TyeeTanic

Absolutely you can use a dipsey diver on the SD. This is one of my favorite setups. A dipsey diver can go from 20 ft - 110 ft deep. I use wire line on my dipseys - there's a book called Precision Trollers Guide Edition II that has graphs which tell you how much line you need to have out to get to certain depths. There's also apps for Android that can tell you that. When you mark fish on you fishfinder you can set your lines out to get to those depths. I recommend at least two different size dipseys - #1 and MAG. The #1 is good to around 70 ft, and the MAG is good to 110 ft, travelling at 2.5 mph. The flies and MC rockets that I mention in my original post is the tackle I like for salmon. Using hearing fillet is good to. Sometime's it doesn't work, and other days it's the only thing that works. You need to try different things.

I would not leave the dock without: - SD chrome frog with hammertime fly - #1 in my eyes - SD hawg wild with hawg wild fly - SD bloody death?? (purple with red/silver christmas tree pattern) and bloody death fly or purple MC rocket - SD carmel dolphin with carmel dolphin fly - SD double crush with white glow fly or white MC rocket - Pro troll 11" anything silver with glow tape, with silver MC rocket Now, that doesn't mean I don't use spoons - I generally like putting my spoons out clean (stealth presentation). Mark

Yup - that's the right lengths alright.

Are you asking how much leader between the wire and the dipsey?? If so, none. The wire connects straight to the dipsey. You will use around a 6 - 8 ft lead between the dipsey and flasher and then another 2 - 3 ft of leader between the flasher and fly/meat rig. I use 30# Seaguar Fluoro Leader.

This is the best knot for wire. It has never failed on me. I've bent open a welded ring before breaking this knot: http://www.lotsa.org/Wire%20Line%20Knot.htm I just checked the video above - same knot!

Was that 2.5 mph GPS speed or Down Speed?

Jekyll what was your down speed to hit that deep with a #1? I don't think it is possible at 2.5 mph. Maybe at 1.5 mph.

The only thing with that much line out is tangles. I like to get deep fast to keep the lines from crossing anything as I deploy. I also use 4 dipseys so my inside dipseys are going deep and closer to the boat (which is why I prefer MAGs for my deep lines). Then I use the #1's on 3 setting to get them away from the MAGs.

For salmon fishing in Lake 0, 20# fluoro is recommended for spoons. Uni to Uni is the knot I use.

Up to around 40' deep I use #0 Up to around 60' maybe 70' deep I use #1 Below 60' I generally prefer Mags. It also depends on where you place the dipsey. For instance if it is on setting 3 and you want to get down to 60' - you are probably looking at a MAG to get there. That's where the curves come in handy.

Yeah, I was out last night and marked huge amounts of bait. More than I've ever seen. A bait ball was showing up on my screen every 5 seconds for 2 hours - and I'm not exagerating. I am almost starting to think with that much bait around the salmon will never be hungry. We will have some monsters at the end of the season! My prediction for GOSD is 43 lbs this year.

Mike, just like King Slammin says and you elude to. Sometimes the bite is off the dipseys and its good to have the copper on boards, or the riggers. Riggers are especially crucial when the bite is really deep, I'd say over 100 ft. You will have a hard time catching fish on anything else. So, if you have room on your boat for riggers and copper, I'd definitely include them in the setup. Just that over a summer, I do hear that many people get more hits on average on the dipseys - so that's a setup that you don't leave home without!

Dennis, good timing for this question. Managed to get a nice hit off the MC rocket last night. I have 3 ways of presenting the rocket. - straight off a dipsey (least action) - dispey, hot spot flasher, MC rocket (same action, but attractor with flasher. Flasher spins on axis so does not change native action of MC rocket. - dipsey, S/D, MC rocket Generally I keep the leader to the MC rocket around 4 feet. To be honest I haven't tried them closer. I am concerned about imposing too much action on it from the S/D if it gets too close. The best action is the swirl created by bending the steel spine. In terms of colors I have had almost all my hits on michael jackson (black on one side, white/glow on the other) and purple with white glow on the flip side. I do carry orange, red and blue rockets. I will be trying them out whenever I get a chance. I do know right now that Blue and White are generally hot colors based on my own experience this past week, and from what I've been hearing from others. Lastly, I sometimes put some harring bait scent along the side of the rocket. Not sure if it helps any, but if the bite is quiet, I start experimenting.

70% of my hits come off the SD/fly combo. Definitely will always have at least two of these in my spread. I also use SD/MC Rocket combo. Or dipsey straight to spoon with at least a 15 ft lead. Or dipsey SD/ spoon. As others have said, you need to know where the fish are, and set your dipsey in that range. Precision Trolling's guide Edition II has some very good charts that tell you exactly how much line you need to let out to get to a target depth.

