Sk8man

Welcome to LOU. Things will be back to normal info wise after the derby. Good luck fishing.

The National Lake Trout Derby is next weekend so I think things might be a bit quiet in terms of specifics until afterward...

Hey can ya have Theresa pick me up a bacon egg and cheese biscuit? looks like she's the only one awake From the looks of the weather report for the next few days....your timing is great....on the downside what can you use for an excuse if you don't get into them? Best of luck to both of you!

Good luck Nick! Makes me feel kinda guilty living this close to the action and complaining about it being too windy

I believe those figures reflect the ability of humans to see color at depth. I don't think the fish actually reported the data. I guess my point is that all these colors and patterns wouldn't ALL be effective if color was the only or main variable. The fish eye is known to be quite sensitive to the yellow/chartreuse/green colors - I concede that but all these crazy color patterns don't have a rats butt to do with what the fish feed on nor are they present in their native habitat and are in large part are designed to catch the fisherman's eye (and money....mine included)

Good points

Wire line takes some getting used to and braid is fine before the fleas hit. There are some advantages to each but the stranded wire is really the way to go for dipseys. It seems to track better and especially in the chute stays down on turns and achieves better depth with less line out. It also doesn't have any stretch to it (can be good and bad). On the downside it can get away from you if you aren't careful and kink and if you have a kink you need to sever it and go from there to re do it. Braided line is more "forgiving" and generally easier to work with (has a little stretch to it) and may be a little easier to use with planer board releases or outriggers etc. When the flea season begins I will change the braid to wire and then go all wire.

I guess I can rest my case.....just like with the lures it's the action and proximity to the fish not the color....

Guess I'll stick with my old brass spring loaded one from 30 years ago (no name on it) it has been within 1/2 of an ounce of the derby scale multiple times.....my digital Berkeley "sticks" and fails to release so I gave up on it...

Hey Walter...I guess you hit the jackpot on info on that one!

Good going Rick

The rings on the conventional dipseys can be a real pain and I've been gluing etc. a dozen or two of them for years. Recently, I bought a pair of Deeper Divers to try to get away from the problem and test a different solution and so far so good. They are weighted more heavily and don't use the rings to achieve depth. I have the 124 mm size (largest) and they will go down over 100 ft with about the same amount of line out that the conventional ones use to get down 60 or 70 ft. Here is the link: http://www.trollingdivers.com/

Cool....probably the increased "rounded" nature of the line diameter reduces the friction and "sawing action" then....5 years should be an adequate test of it...

You can also use rubber bands on the wire in releases with the tension set right without kinking or fraying. I would wonder however if OVER TIME any wire would wear and subsequently degrade conventional tips and eyes - anything but say a titanium tip or guide. Metal on metal is almost always going to degrade, wear, or cut through the "softer metal". This might not be apparent (i.e. "sawing action" ) to the naked eye until a failure occurs.

The problem at the tip is why I use a rod with a roller tip rather than twillis (although I have twilli tips). With a roller tip you don't have to use all the copper unless you are running it from boards and releases. If running copper from either of those it is best to use dedicated rods with a set amount on it attaching to backing or spliced mono segments. I run my main copper as 600ft. but not off releases (i.e.down the chute) and usually as close to bottom as I can get without hanging up and letting out only as much as I need to get where I want to be.

The regular clinch knot is fine as long as you keep cinching it up as tightly as possible when tied and pull like h on it to test it out and cinch again....never had one let loose...

They can be done that way but the multi section approach seems to affect the way the copper runs in the water....and every knot or swivel is a potential weak spot but for some guys it is the preferred method. I prefer to set up dedicated length of copper with a small barrel swivel (that will easily fit through rod tip) or Albright knot (I also use a SMALL amount of CLEAR hot glue on knots to keep them from unraveling as an added precaution) between 50 pound Power Pro backing and the copper and then the copper then a small barrel swivel to a leader of mono or fluoro (various lengths) with a solid ring ball bearing swivel on the end. I usually run my copper in the chute rather than from a board or outrigger and use braid or wire for that.

Splice in a section of strong mono or braid and use that in your release to avoid potentially kinking (or weakening) the copper.

L&M's suggestion is the one I'd go with if it were me. I didn't know that John was even back here in NYS (had moved to Florida way back when) He did the original canvas and dodger for my old whaler back in 1979 and he was very reasonable as well as one of the best canvas guys I've seen. The dodger lasted for over 22 years (just replacements of the clear vinyl window) and was the best investment I've made in my entire life.