Mono vs Braid dipseys

[Fishrmac]

I switched my dipseys from 30lb mono to 40lb Power pro braid. Now it seems I rarely get a hit on dipseys. Is it just the year thats tough in 2013? Only have 1 fish out of the lame 7 total I've caought so far that has hit a dipsey set up. Anyone else see a difference or even running wire for that matter?

[Killin' It]

I have not had issues when I changed from mono to braid

Mono has more drag and causes the diver to not run as deep as well as the stretch kinda sucks if your fishing deep.

Some food for though:

-My flasher fly bite this year has been JUNK!! maybe run some 10' leads off your divers and put on some mag spoons. This is what we did for a while and they divers picked back up.

- Put a longer lead from the diver to your flashers

- adjust your fly leader length

Running wire is a bit different than braid because of the signature it gives off going through the water. The main reason I do not run wire is I have a small boat. One less thing to deal with if you get a pig on.

[IRon]

I've caught a ton of fish over the years on braid dipseys. This year I've only been out 4 times. First week of May (unseasonably cold and really tough fishing). First week of July (again unseasonably cold and super tough). Everything we caught was on riggers and planer boards. Not a single hit in divers. There's days when divers aren't going and I wouldn't blame the braid. I'm sure there's days for various reasons mono divers are going, but same for wire and braid.

[fishy1]

I switched my dipseys from 30lb mono to 40lb Power pro braid. Now it seems I rarely get a hit on dipseys. Is it just the year thats tough in 2013? Only have 1 fish out of the lame 7 total I've caought so far that has hit a dipsey set up. Anyone else see a difference or even running wire for that matter?

I would say its just the fishing is a lot slower this year not so much the. Change from mono to braid IMO

[The Salmon Slayer]

Your question is different from what most guys say when changing from mono to braid for diver rods. Braid has a much smaller diameter and easily affords any diver greater overall depth. There’s been talk that braid used with divers achieves basically the same depth as a comparable diver using wire for line.

Because super braid fishing lines made from Dyneema or Spectra (both are made from gel spun polyethylene fibers, PE) are a smaller diameter than mono, your divers are running deeper this year if you’re following last year’s presentation patterns. This year here on Lake Michigan the water is colder than previous years. Guys have been reporting catching fish with 30 to 70 foot of line out on their divers even now at the end of July. If you start in the morning before sunrise set your divers at 3 and put one out 40 feet and another out 60 feet and try those lengths until the sun rises. After sunup start adding additional line to your deepest diver say about 10 feet at a time every 30 minutes or so until you reach a depth where you are 10 feet above the water temperature break.

Bait selections for diver rods that I use are small flashers like an orange 6” Adgerton Action Flasher or an 8 inch orange Abe & Al, I run these on the high diver. On the diver that I’m running deeper I’ll use either an 8” Spin Doctor in a green blade with lime green holographic tape on one side and a glow crushed ice on the other side or I’ll run a 4” to 5” spoon, glo to start the day and switch to a silver belly green or blue paint/tape top.

Color is always a concern when choosing a diver. But if you keep the ROY G BIV name in mind using an orange diver up and darker color down deeper if you believe the diver color attracts fish. Frankly more fish are caught on orange, cohos, rainbows even kings. After 40 feet orange light rays can no longer penetrate the water column and orange colors begin to turn a shade of gray or become neutral in color so orange below 40 feet isn’t attracting fish by color nor should orange spook fish either because it appears gray.

Some guys worry about the color of the braid they use too. I’ve always used gray or moss green, I recommend gray because it is a neutral color.

Snubbers I recommend a 12” clear vinyl snubber.

Leader length I recommend a 40# low vis green mono or 40# fluorocarbon leader from 5 to 7 foot in length after the snubber.

Wire for divers is more trouble than it’s worth to me. If you get another line tangled with the wire diver you’re going to cut the mono line or at best knick it and have to splice or replace the mono line. Constant pig tails and cutting and retying the swivel knot. Yeah wire has a different harmonic or acoustic resonance than mono or braid but …

Good Luck

SS

[Paulywood]

It's funny you say that about wire cutting mono. I have never cut off a mono line on a wire diver but have on a braid diver. When the braid is stretched tight and a king runs a mono line across it will slice it really quick. Not that wire won't but braid can too. I agree with what you said about braid running deeper and if the original poster is running the same line out as last year he is probably running significantly deeper.

[Fishrmac]

Thanks guys! I wasn't blaming the braid yet but was wondering if anyone else has the same problem or if it was just a slow year on divers and flasher/fly. I will try the 10' lead from the diver with a magnum spoon. I just read a report from Wednesday that had a pig on the diver with a magnum spoon so I'm thinking of trying it now. Didn't know how much of a lead to use but now I do so thanks for that first reply Dave!

My leads from my divers to flasher is probably 6-8 feet as it is and I try and keep my fly ~2.5x the length of the flasher back.

[shu9265]

We adjust or leader lengths to match the rod length. Because I don't want 5-10' of line still out there when my dipsey diver hits the end of my rods.

As far as fly to flasher, we run 18-24 inch leads from flasher to fly.

[Corey K]

Wire hands down!!!! I like Mono Divers in shallow when only letting a dipsy out 50-75 w/out ring. I dislike braid divers, steelhead don't like them, and the fleas cling badly to braid. Wire does need some attention, I retie every couple of trips, don't break rods down, and keep a loose drag. My wire divers (high mostly) have taken at least 70% of the hits this year on meat or flies. Equals roughly 70 fish, that includes coho, steelhead, kings, and lakers. I would rather fish without riggers than wire dipsy's any day, my total length from dipsy to the end of the rig is about 13-14ft. IMO braid is good for backer or torpedo weights.

[Play Dough]

My divers went dead in July. I dropped the flasher/fly and ran spoons off them and had good success. Mid August, I switched back and had continued success.

[JWheeler]

We adjust or leader lengths to match the rod length. Because I don't want 5-10' of line still out there when my dipsey diver hits the end of my rods.

As far as fly to flasher, we run 18-24 inch leads from flasher to fly.

I experienced some of my best diver action with long leaders, 10-15', and at that point it was time to learn the trick to handline an angry fish the last few feet. Point being it increased the hits on my divers.

[Corey K]

I experienced some of my best diver action with long leaders, 10-15', and at that point it was time to learn the trick to handline an angry fish the last few feet. Point being it increased the hits on my divers.

Exactly, on some boats with a walk around you don't have to handline but, that is why I run 50lb flouro for leaders. The long leader works well w/plugs or spoons and 50lb won't dampen a Mag MS.