesterday from the taxidermist, he did a great job! any other info is much appreciated... thanks

This past summer was my first visit to Point Breeze and Lake Ontario. We caught some big fish, but not a lot of fish. The biggest problem was that we only caught 2 fish all week off the riggers. Some main colors we used were; 42 second, steelie dan, tranny, purple thunder, kervokian. etc. The other 14 we caught were all off dipsy's and spin docs. We tried everything to get our riggers going-- and its not like this is the first time we have used riggers, we have used them very much on Lake Erie. We have two down riggers, and we stacked another pole off each rigger, so a total of 4 poles on the two riggers. The one rigger was equp'd. with a tempature/speed probe. generally we would have our strike zone over a twenty foot span with four poles, so spoons were staggered every 5 feet. I.E.; 65, 60, 55, & 50 there would be a spoon in the water. We did not use flashers or dodgers. Usually on the set up closest to the ball we let out 7-15 feet back, and the stacker we had 5-8 feet back. We tried sliders, but had no luck. Does anyone have any advice... advice for different set-ups, techniques to change the set-up i exclaimed... anything at all i will take, because catching 2 fish off the riggers for one week is bad... Does anyone know how to set up a mupped rigg? I have heard a mupped rigg is a great set-up.

thanks for the information shade.

I am new to Lake Ontario, and have never used a Spindoc before. If anyone could help me out here, I'd appreciate it. ive ran downriggers, dipsy's, boards, and jets, for years and have a good understanding of that equip. thanks

thanks for the info. lou

The first week of august My dad and brother are going up to Orleans county to fish for some steelies and kings. We have not been up to Ontario for 3 years now. We are from ohio and fish the central basin alot for walleye. I am looking for some advice from guys that are familiar with the area. Good spoon colors, flashers, spindocs, dipsy divers, fow, trolling speed, etc. any advice on the following or anything else that is good advice, I will surely appreciate it! thanks