New to King Fishing- Rig Critique?

[StarvinPilgrim]

Like the title says- new to chasing kings, but wanting to get into it... economically? To start, I'm not in the great lakes region- I'm out in Montana, but there is a fishery for stocked kings in freshwater about 4 hours away. The king fishing here kicks off about now, from 75-120' down, and runs for another couple months. Deepest the reservoir gets is 160ft, but I don't think the fish run that deep. Primary forage is cisco- a type of lake herring, and the kings average in the teens with fish getting over 20 pretty regularly. This is about everything I've been able to learn from the limited articles, reports, and the odd youtube video.

Looking at running 4 magnum dipsy's to get to depth. Thinking 8'6" Okuma combos (Great Lakes line counters) out the sides & back, 30# braid. Snubbers, too. Flasher+fly/hoochie, agitator + herring, and spoons (in order of preference). Maybe some plugs or even balsa cranks if I'm feeling adventurous.

I feel like this avoids the cost of downriggers, give me the ability to use the rods for other applications, and the versatility to take them on other boats (friend has a ski boat he wants to try this from). My boat is a 14' Klamath, so I'm limited to good weather days- other days will have me hiding in bays to chase walleye & northerns. Thinking the stern rods need to be the deep rods, with the side rods running slightly out and shallower.

Any thoughts on this setup? Has anyone run a program like this successfully, or used the rods in question?

[FBD]

Sounds like you've done your research. I'd run the ones out the back at about a 0.5 setting and the ones off the side at about 1.5-2 to get some separation without sacrificing too much depth.

Kings will destroy balsa baits. 

[FBD]

Magnum dipsies make sure you have heavy action or dipsy specific rods.  They pull hard.  Good rod holders I.e. not plastic are a must.

[StarvinPilgrim]

7 hours ago, FBD said:

Magnum dipsies make sure you have heavy action or dipsy specific rods.  They pull hard.  Good rod holders I.e. not plastic are a must.

And that's why I came here for advice.

I was really hoping to double-duty these rods for walleye and Kokanee trolling, so I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on full set of heavy action rods. I know that's probably not realistic given the size difference of the target species, but a man can dream, right?

If I backed off one size on the dipsy diver and set the drag to where it slips occasionally while trolling, would I be able to get away with a medium or medium heavy action? I feel like I'd still be able to hit 100 ft with 30 lb braid and running them way back- and I thought running them way back was preferable for kings, anyways.

[StarvinPilgrim]

Actually, I think I've got a better idea now that I've slept on it.

Buy the four Okuma Great lakes trolling combos for the dipsies, but then by some lighter rods and swap the reels onto those as needed. Doesn't have to be anything fancy for me, just something.

Do you think these rods will work for a mag dipsy in the 9-ft medium heavy power? 

https://www.tacklehaven.com/okuma-great-lakes-line-counter-trolling-combos/

 

 

[FBD]

Yes, they will.  I've run regular dipsies on M action Okumas and while they don't like it, they work.

 

Adding a magnum weight to the diver will get some more depth without too much extra drag.  The larger ring or mag diver will pull a lot harder, but get more depth too.  I think magnum divers come with the heavier weight.

[StarvinPilgrim]

Interesting. How do you get the bigger weight- do they sell them independently, or do you have to buy the magnum and cannibalize it?

And given the schedules this year, I'll probably be shooting for next year on targeting them. Gives me plenty of time to figure out the right setup and shop around for some deals.

[FBD]

I messed up.  Slide divers are modular with weights.  Dipsies you get what you buy for weights and would have to swap stuff around.  Probably not worth it.

 

Both you can equip with standard and magnum rings.

[StarvinPilgrim]

Gotcha. Slide divers look kind of interesting- I'll have to dig into those more. Fort Peck isn't nearly as clear as Lake Michigan, so I'm not certain if a slide diver would be required for the stealthiness of presentation. I was looking into the SWR for a while when considering downriggers, but that seems overly complex for the conditions I'm looking at. But if something is the best setup for my budget, then I'm all for it.

There's also a lot of terrain features in the dam area that might be better to keep shorter lines to troll around. Could be why everyone I've heard of uses downriggers.

 

[cbw5007]

It sounds like a good game plan other than you should get at-least one downrigger.  I have fished for king salmon in the great lakes and the ocean and kings are often deep near the bottom. Here is an article I wrote on the best down-riggers. The Scottly 1050 compact or Cannon Lake Troller seem like they would be good options. I also wrote an article on the best salmon reels.