TOPIC:

Been asked a million times but, what the hell. What leader length do u guys run on your dipsey covers and y? More importantly y u choose that length.

I start mine about 2 feet back if it's in the morning. Then slowly start to change them out to long leader of about 4 ft when the bit stops in the afternoon.

Am I on the right track? Would u suggest more? Less? Thanks in advance I'm aware that it's been talked about a million times. So I apologize for that

I run Dodgers and flies or Spin Doctors and flies off of dipsy's about 3 or 4 feet behind the snubber connected to the Dipsy. That way the Dipsy might be more of an attractant when running that set up. When running spoons or crankbaits I run much longer leads and use slide divers and set it 40 to 60 ft behind a slide diver. The slide diver really isn't attracting it's more of a stealth or clean water with all that line out.

4 to 9 feet. The more I fish, the longer my leads seem to get. Can be a PIA to get the longer leads into the boat - requires some crew coordination for sure.

The length of your rod. From hooks to rod tip. Longer is a challenge when trying to net a fish. Longer may produce more fish at times but as dirty says it takes an experienced crew to get the fish into the net.

9 out of 10 times I fish alone. Mostly because of my work schedule:/. Maybe I will try longer leads at the beginning of the day

I never use a diver leader longer than what will allow me to net the fish without having to handline a longer leader. I've been on boats that used longer leaders and the captain and deck hand made grabbing the leader and finishing the job by hand look easy. It's not and it's not something I'd expect to be able to coach a customer to do correctly. (I don't have a mate or deckhand.) I feel lucky if I can get most customers to stop reeling when the diver gets to the rod tip.

I'm comfortable with a leader around 4 feet when I have a spoon, spinner or body bait behind the diver. I'm comfortable with a leader as short as 3 feet when using a dodger or other attractor and fly or two feet with a meat rig with a long leader from flasher to the meathead. In all these examples, the hook the fish is supposed to bite is around 4 feet or a bit more to the rear of the diver.

I'm sure, at times, a diver is an attractor. (Why else would they come in silver, glow, green and a dozen other colors.) I'm sure sometimes (less frequently) the diver is off-putting to the fish. I once got a clear plastic diver from Luhr Jensen they marketed as a "stealth" diver. In the same package, they sent samples of colored holographic tape cut to stick to the diver to dress them up. Even the makers can't decide whether they are attractors or deterrents.

I want to end this with advice I got decades ago from a very successful fisherman. "I'm sure the color and leader length on a Dipsey makes a difference some of the time. I'm also sure there are a thousand little things more important to worry about when I'm fishing. If I start trying to include worries about whether I need to use a yellow, green, silver or some other color or switch from a 4 foot to a 6 foot diver, I'm likely to overlook a dozen things more important.