Dipsey blues.

[Dagwood]

Lost 6 fish on the dipsey last night. Just could not keep them hooked. Going to shorten my leader so easier to handle in my 17 footer. That may help but any advice to a rookie on how to keep them hooked. Here is the setup: braid dipsey, snubber, 9 ft rod with an 11ft leader, big paddle and 36" fly leader. Fly had 2 single hooks. That's just fishin too.

Great night on the water and lots of fish being caught.

Thanks, Dave

[Twill23]

Oops sorry dave, i just put everything i woulda put here, in your last post

But i will add, dont shorten your leaders. Yes landing fish with a long leader behind a dipsey is very tough. We have issues even with our boat, the rocket launcher always gets in the way

But try this, as the fish is on, and your a couple of feet from the dipsey, get the fish's head up. That is by far the most important part, regardless if the fish is 5lbs or 25lbs. Once that fish's head is up, dont stop. Rip that thing right into the net. The hooks arent going to pull out. If you do it just right the fish becomes slightly stunned and ski's right into the net. We do this with EVERY fish possible, including those dandy's we posted out of frankfort, although we do believe throttle control when fighting a large fish is pretty important also, but thats a totally different topic! Hope this helps!

[Adam Bomb]

Make sure your hooks are sticky sharp. Gotta get the hooks in em good to keep em on....Also, sometimes if you get into a batch of coho they can drive you mad.

[BenLubbs]

Shorten your leads, I have a 24 foot boat with 10 foot leads and still have to handline some of the fish the last few feet to the net. Also, I would use a single hook followed by a treble hook set up (like what Big Weenie uses). I have yet to lose a fish on that setup. I bough a pack of size 4 hooks and plan on tying all of my fly leaders like that.

[Nailer]

Speed up to 2.8-3.0, Sharpen the hooks, and tighten the drags.

[mattmishler]

Don't change, on my pm charter last night we were 0-6 on divers this morning I was 6-7 on divers, didn't change a thing.

[Dagwood]

Good stuff- Thanks. Will try loosening the drags up and let them play out more. Probably horsing them in a bit to much. May take a foot or so off the leader length as well. Don't want to mess with the set up to much if its working.

Thanks again, Dave

[SUPERTRAMP]

If u have to hand line the fish to the net your leaders are too long. I like to stretch it out too but I dont run any longer than the rod I am fishing. My dipsey rods are all 9'6 and 10'6 and I run apporximately 10 ft leaders on all but the important thing is remember these aren't Bass and u r not in a bass tourney. Take your time wear the fish down and u can bet they will come to net. The one issue we have is when people try to pump fish too quickly and slack between the rod and dipsey get it jumping and that will lose u fish everytime.

[fishy1]

Run slide divers and you can run any length lead behind your diver you wantand dont have to worry about handlining fish in the last few feet.

[JWheeler]

I am running long leads, 8-10', and my dipsys are catching more fish with the longer leader.