Flat lining, Questions

Hey all,

I usually fish smaller lakes for pike, bass walleye ect. But due to being close to lake O i try my luck flat lining on calm days for trout (i only have a 16'6" aluminum). The few times i have tried it i troll a big spoon and a small lip crank bait roughly 100' behind the boat to avoid tangling lines, i have had the odd hit but nothing to show for it.

I was out yesterday in anywhere from 60-90 FOW and was marking lots in the 20-40 FOW mark and thought i would have some luck getting them to rise up and hit the biat but had nothing to show for my efforts. any pointers would be appreciated since i dont want to go down the rigger route.

Thanks T

If you cannot afford or don't want to put downriggers on your boat, get some Dipsey Divers which will get you down to where the fish are. I have use DD's on Lake Ontario with a lot of success.

When I'm there with a buddy we run 2 rigger rods-including cheaters and 2 dipsey rods.

SDC

I second the dipsy divers or jet divers. I believe the jet divers go more or less straight down behind the boat where a dipsy diver has the ability to go down and to the side.

Thanks for the replies guys, ill give that a go to get down to the fish.

ill have to look into baits next!

you can get deep diving body baits, some are going up to 30 ft down and you can troll them behind inline board, thats the other option. you can also add a leadcore road to your spread. 12 color will go to 60 ft

Also snap weights are a good cheap option for long lining 2 oz minimum

All of the above is good advice

Thanks for all of the input everyone, turns out my old man still has some rigging rods laying around so ill give those a go with either dipsy divers or ill spool them with lead core!

Now i need to spend hours out there seeing what works in terms of patterns lol!

Definitely get some dipsys, I would use braid and make sure you have a snubber on it.

Thanks for the input everyone the dipsy's paid off, went 1 for 2. not sure on the species so it went back for another day.

Also i went with 15' floro behind the dipsy.. anyone change the length depending on depth?

That's a very rare species, so good for you for releasing it Nice fish and congrats (it's a steelhead / rainbow).

15 ft behind the dipsy? I'm not saying that is wrong but may make things difficult for you... Do you have a very long net? Most go 5 to 6 ft behind the dipsy because you can only reel up as far as the fixed diver, then you need to be able to net the fish. Unless using a slide diver, 5 to 8 ft (or maybe up to 10' depending on the length of the rod, your net, etc.) is my standard length. I do not adjust the length of the leader if I'm targeting deeper water. They come with a dive chart that is a good starting point for targeting depths and understanding where your lure will be running.

Good luck