fishing machine

Take a walk on the docks, ask the captains what rigs are working best. Look to see what is hanging on there rods. Stop by anglers avenue, they should be able to set you up with the hottest baits for the current bite, as well as depth to run your dipseys.

you did not say what size dipsey you use or what ring you have on it. That makes a difference on how deep it will run, there are some charts out there that will help you get close. Behind the dipsey run a snubber then 3- 5 foot leader of 30#, then a flasher of some sort, spin doctor etc, then the rule of thumb is from top of loop to hooks on your fly leader should be 3 times the length of your flasher give or take a little, as red rider said his are 28", so that is his entire fly leader length behind his flasher, after his dipsey, snubber, and leader for the total length you need so you can still net your fish after reeling your dipsey very near the tip of your rod. With an 8 1/2 foot rod you can probably still have an overall length of 10 foot, unless you are by yourself. Meat rigs by dreamweaver and others are already pre made, with an overall length around 4 foot or so, start out at that length and adjust from there as you feel comfortable to do so, or on the advice of someone who is have good luck with a different length. Capt. John King has a video on the proper roll of a meat rig, google him for more info on that. His videos helped me learn to run meat rigs. The fish I am holding in the pic was caught by my daughter on a meat rig behind an 8" spin doctor on a braid dipsey set up, it weighed 26# and was the first fish ever on a meat rig. You will probably have to shorten your leader from your snubber to your flasher to only 2-3 foot if you use a 4 plus foot meat rig. Speed is very important any salmon presentation. If you want to use spoons with dipseys, stretch them out away from it if you can maybe use a slide diver which solves your leader length problem. Toss the spoon over the side, just don't engage the dipsey to dive and watch the action of your spoon, make sure it isn't just a lazy side to side but darts and rolls then darts and rolls back the other way. If it just rolls over and over you are too fast and if its lazy too slow. Wave action is your friend as your boat will speed up and slow down imparting a a varying action to your spoon as it it speeds up and down. You can also zig zag to add a left to right motion to your spread. This also changes speed and depth of your dipsey, inside slower deeper outside faster higher that will help vary things as well. Pay attention when you get bit and use that knowledge to help improve your presentation. Good luck!

spin doctors or some other type of flasher with a fly or meat rig tend to work better off dipseys than spoons do. It also sounds like you need a couple planer boards and a lead rig as well as a copper rig. Dipsey don't always work. I also recommend using a mag dipsey on a 1 and 1/2 setting with a wire rod or at least a braided line to get the depth you need. set that at 100 and slowly let it creep out till you get bit. or it starts banging bottom. then you have a good idea what depth you are running with that setting at that speed. Good luck. Also go to the fish cleaning station or the dock or even the bait shop and ask them which specific bait to use and how deep they are catching fish on it, and with what type of rigging, ie: 300 copper, 10 color, high or low diver wire or braid and what setting and how far out.

Find a boat that you see catching fish, troll beside him, but not to close! You can adjust your speed to match his, then use that sog speed for a good place to start. If you are near a charter that is catching fish pay attention to his direction of troll as well because most likely if he is catching fish, he is trolling the correct speed along with the correct angle to the current. Also run lures like J-plugs and flashers like spin doctors that are not as speed sensitive as spoons or dodgers so they work and will catch fish even if your speed isn't quite right. This approach has served me well over the years. Hope this helps.