TyeeTanic

30# mono ... keeps the fleas off, and still a nice diameter to tie knots with. But generally if going to spoons, we would put on a 15# to 20# fluoro leader around 15' to 20' long. Dipseys, need braid or wire to the dipsey. After that we generally tie 30# or 40# fluoro from dipsey to paddle and paddle to fly. Total length from dipsey to fly is around 8 to 10'.

Get the line counter ... you need that for wire ... I mean there's other ways to figure out how much line out ... but they are a pain in the backside. I would never do that while trying to attend to a few other rods.

I surprisingly got really good life out of the Convector CV30D's. I don't think you can get better value for money. Takota 600's are nice, but $$.

Yes, this ... but for beginners I'd say set the outside ones first. The reason is, until you've locked the real and it bites deep into the water, even on a 2 1/2 or 3 setting, the dipsey is not pulling out to the side as much ... it's like just sinking in the water straight down where you plonked it in (on the extreme) ... which is why Gator is saying let it out slowly, so it bites and pulls a bit to the side ... but if you don't know how to do that, and have the inside dipsey deployed ... you can drop the outside dipsey down too fast, it can be inside of the inside diver! Then when you lock that real ... it grips into the water and pulls to the side, right into the inside wire and cause a massive tangle. If I haven't written that clearly, just trust me and put the outside divers out first. It'll save you a lot of headaches. If the outside diver hits with a fish, and you real it in and want to redeploy, the safer option is to pull the inside line, then deploy the outside first. Good time to check or change the inside wire bait. Once you get good at it, you can deploy the outside without retrieving the inside.

Depends on use, I'd say every 3 or so years. But you'll feel it, the texture gets a bit rough, and it starts looking frosty/opaque ... that's when you definitely know it's time.

I think I'm going to bring a banana on my next charter outing and see what happens. LOL.

Fish often come in to see the rigger weight, and drop back ... they come down to see that. We fish from around 42'F to around 52'F ... bigger fish normally caught in 42F to 44F ... but not always.

You mean inline boards or outrigger boards? Inline boards has to be church tackle TX-44 boards, but there are mods to help prevent them from submerging ... as well as technique in reeling in especially that last 50 ft of line. But nothing compares to outrigger boards ... fish hits, line releases off the board, you are fighting the fish, not the board. Big Jon Otter Boat Planer Boards work really well, I know a captain that uses them regularly, and I've tried them vs. the TX-44 boards, and hands down it is way better.

Lead and copper, typically use longer leads of 20' to 30'. For dipseys, basically when you real up the line up to the swivel that attaches to the dipsey, the remaining line length to the end of the tackle is the length of the rod. Typically the leader between the dispey and the spin doctor/flasher is adjusted so that the overall length of the rod is achieved including the dipsey, leader, flasher, leader, lure. The lead between the lure and dipsey is often pre-set if you use flies, but generally 2 to 3x the flasher length. You can use longer leaders on dipseys, but then you have to hand bomb the lines in after you've reeled it in to the max.

I think my mate twists the copper, super glues and then shrink wraps over the twist. Don't quote me ... I am going from vague memory.

Good joke. Not unless you've seen some large ice-burgs floating in the Great Lakes. Haha.