Favorite Diver

Hook-up · 07-04-2002, 12:09 AM

What is your favorite diver (color, size, brand) for Oregon Chinook and Coho?
At first I was sold on the new delta divers. They reset on misses and have that great prism tape (now the deep six come with it also). It seemed like we missed more hot coho with them. I put some prism tape on one of my old Deep Six divers and I did not seem to lose as many. When we were trying to figure out why, we wondered if it is caused by the coho charging the boat (as they do sometimes). It could cause the delta diver to redive, thus possibibly pulling the hooks out.
Does anyone else have any thoughts about this?

[ 07-04-2002, 07:09 AM: Message edited by: Hook-up ]

Joe Schwab · 07-04-2002, 07:15 AM

I was losing a large percentage of Coho but not Chinook with the Delta. Got to thinking about the rods. Medium and Heavy Graphite rods load up and then don't flex much after that. I went to Medium 8.5 Ft. Ugly sticks and no more lost fish. I firmly believe it is the flexibility of the fiberglas rods that aborbs the extra shock when using the heavy divers. In the hands of experienced fishermen this is usually overcome. But many clients only have the rod in hand a couple of times a year. Thes fish are hot and the rods are more forgiving. Just my 2 cents worth.

Fishplay · 07-04-2002, 03:18 PM

Deep six, again prisim.

Threemuch · 07-05-2002, 08:46 AM

I am also a deep six guy, but I prefer to use downriggers if I can. My theory is give the fish as little to pull against as possible.

07-05-2002, 09:28 AM

8lb lead ball on 200lb test SS cable. Why fight your gear.

wak'm&stak'm · 07-05-2002, 07:12 PM

Keta, you have small balls :smile:

We run 15's, it is the best way to reach 260 ft.

07-05-2002, 07:58 PM

wak'm,

I make up for it by using a 9'6" rod :grin: !
I didn't usualy fish deeper than 100' and I use hand downriggers. Now I mostly fish fresh water :depressed: and the lake that I usualy fish is only 54' deep. When I fish Odel the fish are suspended between 35' and 90'. Small balls work at these depths. If I ever get back to the ocean I will think about bigger balls and electric downrigers. :smile:

wak'm&stak'm · 07-05-2002, 09:35 PM

Ok you got me there.....

Just curious....I have never fished Odel, but, what does a person do with Lake trout? (Macks).....are they good table fair?

07-06-2002, 09:13 PM

Lakers are oily but I like them. Haven't gone after them since I moved back from Alaska :depressed: . .................................................. ...................................... [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

I fish for kokanee at Odell. In the late 70's and early 80' we fished Crescent, Odell and Sumit Lakes for Macks and did fair.

[ 07-06-2002, 10:23 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

BUGLEMAN · 07-07-2002, 05:50 PM

You guys are headed the same direction as I. I used an IM-7 20-50 with the see through prism E-Z diver last year and lost every fish straight for 10 hook ups. It was obvious that the stiff rod was a deficit. I didn't think about the diver resetting post arial. Good thought! That could cause some problems too. Finally landed one after I said "get the net" immediatly after I had one on and tractored it to the boat in 15 seconds flat. Rocky said **** no it isn't ready. Someone else realized what was going on. It was a fatty coho. Didn't hook any nooks but I think they would play better. I really like those see through E-Z divers. They have a realistic flash. I guess for Coho go with the non-resettable diver and fish flash if you like that cross pattern in the diver. The resetable diver is very handy when it comes to "feeding" those nooks.

TH · 07-07-2002, 06:20 PM

I fish #1, #2 deepsix divers, usually in red/pink I have a few green and one clear one.. doesn't seem to matter..
I fish a TH 1026 8'12-25# rod, mod-fast action it load up real well and handles any situation I encouter.. even a 6' blue shark a couple years ago! :smile:

Anyway, you are going to lose fish.. regardless of what you do, barbless hooks are tough on that especially out of downriggers.
I go in sprurts.
I took 26 baits out last trip, 23 of them got bitten, 11 fish landed and we kept 4 chinook. I am batting about 50% this year in the salt! That's about average talking with other fisherman.
????

Fishplay · 07-09-2002, 11:40 PM

A point about downrigger balls. I don't use either. I have 15lb pancakes with stainless flatstock sandwiched in between. Can't remember the brand now. Maybe Gibbs? If your fishing deep these are killer. Less resistance and more accurate depth. They're spendy but I'll never buy another ball.

Pilar · 07-10-2002, 07:58 AM

Another vote for the Ugly Stick tiger. It's yellow but perfect for pulling divers. Try speeding the boat up for a little spurt after a hook up. I gun the kicker and let the drag pull some line off. That does two things, 1 - gets the fish away from the boat and 2 - sets the hook and keeps the rod bent. With barbless mooching rigs, any slack is fish off. Just remember

THE BEND IS YOUR FRIEND!

Keep the po bent and you will catch the fish.

Tight lines and good luck.

[ 07-10-2002, 08:59 AM: Message edited by: Pilar ]