How do you guys Dipsy?

[JohnP]

I know this article has been posted many times, but I use a Dawai 8'6" medium rod w/Dawai LC27 and tried a #1 dipsy, and I thought for sure the rod or rod holder would break even before a hit occurred! What am I doing wrong? Trolling about 1.8 - 2.3 mph. Wrong rod? Too big a dipsy? Is this normal? I didn't give it a fair trial for fear of failure, (either on my part or the equipment). Something just didn't seem right.

Thanx in advance for all of your expertise, this is probably the finest message board on the net!

JohnP

[eleyfish]

Yes, they pull very hard. I do not use my ram tube holders on rods that have the biggest dipseys, only tite-loks and quick-draws. Unless you need to go really deep stick with the middle size dipsey, I use super lines and 8.5' rods to pull them but on the big ones I use mono and a 10' dipsey rod.

[RANGER]

Yep! They pull like freight trains. You have to get used to it and it may take a little time.

Use good quality GLASS rods (Dipsy's, Browning, Shakespeare, Fenwick, Loomis etc.) and GOOD rod holders like "eleyfish" stated. Metal holders are the preffered holders. Dipsies are hard on hardware but they catch fish!


RANGER


"KEEP YOUR LINES WET, YOUR POWDER DRY and THE BEER COLD"!

[JohnP]

I use good metal rod holders, (Down Easter's) so I don't that will be a problem. Another question, do you keep your rods low in the holder or up high? Luhr-jenson recommends "high". By high I don't know if they mean "high" like a planer board or higher meaning just higher than straight horizontal? What do you recommend?

Thanx again,
JohnP

[RANGER]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-09-01 AT 10:33AM (CST)[p]I'm not sure what "they" mean by high. When we are "rigged out" the boat looks like an angry porcupine with quills sticking up everywhere. Seriously, the rods are at a 60 to 80 degree angle from perpendicular, overhanging the water (perp being 90 straight up). Does that help?

Actually, they are rigged the same as the downriggers and big boards. ALL rods are between those angles.


RANGER


"KEEP YOUR LINES WET, YOUR POWDER DRY and THE BEER COLD"!

[FreeByrd]

John,
On Erie it is common for the larger charter boats to run 4 dipseys a side. Almost all of them set the holders to have the rods almost horizontal. In a smaller boat you may need to elevate them a little to keep rod tips out of the water. Some run all the rods straight horizontal and at a 90 degree angle straight out from the boat and some install the holders with the farthest holder straight out, 2nd one angled 10 degrees farther back, 3rd another 10 degrees towards the back and 4th another ten degrees. I use the clamp on metal holders that clamp to a railing (Lee's are the best, Perkos will work) and use this setup. My farthest forward holder is actually angled ten degrees toward the front of the boat and is the lowest to the water. I increase the angle upward the farther back with each holder. Some guys do it just the opposite with the farthest front holder the highest - I've experimented a lot and found the setup I like the best for my equipment and boat. Hope this wasn''t too confusing.
Good Luck,
Steve
steve199132@yahoo.com

[Boatnut]

Steve,
I never run more then two per side on my small fishing boat, but rig them similar to yours. holder towards front of boat is angled about 10 degrees forward but set so rod is parallel to water. holder toward the back is about 10 degrees aft and parallel to water. My holders for inline boards are usually angled up about 75 degrees or so. I use "fish-on" brand plastic holders and have never had a problem, but now i'm not fishing erie on my boat. If i had a fulltime erie boat, i'd go with metal.
see ya in the fall if not before!
Mike(boatnut)

[RickyP]

Another thing to consider is the tests for depth of dipsies in the Precision Trolling Guide were all done with the rod tip 2 feet from the water. To have the rod tip much higher would make it more difficult to figure out the depth the dipsie is running. Even with the trolling guide it is a very inexact science as the dipsies depth is related to speed also. I have run this set up (dipsies and stinger spoons)a lot this summer and have done very well with it. It seems the closer I have the rod tip to the water, the better the dipsie tracks.

[Fishead]

I use 10' rods on my outside line setting #3, 8'6" on my inside lines setting #2. I place these in my triple titelok rod holders the outside line is in the forward tube parrell with the water, then the #2in the middle tube up one notch on the rod holder, then the #1 in the aft tube up one notch from the middle one. Works great for me! I also use diawa rods and LC27 reels don't worry there tough enough to pull the dipsies and won't break. GOOD FISHIN.....