"Poor Man's Downrigger"

6367 Views 21 Replies 10 Participants Last post by darcycote, May 14, 2007

reelangler

Discussion Starter · Apr 3, 2007

Hey, just wondering if any of you have ever tried out the Dipsy Diver, I am thinking it would be good for summer fishing in deeper lakes, just to bring the bait down further. If any of you have tried it/have it, or know what the deal is on it please give your input.

Thanks,

the one and only reelangler

1 - 20 of 22 Posts

Zpg

· #2 · Apr 3, 2007

Hey Reelangler

I've used the "dipsy diver" many times in the great lakes fishing for rainbows. We would use the standard downrigger for salmon to get down to 120' and the dd on the other rod for trout as they suspended in about 20' of water. I'm not sure if I would use it for trout here as they put a ton of drag on the line and you will typically be using a lighter gear set-up but it is definitely inexpensive enough to try and discard if you don't like it. I broke down last fall and bought a small scotty downrigger set-up to fish my lake in the cariboo as I need to get down 50-60' in the summer. Now all I have to do is figure out a sensible way to mark the downrigger depth as there is no linecounter on the unit (in a desperate attempt I squished a splitshot every 10' on the rigger cable but after a bit they all fell off). ???

fishin30

· #3 · Apr 4, 2007

you go buy a cheap 100 ' plastic reel tape and silicone it to the cable

reelangler

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 4, 2007

How much drag are we talking about ZPG? I've got a 7' Medium Action 6-15lb rod. Thaats my setup there, so im just wondering how well it wuld help me.

rshew

· #5 · Apr 4, 2007

Hi Reelangler,
I have used a dipsy diver on Okanagan Lake and very first time using had a 7lb'r, but!...it does put an awful drag on your rod. So much that I did buy a couple of Scotty Downriggers. Dipsy Divers have there place, just be prepared for the extra drag......

steeliefreak

· #6 · Apr 4, 2007

We use dipseys all the time over here in the Great Lakes. They work great for trolling salmon and trout. We use them set up on either braided line or wire line. You can use mono as well but they do not dive as deep and do not trip as easy do to the stretch in the line. They work great for getting a wider spread out, you can set them to plane out to either side and away from your rigger lines. We usually use the mid sized divers (size 1, I believe) and they dive to around 60 feet max with braid, maybe a bit more with wire line. The magnums dive to around 100 foot max. We will usually run hootchies and flies or spoons behind them, both take alot of fish. As for lead lengths to your lure, right around 6-10ft usually works well.

Here is some more info on them
http://luhrjensen.com/techreports/12DipsyDiver.pdf

paulo

· #7 · Apr 5, 2007

Hey ZPG. What about marking your cable every 5 or 10 ft with a paint marker?

steeliefreak

· #8 · Apr 5, 2007

Zpg said:
Hey Reelangler

I've used the "dipsy diver" many times in the great lakes fishing for rainbows. We would use the standard downrigger for salmon to get down to 120' and the dd on the other rod for trout as they suspended in about 20' of water. I'm not sure if I would use it for trout here as they put a ton of drag on the line and you will typically be using a lighter gear set-up but it is definitely inexpensive enough to try and discard if you don't like it. I broke down last fall and bought a small scotty downrigger set-up to fish my lake in the cariboo as I need to get down 50-60' in the summer. Now all I have to do is figure out a sensible way to mark the downrigger depth as there is no linecounter on the unit (in a desperate attempt I squished a splitshot every 10' on the rigger cable but after a bit they all fell off). ???

They sell linecounters that you can attach to rods and such, I would imagine with a bit of thought you could figure out how to attach it to your riggers. Check out Cabelas website, they should have what your looking for.

