When Dipsy Divers were invented, I was one of the first people in the Great Lakes to use them - and I've been using them ever since. I'm not saying this is the best way, the only way, just that it's my way. Do it your way if you wish. Fine! I'd like to hear it, if it makes sense, I'll try it. But this works for me.
#1) Remember the goal for using Dipsey Divers is not to see how many of them you can litter across the bottom of the Great Lakes. I've caught fish using them with 15 pound line between the diver and rod tip. I also littered the bottom of Lake Michigan with several divers when using 15# line. So I switched to 20 pound mono. I caught just as many fish and lost almost as many divers. So I switched to 30# and bingo! I now own divers that are 20 years old. Problem solved
#2) Begin by spooling with 30# or heavier line. This is just to get the spool filled to where you are going to add the braided line. If you put on 150 or 200 yards of braid you'll never see this line again, so don't worry about its color, brand or strength. It's just filler. Remember, braid is quite thin, so fill it almost to the max for the reel - less than a 1/4 inch from full-spool. Don't cut the backing line yet.
Get somewhat scientific about it. You are going to worry about whether to set your diver out with 54 or 57 feet of line some day. That only makes sense if your reels measure line somewhat accurately and even then, the fish won't care as much as you do. So make your reels somewhat accurate. Measure off exactly 100 feet in your yard or down the street.Zero the line counter and position the spool of line at the start of the 100 foot distance and then carry the reel to the end of the 100 mark. Check the line counter. If it reads less than 110 feet, crank on more backing until it's at 110. If the reel reads less than 100 feet at the 100 foot stopping point remove line from the reel until it reads 110. Does this sound nuts? Remember - line counters only measure spool revolutions, not actual distance. There's all sorts of math involved but basically, an under-spooled reel measures long - an over spooled measures short. So you want the reel to be “slightly” under-spooled when you start adding the braid so it will be perfect when you add 150 – 200 yards of braid. Also remember, there’s no “perfect” amount but try to get it close or you’ll go nuts trying to fish with it. #3) Go back to #1. Thirty-pound braid is plenty strong to not litter the bottom of the lake with Dipsey Divers. Twenty-pound is probably strong enough but I didn’t know that when I started using braid for Dipsey Divers back in the 90s when braid was invented. Almost all brands of braid are much stronger than their labelled strength – some brands by almost 100 percent. Braid labelled 20# will break at 30 or almost 40 pounds.
3A) Remember, one of the reasons to use braid is because it’s thin. The thinner the line on a diver rig, the steeper the dive curve. Everything being equal – speed, lure, diver setting, etc. – 100 feet of thinner line will pull a diver deeper than a thicker line. So use 40 or 50# braid if you wish, but why? I’d rather troll with 100 feet of line out than 120 – if the only reason is depth.
3B) There are some other reasons. For instance, if you plan to use two divers on a side – you might want to have 30# braid (or wire) as your low diver and then use 40 or 50# braid as the high diver to give the diver – lures more separation.
3C) Remember, Dipsey Divers both “dipsey” and dive and at times, the dip is more important than the dive. Like right now in the spring. The fish are near the top. Dipseys are an easy way to get another lure in the water out to the side of the boat. You want the divers to pull the lures wide, but not dive deep. So….
4) Once you have the backing and the braid spooled on you new reels, use a double-uni knot to add a topshot of 30# mono – 40 or 50 feet will do. The 30-mono is about 3 times as thick as the braid and even in the earliest spring, when I’m running the divers with 15 to 30 feet of line that will keep the divers somewhat shallower than they’d run on braid. When the fish go deep enough (15 feet or more) and I want to get divers to their depth, I peel off the mono and fish with the braid. 4A) I don’t run snubbers when “divering” with monofilament line for spring cohos. The mono is stretchy enough to guard against snapping the line on a strike.4B) I don’t run snubbers when I’m walleye fishing at Lake Erie using braided line. They don’t strike that hard.
5) Tie the diver to the line using a “double palomar knot.” with braid. Plenty of instructional vids on YouTube showing the knot. The DPK has won just about every knot competition I’ve seen for tying braid. GOOD LUCK
