Dipsy diving depth highly inaccurate?

sterlingz

sterlingz

Well-Known Member
I've been fishing with dipsies for a looooong time now and have become rather frustrated with getting them to dive to the right depth. I'd be willing to bet 95% of anglers are at least 2ft off their target depth.

First problem is the diving charts provided on the dipsy packaging. Let out X amount of line to dive to Y depth. I've found tremendous variance of +/-40% depending on the line used. Yes there are charts for all sorts of various lines, but line thickness and weight is the critical factor and this varies so much from brand to brand that the charts can be highly inaccurate, especially for mono.

Second issue is with line counters - I tested all my reels in the backyard and even the good ones (spooled perfectly) are about ~20% off. Even had an ugly stik combo (cheapo $80 reel) 60% off. The other ugly stik combo reel (bought at the same time) was spooled with the same amount of line and was 30% off.

Once I resolved the problem with line counters (I marked specific intervals on my line), I got rid of some variance but still unacceptable.

By the way, I used a Fishhawk TD to gauge depth.
 
Absolutely there is some variability. But as long as your running all the same reels with the same line you should Atleast be fairly consistent with your depth. Line counters cannot be expected to be deadly accurate as they work on spool rotations and the outer circumference of a spool of line is variable.

Josh
 
I dont believe you will ever have 100 % accuracy but it is a good indicator with line counting reals to give you what worked / how far out you bait was when hooked the fish so you can still duplicate that number and not guess
I don't believe you have to be exactly in the same depth every time even if you are 5 to 10 feet off you can still get fish specially with salmon and trout and even walleye
They will key in on the lures vibration ,the sound of the cannon ball,wire,dipsy ,and the reflection of the lure
So it do not bother me at all for dipsy or line counter reals
I do love the fish hawk its amazing your riger counter shows 160' and your ball is only at 130 or less at times due to blow back and current I find fishing Erie running balls not so deep there is minimal depth difference
I would not worry about it too much
Good luck and fish on
 
Yes. I agree but YOU need to know your #'s for YOUR reels and what works. My reels are 62 feet when the line counter reads 100 and 39feet when the line counter says 60. And if I see fish on the screen at a certain depth I adjust for the #'s for the day. If you really want to get technical. What about speed variation?
 
I agree. I am running dispeys for the first time this year with limited success. I am sure speed, line type, line diameter, counter accuracy, lure attached and underwater currents all contribute to changes in depth.

Once I do find that magic number on my line counter one day, I'll have a gauge to go by. From there, it is pretty easy to repeat the same combination.

The great thing with riggers is that the cannon balls shows on my graph. That a no brainer to figure out depth.
 
Get a big tape, pull 100ft out of it and walk your reels (line) the 100ft a couple of times for consistency.

Mark the reel plus or minus or number the reel and right them all down.

Lots of days one of us will be setting back to a depth we think is good on that day and hook up 2/3 of the way back on the line going out.

So much for the scientific approach.

If where you are ain't workin' in 20 minutes, change it.
 
I measured out 200ft chaulked line every 25ft and charted all line counters All different but now I can compare to chart. If you are only a couple feet off your mark if the fish is hungry it will get it. There are so many variables to get dypsy in exact spot. I just started using them a year ago but since I measured and made a chart I have been producing. Might not be exact depth i wanted but if it's close and i am catching then perfect
 
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My two cents worth:

-if you spool your reels consistently and fill the spools 100%, the counters will be very close. As the spools empty, the accuracy deteriorates but letting out 150 feet of braid off a fully spooled reel should be within 5%worst case.

-even if they're out a bit, make sure all your reels match. It's a bit of work but worth the effort.

-repeatability is the key. The fish don't have copies of the dive charts and don't care what your counters say, but if you catch one at 165' back on 2 setting put the line back in the same place

-walleye will come up quite a bit to strike but don't often go down. If in doubt err to the shallow side with your Bait.
 
Doesn't mater what you use, get in the zone of the fish and you will catch. Read passed post, color, baits, body baits, worm harness, spoons, colors, what ever. Read the posts. Burwell is polluted with Walleye. Stay away from lead core, go with braid on dipsy and mono on riggers, you'll be fine. You may not fill your cooler as fast but you will enjoy your fishing better. I tell you, you will have much more fun catching a Sheephead or Rainbow than dragging a Walleye in on Leadcore. With using a dipsy, any turn will cause a different depth and speed, no one can tell you exactly what depth or speed you will be at, the lure, harness, deep diver baits, spoons.
Read the posts, everyone says colors and baits, but they all come in with cooler fulls.
Just Saying.
 
