Slide Divers

[Yooperdad]

I have 2 wire and 2 PPro dipsy rods on my boat and it has been suggested by an experienced fisherman that I keep the wire and go with Slide Divers on the PPro instead of adding more rods. Good suggestion?

I see there is a new SD Lite Bite out this year. Is that the one to buy? Do I need the depth rings too?

Weight of PPro to use with a SD setup?

Thanks for the help.

Mike

[Priority1]

Slide Divers are OK if you are targeting spooky fish. The light bite SDs would probably be good for Walleye. The problem with Slide Divers is they don't work well with the braids, and the line has to be cut to remove them from the rod. If you don't remove them you must strap them to the rod for travel, or they will bounce all over the place. I seldom need long leads behind the divers so I'm going back to strictly Dipsys. I use my boards for the spooky fish. I have a glow SD and a green one with some extra rubbers and springs, that I'll trade for some #1 Dipsys or the equiv Walker Divers. Personally, I didn't mind running Slide Divers, but some of my crew members hated them. The fact that I was using them only late in the season with short leads made it senseless for me to stick with them.

[Yooperdad]

Let me check when I get home tonight. I think I have way more dipsies than I will ever need and the trade sounds good. A friend moved to Florida and gave me his supply, but I'm not sure what size they are.

Mike

[Salmon Slammer]

If I still had any Dipsy's to trade for Slide Divers - I'd take you up on that offer Priority 1.

I traded or gave away all of my Dipsy's after winning a cooler full of tackle in a Ludington Pro-Am many moons ago which had inside the first Slide Diver I'd ever seen. I also have a few Big Slick divers (developed by the guy who designed the Dipsy and sold out to Luhr Jensen) that I will occasionally run when the fish are near the surface.

At the time, there was a welding problem with the front trip arms on Dipsies and we were having problems with them. Went to the Slide Diver and never went back. My buddy Brian figured out the slipping issue which occurred with using super-lines with SD's years ago. Slide Divers now come with a piece of silicone tubing that grips the slippery braid or fused line. They also come with a spring tube (like a Twilly tip) for running lighter mono.

I typically run mine with 30# mono and first add rings and then clip on a weight in front of the SD if I need to go deeper. You can also run Slide Divers with wire by tying in a segment of mono (for the SD to run on) with an oval ring or micro-swivel that'll pass through your guides and wind on the reel.

Pro's and Cons - With a Dipsy Diver, you're limited on leader length and the Diver is tied in line and a snubber is often needed to take up the extra shock. With a slide Diver, you have a virtually unlimited leader length and can reel down closer to the fish on netting. The Slide Diver slides on the line giving you a better feel for the fish with less shock on the tackle and a snubber is not needed.

You can hook a Dipsy on with a snap making for easier tackle storage. The Slide Diver is riding on your main-line and must either be cut off or packed away with the rod. Since they slide on your line, I lock my Slide Divers on the bottom of the reel and pull my line towards the tip of the rod and clip my snap swivel to the frame on one of my line guides. They stay like that during the run in and out in the rod-holders and I can store my rods without breaking them down. The Slide Divers stay on the rods unless I want to change color of Slide Diver.

I started running the Slide Diver Lite Bites last season and they have worked flawlessly - a little more tuning than the original, but well worth it. EVERY fish has tripped the release on the diver.

[Yooperdad]

Frank, I checked and I do have some extra dipsies. I'll send you a PM.

Mike

[Fishwhisperer]

If you want to run SD on your PP rods, I would suggest added 100' or more of mono to them. As stated before, SD will not hold to PP very good. Myself, I only use SD early or late in the season. When using SD, I will add a speed bead or a swivel 6' from the bait. SD are a great presentation when combat fishing.

[Yooperdad]

Priority1 and I are going to trade some gear, so looks like I will be in the SD game this year too. Great comments and great advice as usual. Thanks everyone.

Combat fishing???

Mike

[Capt Craig]

I just switched this year to running stricktly SD Lite Bites for all divers. The new weight and ring packages allow you to run them deep or high and we have been hammering the fish on them as far as 100 down. I don't think it is necessary to run a long ways behind the diver but it is nice to get 15 or 20 feet back and still be able to net up close. We are running them on 50# Power Pro but have talked with people that are running them on wire with no problem. The Lite Bite is kind of deceiving as it is not intended for just Walleyes but any small fish that you may drag or even a weed or balloon string that has tagged along. It eliminates the possiblity of dragging something and having a dead rod in the water for hours. By ther way if they are rigged properly you will have no problem with the super lines and if you see any slippage just twist the surgical tubing 180 degrees and it will not slip.

[big_fishman]

Are you running a mono leader for th ediver to ride on, I had problems with them wearing through the braid