Holland 8/26 p.m.

[Dagwood]

My son did not want to even post this report (especially after seeing the full coolers at the cleaning station) but hopefully someone can lend some advice. 100 fow. Went 1 for 7. 11# king. Braid dipsey on 2 150 back big white paddle and chartreuse BW fly. Missed on 300 copper with bloody nose, rigger with mountain dew SD and pickled sunshine fly- 80 down. (not sure if that is a good combo or not). All the rest were on the dipsey. Had a monster (at least for us) to the back of the boat and shook it off on a little run toward the boat. Then a bad net job on another nice one and that one was off. The others smacked the dipsey crazy hard and fought them for a bit and then nothing. It seems like there is so much hardware (dipsey, paddle) in the water that when the fish makes a run there is a lot of resistance and easy to pull the hooks out. The fly had 2 single hooks as well. Was a real learning experience however. Also going to shorten my leader so it is easier to handle.

Probably will look for some advice and post on the salmon pro forum.

Still was very exciting for the rookies.

Good luck, Dave

[Twill23]

http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23938

In this post Justin seems to be having the same problem.

Like i said in that post i blame most of my dipsey lost fish on user error or snubbers. Especially with wire. We all know how LITTLE stretch there is in wire and braid. This is what we do,.... DONT get too excited when that fish absolutely throttles that rod. Take your time, loosen up that drag and let him run. Don't change the angle of the hook, or put much pressure on the fish until he turns or provides a chance to gain line. It's SOOO easy for hooks tip rip out when using wire or braid. Also lengthening your leader behind your dipsey will give you more stretch. Of course these methods are only used on fish who absolutely throttle the rod. We dont do much for the obvious smaller fish. Those are much easier to land without the hooks ripping out. Most of the time once they turn, u can tighten the drag down and crank it in without letting the fish turn, he'll just swim right in

All of this may not be as fun, but it will put more fish in your boat, and cause less crappy feelings when you or your son loses a decent fish. Hope this helps, we learned it from a pretty decorated charter captain and it definitely works for us!

[In The Net]

couldent agree more.. we had the same issue last year but we seem to be doing alot better this year since we have the drag really lose.. We have so lose so that it randomly clickes out line when trolling. Just make sure the drag is loose, and dont horse the fish in. We have caught 5 20lbs+ this year on the dipseys, and we let them take 300 to 400 ft of line on their first run. Just let them go!!

[j1musser]

At least ya got the skunk out. We all have those days that ya just cant keep em hooked. Next trip u will bat 100%. Pickled Sunshine on anything is good. Mnt DewSD has been a pretty good setup over the years for me. I like it with pickled sunshine or no see um. I do believe that it is easier to lose fish on dipsies with so much gear to shake around. When they surface and start throwing spinning things around it gives em a lotta leverage. I run my dipsies so they click out here and there. Loosen em before taking out of holder too helps.

Good Luck.

[Casey II]

Everybody has those days. Just part of fishing.

I run the divers as above with loose drags. We also back the drag off when a fish hits and allow them to get that first run out of their system. We keep the diver in the water while fighting the fish to minimize the amount of swinging around in the air.

All of the flies have Owner hooks. Another option is to add a second snubber.

Good Luck.

[Killin' It]

We ran into an issue with the leader being to long from the snubber to the flasher.

We had a 9 foot leader, a SD and then a 48 teaser rig. We ran out net handle, broke the handle and resorted to cutting the 9 foot to 5 foot:)

[Far Beyond Driven]

Some days are just like that. Last Saturday 3/11, this Saturday 5/5.

[NO MO BEGGEN]

let the fish run as much as it wants you dont want a fresh king thrashing around at the back of the boat. usually turns into a mess

[chumbucket]

Can't stress super sharp hooks!!!!!! I have always used a lur Jensen hook file to make them needle sharp! !!!!!! On our last trip we hooked and landed a king that was only hooked by the eyeball. For tying up flies I choose the eagle claw 777 hook with strait points and they are 4x strong!!!! Hope this helps. Good luck!!!!!

[SUPERTRAMP]

Can't stress super sharp hooks!!!!!! I have always used a lur Jensen hook file to make them needle sharp! !!!!!! On our last trip we hooked and landed a king that was only hooked by the eyeball. For tying up flies I choose the eagle claw 777 hook with strait points and they are 4x strong!!!! Hope this helps. Good luck!!!!!

I second the sharp hooks, I sharpen every hook that I take out of the package and touch them up regularly. I too have been having fish just come unbuttoned a lot lately. My catch ratio on full cores has been lousy. I normally set the drags light and have clickers on to alert the strike. We tighten the drags and I believe we have been trying to get the board into the boat too quicky. Gonna try letting the fish pull against a drag and the board a little longer to help set the hooks. Then the may be just striking short and hooks coming out. Its fishin not catchin.

[southtrollsouth]

we crank the drags as absolutely tight as we can on our wire divers. Our drags are pretty broken in so you can still put just a little out with your bare hands. Fish nails it and a just buries the hooks instantly. We use ancient stretched out sun fatigued snubbers that dont even stretch anymore. Rarely if ever do we lose fish on wire divers with this setup. If you let fish run with no tension, they will not bury the hook, and will immediately swim wherever they want to, most likely into the nearest other diver or copper. Make them pay for every foot they take, you will land more this way..