Big Green Machine

· #9 · Apr 5, 2007

I tried the Dipsey Diver and it was ok but I am not sure my lure got down too deep. I might need a larger size. I bought a Jet Diver to try. Anyone use of these puppies and how are they in comparison to the DD?

reelangler

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 6, 2007

rshew said:
Hi Reelangler,
I have used a dipsy diver on Okanagan Lake and very first time using had a 7lb'r, but!...it does put an awful drag on your rod. So much that I did buy a couple of Scotty Downriggers. Dipsy Divers have there place, just be prepared for the extra drag......

Howmuch drag are we talking about. Ill most likely have my rod in my hand or in a rod holder. If i am holding it because i dont have the time to set up a rod holder, would it be difficult to hold on to? Im just wondering if it is worth buying, all i want to do is get down 15-20ft.

fishin30

· #11 · Apr 7, 2007

hey reelangler if all you want is 15-20' i might suggest a slip weight.
all it is is a chunk of lead with a spring coil attached to one end just slide your line in the coil to hold it in place.
come in a lot of sizes. i usually use a .5 ounce clipped on about 10' from lure and about 100' behind boat usually puts me in the 20-30'range.
i can't remember the scale to follow for judging weight to line length = depth i'm sure youll find out somewhere

reelangler

Discussion Starter · #12 · Apr 7, 2007

thanks for all your replies everyone... i really appreciate the help.

steeliefreak

· #13 · Apr 7, 2007

fishin30 said:
hey reelangler if all you want is 15-20' i might suggest a slip weight.
all it is is a chunk of lead with a spring coil attached to one end just slide your line in the coil to hold it in place.
come in a lot of sizes. i usually use a .5 ounce clipped on about 10' from lure and about 100' behind boat usually puts me in the 20-30'range.
i can't remember the scale to follow for judging weight to line length = depth i'm sure youll find out somewhere

Good idea! The dipsey is going to pull pretty hard while it is set, I would not want to hold one while trolling, while tripped they are not tough to reel in though.

You could also thread a bullet head worm weight or sliding egg sinker on to your line then tie on a barrel swivel and a 6ft leader to your offering.

Another idea would be to attach 4 colors of leadcore line onto your reel then put a 20-40ft leader to your lure.

trout80

· #14 · Apr 7, 2007

ZPG I have used scotty lake trollers in the past and what I did was crimp on the brass connectors that are used to connect the ball clip. Every 5ft. or so.

darcycote

· #15 · Apr 8, 2007

fyi,for the scotty lake troler downrigger,1 turn =1 foot of cable.

Zpg

· #16 · Apr 9, 2007

darcycote said:
fyi,for the scotty lake troler downrigger,1 turn =1 foot of cable.

Yeah but that requires one to be able to count!! ;D At first I didn't realize this and used split shot every 10'. Of course that lasted about 5 minutes before they started falling off.

rshew

· #17 · Apr 11, 2007

reelangler said:
rshew said:

Hi Reelangler,
I have used a dipsy diver on Okanagan Lake and very first time using had a 7lb'r, but!...it does put an awful drag on your rod. So much that I did buy a couple of Scotty Downriggers. Dipsy Divers have there place, just be prepared for the extra drag......

Click to expand...

Howmuch drag are we talking about. Ill most likely have my rod in my hand or in a rod holder. If i am holding it because i dont have the time to set up a rod holder, would it be difficult to hold on to? Im just wondering if it is worth buying, all i want to do is get down 15-20ft.

Reelangler,
You would no be able to hold the rod for very long, it would be "OK" in a rod holder.....

fishin30

· #18 · Apr 14, 2007

darcycote said:
fyi,for the scotty lake troler downrigger,1 turn =1 foot of cable.

remember as the spool gets smaller so does the length of the cable being let out

seabird

· #19 · May 13, 2007

I used a heavy plastic reel from home depot I think it was for rope or hose ( cost about $20) and mounted it on a board with a pulley at the end. I clamped it to the upper stern rail with pipe U-clamps and attached a board to the proximal end with angle irons to rest against the lower stern rail which counterballances the downward force of the cannon ball. Good luck. Bill

darcycote

· #20 · May 13, 2007

agreed,but were talking maybe 3 ft. per hundred.

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