Spin Doctors

[adrenalin]

Any of you guys really got your spin doctors dialed in? I just don't have the results with them that I do with a standard paddle. I got a ton of them but just don't have the confidence to put them out all the time. Do you do anything different than with a paddle, lead lengths, speed, stretch, or whatever else you have noticed that really gets them going.

[BIGTREBLE]

It took me some time, but this year I add lenght to my leader and they ended up being my better set ups. Whit the 8'' I went to 36 to 40 inches, and 11" I made them 40'' and over. Hope this helps

Good luck in the upp coming season.

[Adam Bomb]

8" SD with a 22" from tip of loop to bend in rear hook works great for me off the wires. Without a doubt this is the most effective spot in my spread for these...I have better luck on my riggers with the paddles.

[jimcr]

Russ you want to go out some time after the ice clears ,I be willing to either take you or go with you .I have 2 wire rods and plenty of lead and copper.Last spring we had plenty of luck with the leader being 3 x the distance of the attractor. for the more action hole the jury is still out.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

I agree with the longer leader too, about 3'-4' has been best for me, although I heard a couple guys that said shorten them to 1', I bump the speed up a notch too, makes them dig and sway better.

[Pioneer]

I was lucky and got some small(6") ones for 3$ a piece at a bargin bin and they have sat on the bench for me. I fish from a northern WI port and would like to know how or if I could use them in June/july for kings or steel. I have Flo orange with the red insert, yellow with orange insert, green with glow, and white with a blue holo insert. Any help with fly size, leader, or combo's would be great. Chris

[killerbe20]

russ,

spin doctors were awesome for me last season. three times the length of the spin doctor, front hole and fin side and 2.6-2.9 mph on my depth raider. the green got was by far the best all year.

Up until last season i was in the same boat. had them but couldn't get them to work. i'm not really sure what changed....besides my boat!

[Killin' It]

I had more luck on SD then other flashers last year.

10" Blue SD with a bush light fly by big weenie, right out of the package and onto the SD worked best.

Dave

[eastcoasttransplant]

The only thing I have heard about SD's is that they do not run very effectively off riggers with lead lengths less than 20 feet. I too have a bunch but have only used standard flashers.

[Yooperdad]

May as well chime in here too:)

I used to run Pro-trolls, but the last few years ran almost Spin Doctors exclusively. White, white, and more white! Ran chrome, green, and chartreuse too, but no doubt white was by far the most effective, followed by my Eyeflies of course, usually 20" back. Shortened them to 16" when things seemed really slow and that produced some too. Years back when we ran Pro-trolls and squid, we occasionally shortened them to 14" and that seemed to work....sometimes! By far my Hypnotist was the best producer for me this summer, followed by Green Glo Eye and the Adrenaline Eye ( Thanks Adrenaline!). Dipsies were the ticket, both wire deep and P-Pro higher up when it wasn't too windy to run 4 of them. One slightly foggy but calm day we got a 3 person limit and I think 10 came off the dipsies that day, a bit out of temp too.

A buddy in Grand Haven told me mid-summer that large paddles with a fly 40" back was producing well for them, so I tried it. Mid day and deep off a rigger, it indeed produced, usually with my Juvil Eye, an extreme UV mylar, and chartreuse extended glow beads.

One thing for sure, SD's, Pro-trolls, VK's, and dodgers followed by various lengths to your flies all take fish. How do they say that, "any given day"?

Mike

[jimcr]

Russ when we went out with you , you had that small SD that seemed to work good.

Thats one of the things I need for this spring.

You could also try using fluorocarbon leaders on your flies. It did go to mostly a spoon bite last year . I know I dragged around some mikes eyeflies for what seemed all summer with only 2 hits . We had very good luck early in the year, april though june.

[adrenalin]

Russ when we went out with you , you had that small SD that seemed to work good.

Thats one of the things I need for this spring.

You could also try using fluorocarbon leaders on your flies. It did go to mostly a spoon bite last year . I know I dragged around some mikes eyeflies for what seemed all summer with only 2 hits . We had very good luck early in the year, april though june.

Ya Jim, that small spinnie was working good on the steelhead and I do catch a ton of cohos on them, but the 8 inch are just alot harder for me to figure out. I catch tons of fish on paddles like 10-1 to spin doctors. Just my opion but I think flourocarbon is a big waste of money and more of a gimic than anything. It catches fisherman not fish. Sure it might be harder for the fish to see but on a fly leader using 40-50 pound test it don't make sense. And the stiffer action to the fly, just shorten up the leader on your mono.

[jimcr]

What kind of paddles ? What size, do they have fins, like I said I be willing to go out do so testing , I have plenty of both large and small paddles,with and without fins, over a doz SD. The log book from last year didn't get filled out the best and left a little info out. I have already redone the spread sheet to match our equiment to make it easyer.

[Yankee Troller]

We run Spin doctors 40% of the time, Smart Fish 40% of the time, and E-Chips about 20% of the time. The Smart Fish is REAL nice because I can get it to fish like a SD or a Chip by dialing in the rudders. The only issue with the SF is that it comes in plain Jane colors, which are good most of the time. However, that Gator and 42nd SD have been red hot off the Oak the last few years.

First thing we do when we open a SD is switch the swivel in the back to the opposite side. Our average fly leaders are 22-24" from the top of the loop to the head of the fly.

[1mainiac]

They all work but you need to tune them to match your style. The water is plenty clear so set one down 5 to 10 ft behind a rigger and watch it over a range of speeds form sat 2.0 to 3.2 bring it up make a change and do it again after a few tries you will find a sweet spot for each setup and it may not be anywhere near where others suggest. I made a choice to stick to pretty much all stuff made by the companies that sponsored our tournaments this year so my spin doctors took the season off. I did not see any real difference in my numbers of percentage of fish caught on flasher fly setups. Every one of us has setups that worked well for us at least one time and once we get a few go to setups we tend to run them more and they catch fish so why change. The real issue is finding what works for you and building on it like having my wife drive the boat always drove me nuts cause she can't stay on a trolling pattern but we catch fish with her driving. Some days it's the big things some days it's the little things that matter.