Wire Dipsy rods

[PofC]

Ok guys thanks for the help on the 1000ft of blood run wire on my convectors.

Now Should i use a regular rod and replace tip with a twili tip or go with a roller rod?I already have a couple regular okuma rods.Not a Charter boat just go out around 15 to 20 times a year.I take that back I go to the end of the pier 15 to 20 times.Hate when its to wavey to be fun.

[SUPERTRAMP]

save some money just put a twili tip on a 9 to 10' dipsy rod and u will be all set the roller rods can cause more problems than they solve and are very expensive.

[Nailer]

Use what you have. Twili will work, but one of these might be nicer.

I would think the roller would have less Resistance.

Site location.

[Eyefull]

There are no easy answers for taming wire. Historically, roller rods were the way to go. Recently there have been a couple of ringed guides built just for wire. They aren't much cheaper than the rollers though. You can use a standard dipsy rod for a while. Depending on the ring material, it may last 5 trips or 30 on wire. The resistance that many speak of is the friction of the wire against a rough surface. With conventional standard guides (aluminum oxide, hardloy, silicon carbide) you get real nice performance when they are brand new. As the wire erodes away the highly polished surface over time, what you end up with is your expensive wire running across rough carbide stones. Not only do you have lots of friction and resistance, your actually degrading your wire. So the hardloy, at the bottom of the hardness scale will begin to fail quite quick vs. say the silicon carbides, but eventually with enough use, they will all degrade and even groove out. The new Silicon Nitride rings are wire bullet proof, and the tool grade carbides also are doing well for some. I have Silicon Nitride ringed rods in their 4th season aboard hard use Ludington charter boats, even under magnification, the rings still look fine.

So, like others have said, you can use what you have and see how long it gets you by, nothing to lose other than the tip you choose to use. Keep an eye on the guide rings and change before they begin to damage your wire.

Tips are a very controversial topic with wire. It is simply a matter of preferrence. The roller tips, twilly tips, and even the swivel roller tips all have their pros and cons. Quite honestly, in head to head comparisons, a standard Silicon Nitride ringed tip vs. a swivel roller tip will produce negligable difference in curlys, hardly worth debating. Keeping the line tight at all times, trimming off a couple feet of curly line every so often has more to do in the long run than the individual tips from what I have seen. It comes down to your budget and what your comfortable fishing with.

[Line Dancin]

I like the blue diamond roller rods.

After trying all kinds of different tips with wire i like the one ken posted the best of all. I now have them on four blue diamond roller rods.

[eastcoasttransplant]

I'm a roller guide rod guy all the way. Too many issues in the past with non-roller rods.

[FsnMachine]

I was using my Walker 10 foot dipsy rods with wire and it work OK. Last year I put twili tops on them and don't like it. The twili tops are to heavy on the end of the soft Wlker rod with too much bounce. Sometimes in rough water the twili will flip up and you need to stop reeling to flip down.I fished a tournament last fall on a friends boat. He uses all wire and all twili tops nad I was sick of them after 2 12 hour days. Anyway I like the feel of the Walker rods but not with twili tops. I picked up a couple of Tolora roller rods for the up coming season and can't wait to try them.

[cduced]

PofC,

I've run wire on some cheap Shimano TDR 7' rods for the past 3 seasons and for me they have worked well. At the end of last season, I did finally notice wear in the guide tips. I could throw the rods out and probably be ahead of the game but, sort of following what eyeful said, I am replacing the tips with Silicon Nitride tips. You can get these at places that sell rod building supplies (ie mudhole.com).

That said, I'd love to have a couple of Tony's wireline rods! Have fun with the wire. You'll love it. -- Bud

[Eyefull]

Bud, take a close look at the 2nd-4h guides as well, that is where the serious stress is located. Those are fairly easy to replace as well and much cheaper than a new rod. I am always happy to talk guys through fixing their own rods, so don't hesitate to get ahold of me if you get stumped.

[Grant Sadler]

I saw these rod set-up that EYEFULL has, (nice) I'am very seriously thinking about get a couple of dippsey rods from him, cause I been running wire for a few years they are starting to show some wear on all the eye's and I run twilly tips also, but they last thing I want is a failer when I in the fish.

So you get what you pay for.

[Paulywood]

I ran Twilli's for a few years and they worked ok, but I tried the Torpedo tips last year and they were much better. Far less resistance. With roller rods, price does matter. I lasted 1 trip with a cheap roller rod, it cost me 2 dipsey/flasher/fly setups. If I get another set of roller rods they will be nice ones, either Talora's or a set of Tony's.

[cduced]

Bud, take a close look at the 2nd-4h guides as well, that is where the serious stress is located. Those are fairly easy to replace as well and much cheaper than a new rod. I am always happy to talk guys through fixing their own rods, so don't hesitate to get ahold of me if you get stumped.

Thanks Tony, I'll check those as well. -- Bud