diver or sinker

[murray069]

going fishing in a couple of weeks. but not in my boat. The boat im in will not have downriggers and the boat is only 12' long. so my question is, will a diver set up be to much gear for a small boat. I plan on useing a 6 foot leader off a flasher, or should i skip the flasher and just use the diver (deep six)? iv never used a diver before so im a bit lost. How would you set up you rod for this type of fishing.

thanks for you input

 

[Dogbreath]

Diver/planers work fine in the top 30' of water or so.

One of my buddys uses a flasher with one but it makes for a real long rig I wouldn't bother in that small a boat.

 

[tubber]

To get deeper you need a bigger diver and then you'll need a stiffer rod. The boat will pull to one side, so the driver will have to steer the other way. When he gets a fish on and you try to reel up, if your diver doesn't trip the boat will pull to your side even more, which makes it tricky for him to reel and steer at the same time. Slip sinkers work too, but it is tough to know how deep you are. The trouble with those is people aren't used to them so they cut behind your stern expecting your line to be under your boat instead of dragging way back. The simplest method might be to read up on cutplugs. Try the search function for more info on all this stuff. I have an 11 foot boat so I've been through some of the same issues. I do have downriggers and a cheap sounder now but didn't the first year or two. You also need friends with bigger boats. Good luck; lots of fish were caught this way before everyone went high tech and you'll get some too if you're in the right place.

 

[chiefeng]

I started the same way using divers out my drift boat I caught a lot of fish that way but you want to run a short leader to your flasher and 4 to 4.5 ft leader to your terminal gear or else you won't be able to net the fish exspecaily in that small boat btw we still use divers on the buoy 10 fishery [mouth of Columbia river] for some reason they out fish down riggers I think it's because they but out more flash we also use a diver called a delta diver it really dives hard and if you are fishing hearing or anchovies you can use a big Al's flasher it's triangular and spins in line they work great and a lot less drag they don't work with hoochies thought not he right action for the hoochies to work right

 

[Gill]

I would Jig

 

[fishhawk8]

You can motor mooch a cut plug and should be able to fish down to at least 100 ft, depending on the tides and currents where you will be fishing. I would start with about a 6 oz. sliding ball weight and move up towards 12 oz, depending on the tides. If you have a sounder, determine the depth. You can also get a good idea of the depth from the local charts or just stop the boat and let the weight down to the bottom, counting how many pulls it takes to get there. Reel back up 10 ft and put the boat in gear at slightly slower than trolling speed. Once your line has gotten to about a 45 degree angle, take the motor out of gear and let the line settle back dow again. Note though, you do not want your line to be at 90 degrees or your bait won't turn over.

Watch your rod tips as one of a few things will happen. The fish will hit hard and in this case it's game on, or, you'll just see a tap, tap on your rod tip. If this happens, they are usually just mouthing your bait. Let out 5 or 6 more pulls and see if he comes back. Lastly, you may see your rod straighten out like there's no weight on your line. If this happens pick up your rod and reel in like crazy. A fish has picked up your bait and is moving towards the surface. You need to catch up to him until you feel his weight on the backbone of the rod and then set the hook firmly. Works good for springs.

Or you can jig as someone else has mentioned too. Just match your lure to the predominant baitfish in your area. Also when jigging, don't use the same motion all the time, mix it up. A couple of short lifts (12-24"), a longer one (24-36"), a sort, two longs, etc.

Good luck,
George

Seafood, eat it, then catch more.