Steelhead and Dipsey's

[No Limit]

Does anyone catch steelhead off dipseys? We have fished the past three years in Lake Huron for steelhead and have never caught a steelhead on a dipsey, they have came off the riggers, leadcore or long lines and that's it.

I have 8' lead from my dipsey to my lure and it works for salmon just fine but not for steelhead. Do I scrap my dipseys for steelhead and rn extra leadcore or do I need to do something different with my dipseys?

Thanks again

[BlueCollarOutdoors]

On lake michigan we catch a few on dipseys if we keep them higher in the column but not alot. If your specifically fishing for steelhead and can fit it in your spread I would run the extra set of boards with leadcore or snapweights instead of the dipseys.

We have caught 2 or 3 rainbows off of the dipseys this year, 2 of flasher fly and 1 on a spoon with a 14 foot leader. They were all 9 to 10 pounds.

For some reason the ones that were aggressive enough to hit a dipsey were all pigs.

We have also caught a decent amount on free sliders and green pro kings off the riggers this year, thats new to me but its paid off with some nice fish.

Typically i would say run alot of orange of bows, but this year, we have done well on black/silver or anything that looks natural like an alewive and still have so silver for flash in the sun.

[soko44mag]

We also have had out far share of bows on the divers this year, I agree with Jeff...they were all pigs. I actually lost more than we hooked because of there "air shows" and the weight/resistance of the diver. Orange dipseys and purple/purple and silver seemed to produce the best.

[CAC]

I only rarely get a steelie on a dipsey. Most come from 5 colors with orange on them or freakin blue veggies. The "air shows" significantly reduce the ratio of caught fish, but isn't it fun! I got an unusual one last week that took me deep in 125 feet of water. It finally did make it to the net.

[In The Net]

our last trip ot we caught 2 steelhead on high divers and we also lost on on high dipsey. So it seems like we catch steelhead on our dipsey that are high in the water column and with bright colors. Such as mixed veggie and green dolphin

[fishy1]

try running slide divers as you can drop your leads back and that helps the diver bite.

[pikeman8]

If you are targeting Steelhead there are much better presentations for them. I have gotten one Steelhead all season on my dipseys and it was a hog. IMO they are great presentation just not for all species. Kings on the other hand I wouldnt fish w/o them. If you want to target steel get more boards with leadcore. 3,5,7,and 10 have all taken their share on my boat with the shorter lengths generally being better.

[Gnarf]

Strange almost all my steelies have come off dipsys.

Mostly on spoons behind dipsys though, with the usual colors. Jawbreaker, Orange Slice etc

Usually from 80-140 back set on 2

[mattmishler]

All the time, High slides a lot, when we fish for them we fish for them we fish four slide divers

[SUPERTRAMP]

I have gotten steel when fishing specifically for steel fast troll speeds and upper part of water column in deep water in june and early july I dont use the wire divers for steelhead I go to my power Pro set ups and they rock. I do run long leaders, and long rods 12' dipsey rods and 12' leaders. The hardest part of the dipsey bite is keeping them on when the go aerial. We get a lot of fish that come off.

[Just in time]

I catch alot of steelhead on dipseys. Run a number 1 dipsey set on 3. Put a Fuzzy Bear Buffalo Bill or a double orange crush lure 6 foot behind the dipsey. No ring on dipsey. I also do best with an orange dipsey. I can make this combo catch steelhead almost all the time. 90 to 140 back.

[BlueCollarOutdoors]

Just remembered since I put the slide diver into play we caught 2 bows that night On it. 100 foot leader, then 150 feet of line on the farthest setting to cut out to the side.

So yes and no, becuase the slide diver is a whole different animal then a regular dipsey.

The slider diver is really just a planer board without a board, or an outrigger. Great tool, glad I finally put it to use.

[Far Beyond Driven]

Running hot for steel it's 3 riggers and a pile of cores on planer boards, but no divers. I've caught some on them, but trolling 3+ seems to put a pile of strain on the divers and the other presentations just work better.