As John and others have pointed out, you want to keep the dipseys a minimum distance away from each other both in the horizontal and vertical dimension. Having two #1 dipseys side by side for instance is more dangerous than a MAG on the inside and #1 on the outside. This also helps when you have deployed your dipseys, catch a fish on the outside line and now need to redeploy. If you use the same size dipsey as you deploy (even if it is on 3 setting) it will sit closer to the boat and sink deeper until you stop letting line out and let the drag on the dipsey take grip. MAG dipseys help get the inside line deep and quick, keeping it out of the way of an outside line being let out. Having said that, there could be benefit on keeping the two baits about 20 to 30' from one another, particularly if you are using attractors. This helps make the two lines work together to attract fish. I have created a chart for various zones of depth (depending on where the thermocline is) say 20 - 40 ft, 40 - 60 ft, 60 - 80 ft, etc. For each zone I have worked out the best arrangement of dispeys to put on the inside and outside line, and length of line out to keep them around 20 feet apart. This way once I know where the temp is I can quickly go to my guide and set my lines to exactly where I want them.

I received mine yesterday. I'm not a sponsor just someone who is very keen to get indication on my dipsey lines. The probes look fine to me. I am installing the receiver on Saturday morning and if the weather cooperates I will test it for the first time after that. There is a backlog until mid to end June at this stage. I was one of the first to order and only got mine yesterday. Now that I have it, I can't wait to get those probes wet!

This is what is important http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/glcfs.php?lake=o&ext=vwt&type=N&hr=00

I have the HDS 5 and really like it a lot. If I had more room at my helm I would get the HDS 8 for sure. The Gen 2's are nice babies.

Well if no lines in the water then let the board out first. If there's the flatline in the water already for instance because you just got a fish on the board then in my mind you have two choices. If you have a rod holder way up high say on a radar arch you can put the flat line up there and then deploy the board under this line. If not you probably have to retrieve the flatline before you redeploy the board. The problem is the flatline will be running on top of the water right behind the transom. For the board you need to let out your leader before the board hits the water. Once the board is in the water then letting it out slowly will get it to the side, but at the risk of the leader tangling first with the flatline. S really if you can't get the flatline up and above the leader, it is risky business.

John, I don't think your second post is addressing the question. I agree, if you know what you are doing you wouldn't pull lines to redeploy a diver (unless currents are crazy). But if you are starting fresh with no lines in the water what is the better way to deploy? I still say outside first for the good reasons I pointed out above.

Guys the way I would look at it is (a) do you have the experience to go and look at the right things (stringer conditions, transom, engine test, wiring) and (b) if something goes wrong what will it take to fix. (b) is the biggest issue. Let's say you are talking a bigger boat say 28' boat. If something goes wrong, it's easy to drop a couple thousand $$$ on it. So is a $300 survey a good investment? Probably yes. If the biggest issue you can forsee will cost you $500, then is a $300 survey still gonna be worth it, probably not. I always lean towards conservatism, and if I want to keep something for a while, I'd do the check, even if it was $5000 - unless you have money to throw away. A survey also gives you time to think about it, rather than get emotionally caught up in the deal and looking past problems.

And if you end up spending 30 times more than the survey fixing a broken boat, because you didn't survey, then what? That seems silly. You spend the $300 on a survey to avoid a $1,000 to $10,000 problem. And believe me $1000 is easy to spend on a boat. One other fact, boats have problems especially if they're old. So chances are the surveyor will pick up something, and inform you all the better. Not saying it will sink the deal, but at least you know what you're getting yourself into. I would never buy an old boat without a survey. Second point, not all surveyors are good. Make sure you get a good one by word of mouth - call the local marinas and get recommendations. There's a decent guy in Port Credit, his name is Wallace. If you are interested, I will PM his number to you. Lastly, agree with others, the boat should be surveyed on land, but also has to be tested in the water.

Actually I think you should let the outside diver out first. Reason being it doesn't matter how slowly you let it out, there is always much less drag on the dipsey when it is being deployed, so it will sink deeper and be closer to the boat as you let it out. So you may as well let the outside dipsey go first then give it time to grip and get out of the way. The inside dipsey can then be deployed and this will immediately sink deeper and to the inside of the boat, away from the outside line. If you do it the other way around, there is a chance that the outside diver sinks deep enough and close enough to the boat to cross the inside line and tangle. Remember all tackle stays to the center of the boat (or close) until the drag bites into the water and pushes the tackle away. So it is better to work from the outside in, or you have everything running in the middle.

In the KOTL amatuer we caught most of our fish on a spin doctor/fly combon - late April. So, I'm going to say, there are no rules. Drop down a bit of each, and a variety of colors and see what happens.

Try to work 30 - 60 fow. There should be lots of steelhead, maybe lakers at the bottom, and perhaps the kings will show up if the water warms a little more.