Dipsy Divers for Walleyes

[NDwalleyes]

Anyone tried running dipsy divers for walleyes this time of year on the big lake? Common this time of year on the great lakes when the fish move deep. Thinking of giving it a try.

 

[Rowdie]

I know the pros will use them to get down 50 plus feet when trolling this time of year. I have a couple be have yet to put much time on them. I need to rig a a pool cue to a bait caster to run them.

 

[KDM]

Yep! We ran them on long featureless mud flats using husky jerks, original rapalas, and a bait called a thin fin on line counters and downrigger rods. Worked great. The issue we had is you couldn't make turns real fast and if you hit bottom with the dipsey it would trip and you had to reset it so keeping constant direction, depth, line length, and speed was important. When we got done with a run, we'd pull up shift over 30 yards and run again. Caught LOTS of nice fish doing that when they didn't want deep diver plugs or bottom bouncers. We ran the baits about 15 feet back from the dipsey which meant the rod guy had to be in the front of the boat and the net man was on the transom. Any longer and we had to hand line fish to the net. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

 

[Auggie]

I've had luck with them fishing deep on Devil's. I use Cabela's depth master fiberglass rods with a 10ft leader of fire line with a bungee. One thing nice about them is if you see a big snag on the fish finder, you can jerk the rod quick, trip the release, and prevent a snag. I prefer dipsys over jet divers as you can spread out the baits some more.

 

[NDwalleyes]

Rod weight is my question too. I wouldn't think you'd need a medium heavy rod unless it was the magnum size and you were going 80-100 feet down. Would think a medium weight on a #0 should work down to 40 or so feet. [MENTION=314]KDM[/MENTION] what did you guys usd?

I know the pros will use them to get down 50 plus feet when trolling this time of year. I have a couple be have yet to put much time on them. I need to rig a a pool cue to a bait caster to run them.

 

[Traxion]

I have two setups ready to try out. Bought a couple Cabelas dipstick rod for cheap a few years back. They’re significantly heavier than my board rods. Would you suggest snubbers if using PowerPro? I am going to experiment and compare to 6 and 8 oz snap weights.

 

[KDM]

Rod weight is my question too. I wouldn't think you'd need a medium heavy rod unless it was the magnum size and you were going 80-100 feet down. Would think a medium weight on a #0 should work down to 40 or so feet. @KDM what did you guys usd?

I think they were MH rods that were 8ft or so long. Again, they were downrigger rods. They had enough soft bend to keep the fish hooked up after they hit. Mainline was 20 lb mono with 15 lb floro leader. We used mono for the stretch. I don't know if braid would be better or not.

 

[svnmag]

Great thread.

 

[NDwalleyes]

I struggle with the snubber concept. Seems counter productive to putting a book through a fish's lip, but every thing I read says usd a snubber. I'll probably experiment and see what the difference is.

I have two setups ready to try out. Bought a couple Cabelas dipstick rod for cheap a few years back. They’re significantly heavier than my board rods. Would you suggest snubbers if using PowerPro? I am going to experiment and compare to 6 and 8 oz snap weights.

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I'm going to start with my MH downrigger rods too. Fireline direct with a florocarbon leader. One quickly sees why the salmon charters carry those long damn nets!

I think they were MH rods that were 8ft or so long. Again, they were downrigger rods. They had enough soft bend to keep the fish hooked up after they hit. Mainline was 20 lb mono with 15 lb floro leader. We used mono for the stretch. I don't know if braid would be better or not.

 

[Retired-Guy]

I tried them on Sakakawea once and all I was able to catch was bottom. Got them back but had to get on top of or behind them.

 

[ORCUS DEMENS]

Snubbers save tackle with hard hitting fish like trout and salmon. Set drag so you hear a click every couple minutes. Lost a bunch of lures first day before I figured that one out.

 

[Traxion]

Yes most of what I have read with snubbers has to do with salmon. I've watched some Ross Robertson videos and he doesn't use snubbers for his walleye setups. I am going to give it a try one day this fall. I always try to set aside one learning day in the fall like that and it's usually pretty productive. One thing I've noted is most guys run their two rods off one side close together, making it easier to read the rod tips.

 

[jdinny]

ill be honest you dont need a dipsy to run to 50ft.......a 4oz snap will do that easily.
i was running 3oz, 20ft lead and had bottom in 40ft with 75ft of total line out on the line counter...
would think if your only going 50ft i wouldnt mess with a dipsy imho

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i would persoanlly get boards and run 4-6 rods and cover more water on sak as opposed to running dipsys...

 

[Rowdie]

ill be honest you dont need a dipsy to run to 50ft.......a 4oz snap will do that easily.
i was running 3oz, 20ft lead and had bottom in 40ft with 75ft of total line out on the line counter...
would think if your only going 50ft i wouldnt mess with a dipsy imho

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i would persoanlly get boards and run 4-6 rods and cover more water on sak as opposed to running dipsys...

I think heavy snaps are the best also. don't even use lead, just find some 8 oz snaps.

 

[eyexer]

Snap weights are far easier to run unless you want to get them out away from the boat. Dipseys work great for that. Stout rods are required they pull way harder than you would think being that small. Snubbers are pretty recommended too

 

[jdinny]

i dont run lead either. thought about trying but have so much success with snaps i guess i dont see the advantage. we personally have never lost a fish trying to get a weight off.
and yeah if your gonna run a big dispy you better beef up your line.....10lb fireline doesnt cut it...ask me how i know.........hint theres a dipsy snubber and crank laying out from govt bay...as i tried is salmon fishing with my bro

 

[Traxion]

Lead and snap weights each have goods and bads. Leadcore follows the boat path far better than flat lines w or w/o snaps. You can countour troll and lift the lures over structure better than with snaps. They react to speed too, just not as nicely as leadcore does. Snap weights are simple, fast to put out, and you can adjust weight simply. One thing I've seen the older guys struggle with is taking snaps off in wind. They aren't comfortably up there grabbing them with the boat bucking. I'm looking to mess with dipseys just for the heck of it mainly, but for a couple situations. First is just running a set of rods off the front of the boat when longlining with snap weights. I do it some with 6oz snaps now, but the divers can be directional which I like. Second, if we're taking covering water, I really don't like running boards with big leads and snap weights on them. Too much stalling on turns, in waves etc. I want to see what the dipsey coverage is at times and have the ability to cover some wider areas without boards. I know it isn't comparable to boards in terms of spread but I'm still curious.

Honest question- why do many of the Erie guys run divers for walleyes in the deeper ranges? I don't know the answer, but it makes me curious at least.

 

[jdinny]

that is an honest question i have never seem a "pro" do that ive watched many videos of sprangel, and the works on green bay and they run it seems like countless boards and deep diving cranks.
give it a shot. im gonna be up at the state park this wknd and plan to head over to the salmon areas run inside of all the salmon guys so i dont piss them off but seem what i can find in 50-60ft. would love to get just an assortment of fish but ive always been curious to try that mid depth that the salmon guys dont touch to see what i can find. haha

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i will tell you exactly how much line i have out running 50-60ft. with snaps

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its more of a curiosity thing got plenty of fish in the freezer so if we start catching walleye will have to shut it down but more of a what species of fish are the marks in that range.