I have been fishing since i was old enough to hold a rod, my grandfather used to take me every chance he could. He live don the St. Clair river so we shore fished and drifted crawler harness for walleye and we were pretty successful and I always had a good fun. Recently I moved near lake erie and shore fished and fished around the local marina for pan fish and the odd bass. I was a little jealous of all the guys commming in to port with there huge walleyes and Rainbows. So this spring I finally convinced my wife to buy a boat so I go to the local tackle shop and ask what I need to do to catch the these giant walleyes and rainbows. I was handed some trolling rods, spoons and dipsy divers. The advice on how to use and troll I recived was vague at best and when I probed for some more information I got look that made me feel sheepish so i thanked the man and left the store. Day one I load up the boat and head out on lake erie about 6 miles out in 60ft of water and start setting up like I was told there were 60 other boats in the area and my fish finder was full of fish so I was excited and for 6 hours nothing not 1 strike. back at port other boats with all there fish so I ask around on techniques and lure and the advice i recived was vague and in one case i was told to figure out the setups and lure for myself as he had to. so I chalked it up to just a bad day next day same result different lures different speeds different locations and still 6 hours and no fish. Needless to say that it is now September andI have bought downriggers tried that setup with my dipsys and still nothing and my wife and I are still married but barley and she has vowed to never go fishing with me again. SO my question is how do I use dipsy divers, how to you hook them up with the snap that folds down with a strike on the lure or on the rod what size should they be I am useing a 0# different colors monkey puke and firetiger and a few other colors. my downriggers are used one is a walker and the other a lure jensen and my rods are okuma 8\'6ft with 30dx line countr reels for riggers and 2 10ft okuma mooching rods with the same reels for dipsys I am useing 20lb test mono on them I have used Williams spoons and rapala tail dancers. I have never experienced this before usally fellow anglers have been helpfull in techniques and lure selection and ways to cath fish. Can you please help me figure out how to troll and use my gear before the wife has me trade the boat in for one she can ski behind.

I have been fishing since i was old enough to hold a rod, my grandfather used to take me every chance he could. He live don the St. Clair river so we shore fished and drifted crawler harness for walleye and we were pretty successful and I always had a good fun. Recently I moved near lake erie and shore fished and fished around the local marina for pan fish and the odd bass. I was a little jealous of all the guys commming in to port with there huge walleyes and Rainbows. So this spring I finally convinced my wife to buy a boat so I go to the local tackle shop and ask what I need to do to catch the these giant walleyes and rainbows. I was handed some trolling rods, spoons and dipsy divers. The advice on how to use and troll I recived was vague at best and when I probed for some more information I got look that made me feel sheepish so i thanked the man and left the store. Day one I load up the boat and head out on lake erie about 6 miles out in 60ft of water and start setting up like I was told there were 60 other boats in the area and my fish finder was full of fish so I was excited and for 6 hours nothing not 1 strike. back at port other boats with all there fish so I ask around on techniques and lure and the advice i recived was vague and in one case i was told to figure out the setups and lure for myself as he had to. so I chalked it up to just a bad day next day same result different lures different speeds different locations and still 6 hours and no fish. Needless to say that it is now September andI have bought downriggers tried that setup with my dipsys and still nothing and my wife and I are still married but barley and she has vowed to never go fishing with me again. SO my question is how do I use dipsy divers, how to you hook them up with the snap that folds down with a strike on the lure or on the rod what size should they be I am useing a 0# different colors monkey puke and firetiger and a few other colors. my downriggers are used one is a walker and the other a lure jensen and my rods are okuma 8\’6ft with 30dx line countr reels for riggers and 2 10ft okuma mooching rods with the same reels for dipsys I am useing 20lb test mono on them I have used Williams spoons and rapala tail dancers. I have never experienced this before usally fellow anglers have been helpfull in techniques and lure selection and ways to cath fish. Can you please help me figure out how to troll and use my gear before the wife has me trade the boat in for one she can ski behind.

Posted on September 6th, 2008

Hi Justin…Sounds like you have all the right gear, all you have to do is build-up your confidence and catch a few fish, than you will be one of the guys that other fishermen will ask questions to see how you caught your fish!!..You were obviously fishing the right location if other anglers caught fish. Throughout Lake Erie, both the walleye and trout suspended in 60-80\’ of water. They are usually feeding in the 40-60\’ depths. Besides trolling the right lures at the right depth, speed and the length of the lead (distance from lures to boat), can be critical. Most anglers troll for walleye between 1.5-1.9 miles per hout. For trout, they troll faster, often trolling as fast as 3.5 mph. Average leads for walleye can be 150-300\’ behind the boat. Normally, the higher the walleye are off the bottom, the more spooky they can be and leads have to be lengthened accordingly. The lures you have all sound good. The Dipsey\’s are pretty easy to set up. You should be using a “shock-leader” (either a piece of black or clear bungie-material that is sold for this purpose), which is used inbetween the Dipsey and your leader. Your leader should be anywhere from 8-12\’ long. I normally run a 20 lb. fluorocarbon leader to which I add my lure. If you are not using planer-boards, you will need to set your Dipsey so that it runs a few degrees away from the boat. On the bottom of the Dispsey you will see a weight that can be shifted to one side or the other of the Dipsey. Place is accordingly so that when it is set-up, it will down and away from the boat. Next, the metal arm that is designed to be attached to your main line, is also designed to “snap” into the release mechanism. The release mechanism has a screw in the side of it that enables the angler to set the tension of the release. Walleye hit lightly, so if you want the Dipsey to release when a fish hits, you will need to release the tension. Test the tension with your hands and once you are happy, you are ready to fish. When the metal arm is set in the realease, the Dipsey will dive. If a fish hits, or you jerk-hard on the line, the Dipsey will release and won\’t dive any more. I would really encourage you to also check out previous questions and answers I have responded to by going to the main Ask Italo plage and highlighting “trolling” and “downrigging” headings and checking all the responses. If you have more specific question about techniques, don\’t hesitate to ask….God bless you, Italo