New to trolling

[wormser]

Hey all.  Looking for advice on rigging tips as a newbie.  I currently have 2 dipsy rods to troll with and that's it.  I have a few spoons, flies, cowbells.  I'm looking for any advice on how far do you go back from the dipsy to the flasher/cowbell then how far behind that to spoon/fly.  What swivel do you use at each connection.  

 

I'll be fishing Cayuga so any advice on depths/speeds/color baits(I'm colorblind so that's always fun) etc would be appreciated.  If you see a new Lund out there that looks like they are clueless feel free to chuckle and excuse me if I break a trolling rule until I learn.

[Fireredcannon]

What size dipsys are you using? I know the maximum depth on those varies depending on the size. I only got into downrigging last summer and haven't tried dipseys yet. I would say look at your sonar and see where the fish are, keep your gear just above where you are marking fish and that usually does the job. I started out last summer with 2 8lb balls and paracord to try it out to see if I liked downrigging and soon realised it was well worth the money.

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[Sk8man]

Welcome to LOU I think you'll like it here

The best advice I could give right now based on your questions and a number of reply questions (e.g. what size dipsies, wire or braid what size flashers or cowbells what species are you targeting and on and on so the best thing would be to hook up with someone that is very experienced perhaps a volunteer on here and watch how they do it and what they use etc. A second suggestion is to go on a charter and ask relevant questions. Captain Mark Lewis on here http://www.indepthfishingadventures.com/

would be an excellent choice if he has any availability.

Edited August 21, 2020 by Sk8man

[wormser]

I have the Dreamweaver 5 which can get me down over 80ft.  I figured I would get downriggers over time but for the rest of this year we will only use dipsys.  We've only been out 2 times so far and caught one laker.

[Fireredcannon]

I fish smaller lakes over near the great sacandaga area and spoons like the speedy shiner, and jensen krocodile slay lake trout. I usually run them 10-20 ft off the bottom but I can see the rigger balls on my sonar, can you see the dipsys on the sonar? I can swear I saw a chart somewhere for how much line you need go let out to achive max depths on dipsys.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Fireredcannon

[Fireredcannon]

But I'm also fishing lakes with 120ft max depths so maybe my advice isnt 100% relevant 

[BSWINNY]

Went out trolling on Cayuga the other day and the dipsys were hot! For the larger and smaller dipsy we let out about 250 yards of line. We fished depths of 100’-250’. We run leaders from dipsy to spoon 8’-10’. I hoped any of this helped good luck man!


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[wormser]

Thanks.  I was out last night.  Only one rod for a short troll as the in-laws were with.  I got one to the boat but it came unbuttoned as we were going to net it.  Good enough for me.  I think letting more line out was a key as I was only letting out about 150.

[Sk8man]

Those Dreamweaver #5's (124 MM) will go quite deep I have banged bottom in 155 ft of water going 1.9-2.0 with about 300 ft of wire out on a zero setting.If going for lakers and the bottom is fairly constant lower the dipsy til it hits bottom (briefly and have to carefully watch for slack in the rod tip then immediately reel up a few turns. On the Fingers you have to watch your depth carefully and the rod tips as well as the bottom contour can change quickly.To be highly successful with the lakers run Gambler rigs behind the dipsies or the Death Traps https://gamblerrigs.com/

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by Sk8man