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Any help will be appreciated. I’m looking at buying my first dipsys hopefully for a good price on Black Friday. I will be fishing out of East Chicago the majority of the time. My question is how deep will I have to fish come May June and July? So I can figure out what size dipsys I need? Also are the colors and UV that important? I can see it being another attractant but if I’m using flashers and stuff like that do the Dipsys really need to be high falootin? P. S. I only have 16’ deep-v so I’m not going to venture to far out offshore. Thanks

In a nutshell size 0 would be preferred early spring to late spring. Chrome and flashy colors work well for me as fishing is pretty much done in the top 20ft. Later in early summer on the size 1 in either black or clear is good during the day and the UV/glow colors reserved for deep or low light conditions. This is just my opinion and I'm sure there's many more out there, it all comes down to trial and error.
Dont let the size of your boat detour you from offshore fishing. As long as you have a radio and plan for the days weather it's not impossible to get out there. Past 4-5 years I've fished along the state line from Portage in my 16 footer and with my upgraded depth finder for next year I plan to go much further.

Thanks for the info. I didn’t think I would need to use any dipsys for spring coho. I was originally planning on just trolling cranks on planner boards. I recently picked up some red dodgers and some flys because they were recommended to me for coho. I will only be running 6 rods. So I guess my question is how would you run 6 rods? I’m thinking the 2 rods straight off the back of the boat with Dipsys with the Dodgers and flys and the other 4 rods on boards with cranks? I feel like I’m going to have a tangled mess. Lol! This is all new to me. Thanks again!

Very well might have a tangle or 2 starting out ha, I know I did! The goal in my opinion is getting the lures away from the boat so i prefer them over downriggers and flatlining right out the back to avoid the tangling, get a big spring king on and you'll see what I mean! They wouldn't need to be used too far out maybe 25-40 feet on the 3 setting to get them away.
2 boards and the 1 dipsy is usualy my spring setup, unless I got someone with me then its double that. 2 mono lines for the thinfins or other cranks like hot n tots or flicker shad and the 1 dipsy with spoon or jointed rapala since dipsys will roll with anything that dives behind them. Whatever you do with your cranks make sure your deeper divers are inside and shallower stuff is on the outside. I'm not much of a Dodger/fly guy though they have caught some fish on my boat but I couldn't say if they're better or not.
Hope this helps you out.

Definitely helps out thank you ! Sounds like a plan to me. That’s what I’m gonna roll with. We caught fish last March just flat lining 2 rods with rapala shad rap SSR-7 1 fire tiger & 1 red craw dad both seemed to work. I’ve picked up some thin fins & and orange J-9s to try out this year along with a few others I wanna try out. Last question for today anyways the boards would go outside of the divers? Boards further away from boat than dipsys? Thanks

It can vary in length throughout the year but yes boards always outside the dipsy. Both sides set up the same for example sake, outside board is 100' out 50' back with a thinfin then inside board would be 60' out 50' back with a thinfin, lastly dipsy would be 30' out with a 7' leader and a Dodger/fly.

I sketched this out, it should give you the idea.
At times the fish maybe spooky and you would have to add length behind the boards or if you have a deeper diving lure on the inside board it would help to have the line slightly shorter than the outside to avoid tangling. Also come early summer when the fish go deeper then you would have to add weighted line (lead core, copper, clip-on weights, trolling sinkers) and go much wider with your boards to cover more water. By this time I'll swap out a dipsy for a downrigger line.

Right on! Simply enough! Thank you!

In spring when I can get out, I do 6 rods. Two "flatlines" straight off the back, Two dipsies on 2 or 3 on the sides, and 2 "board" rods. The most fun is when the straight off the back flatlines go off, no damn board to fight. When the coho are around, I'd rather fish with anything other than inline boards, they do let me get 2 more lines out and they do catch fish, I just hate inline boards, half the time you don't even know you have a coho on until you check lines, or clear them when your done for the day, the big ski boards are great for spring, but in a 16' boat, it's tough to find the room. I've caught plenty of coho on those dipsies also.
For your spring fish, keep is simple. When they're around, they're hungry and they are not shy, they will pretty much hit anything.

Guess I’m gonna be buying some dipsys on cyber Monday. Thanks fellas!