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I can’t believe how many guys I see at the launch with half filled spools on their line counters. You can’t expect repeatability without putting some effort into it. My Tekotas are pretty accurate when calibrated. Look up reel calibration on YouTube. It’s pretty easy to do. It’s not an exact science, but you can come pretty close! The more line out, the less accurate as mentioned. Right now, it doesn’t matter as there are so many fish out there. But when things are tougher, or fishing other water bodies it can up your game. As for dipsys, their not to 100 percent either but if your gear is calibrated and your catching on one rod steady with 95 feet out, it’s nice to be able to duplicate that on the other side!
 
I run all lines out at different depths for just that reason. 2 Walker deeper divers on each side with 30 feet of line difference and 2 dipseys straight back at different counts. When one hits I adjust the others out at 15 foot increments if nothing happens I'll bring them up off the origional setting.. it's some work but once you get all lines figured out its a quick haul. A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work...
 
Fish Farmer said:
Stay away from lead core, go with braid on dipsy and mono on riggers, you'll be fine. You may not fill your cooler as fast but you will enjoy your fishing better. I tell you, you will have much more fun catching a Sheephead or Rainbow than dragging a Walleye in on Leadcore.
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I don't really understand your constant aversion to lead core, it's not a lot of fun but it's extremely productive. If you want to pull 8 or 10 lines it's almost a necessity. Dragging fish in from 200 feet out with a dipsy smacking them in the head sucks too and really it's as bad or worse than 5 colours of core. If you really are into the all natural, light gear thing, go drag an erie deerie on a spinning rod while you drift with the waves. Everybody does things their own way. I run all the different gear just for shits and giggles, but if I have to produce fish, I'll run all 8 rods with lead cores on big boards 100%. Dipsies and riggers are just there to pick up the stragglers and make more space for lead cores as far as I'm concerned.
 
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I run all tekotas, and calibrate them every spring when respooling line.. if I start having breakoffs or snag up and lose line I respool and caibrate again.. I'm usually within 1 or 2 feet at 100 on the line counters.. I respooled 2 reels yesterday with powerpro depthpro i believe it was called, it's colour coded every 10'yards.. I was running dipsys at 120 and 150 yesterday and they were within inches. 10% of the fisherman catch 90% of the fish,, because of small details!!!!(this year anyone can catch a limit of eyes, there are just so many on the system)
 
I ran two 19 strand copper setups yesterday as I only have one core setup and it worked just as good as the core if not better. It is suppose to have the same sink rate as core so I ran between 180-200 on the line counter with a rippling red fin and took 7 fish of those setups.
 
I agree with you and the responses

Calibrate your reels by either adding or removing line ....speed and Lin diameter will play a big part.

I go by 1/3 rule for #3 setting .....as a guestament
So 90 back should have lure somewhere close to 30 '

Like anything else you have to experiment until you find what works them duplicate.

Could argue Same for riggers ....amount of blow back ....speed ...type ...fish or ball and actual weight ....i have 4 8 lb balls....no 2 weigh same...anywhere from 3 oz to 8 oz difference
 
@stomp and I caught them on Dipseys anywhere from 45 to 110 on the counter didn't matter. No rocket science when there's so many fish your literally knocking them on the head every time you drop a cannonball.
 
Your right Wave Runner. Under current conditions it doesn’t really matter, if you have even the slightest clue how to catch them. But if circumstances where different, and the fishing was tougher the little things like calibrating make a difference every time! That’s a fact!
 
@Porkpie... I agree when things are tougher and it will be again some day I'm sure, then all the little things do make a difference. I was just referring to current conditions where almost anything works to the point all of us are spoiled. Right now I'm quite sure one could let line out without even looking at the counter and still catch fish. :)
 
G.Mech said:
I don't really understand your constant aversion to lead core, it's not a lot of fun but it's extremely productive. If you want to pull 8 or 10 lines it's almost a necessity. Dragging fish in from 200 feet out with a dipsy smacking them in the head sucks too and really it's as bad or worse than 5 colours of core.
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I agree with you GMech, But most people out there fish with 2 to 4 rods if they can afford them, 2 to 3 people in a average boat. Use the same rods Salmon fishing on riggers.
I have caught Erie Walleye jigging if you find a big pod of fish, did it last year off Maitland in the dark out near the fingers, what a rush. Soon as daylight they shut off, I went back to trolling, fish on.
I don't like fishing with Dipsies, but allows me to fish with 4 rods deeper and I can make big turns with the hope of not getting lines tangled. :banghead: :D
Just helping the guy that may only have 1 big trolling rod and a few Braid Spinning outfits can still troll out with the rest of us.
Trolling with 2 spinnig rods would make a more enjoyable day , getting a hit walleye on and stop the boat fighting fish to the boat.
 
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