Tuna diver question??

wak'm&stak'm · 08-22-2002, 08:00 PM

I know I asked this before and I aplied what I think I understood.

Those (// k90?? orange divers) kept flipping over and tangling everything up. I think Marty told me he fishes them 40 ft back on the long lines.

my question now is......how long of leader do you run to the jig behind them?? I ran 24ft of tuna cord and 6ft of mono. I am thinking I made a mistake and shouldn't run the cord....hmmm.

Pilar · 08-22-2002, 08:30 PM

Hey Wak, Seasquid ran his on the Julie Rose III and just had a short line and then leader. Probably 10' all told. They are hard as hell to pull up w/o a fish and the boat moving.

wak'm&stak'm · 08-22-2002, 09:46 PM

Thanks John, how long of line did he have them on? Thanks

Pilar · 08-23-2002, 05:37 AM

40 or 50 feet to the diver and then the short line and leader behind that.

seasquid · 08-23-2002, 07:41 AM

Pilar's right -- about 10 feet of leader --

I run two at a time, but I have four total -- 50-80 feet of tuna cord....unless the boat is stopped or moving slowly they are a pain to bring in, but with a fish on their just like any other handline. I get a few tangles once in a while, but not really all that often. Of course, I'm using rods the rest of the time, so I just shoot those lines over the top of the divers -- every once in a while a fish on a rod will get around a diver -- and since you pretty much have to stop on a rod, those divers just come to surface and float -- so their pretty easy to get fishing again fast....plus, I always think it's kind of cool when you are sitting there half a sleep and one of those divers comes flying out of the water -- tends to wake a person up pretty quick.

sometimes these divers work great, other times I don't get a thing....I just saw the charters using them, so I tried it at different lengths -- the length doesn't seem to make as much difference as the color of the jig.

ss

Hook-up · 08-23-2002, 10:57 PM

We have been fishing our divers for about 3 years now. Our tuna cord is only about 25'-30' long. For leaders we run about 5'-6' of 300' test mono. Have not had any problems with them flipping over. We usually only run 2 handlines and start with one diver one without. Whatever produces more we switch to. If you are not already doing so, get the boat back up to speed a bit before putting them out. This should help them dig in better when you put them out. Make sure they dig in close to the boat before you let them out. If you leave them out while you slow down or stop (to reel in your huge fish), give them a good tug into the boat wake created when you first speed up to help them start to dive. They should dive on there own. You may need to pull them in a bit. Frankly we have not had any problems like you described. The above suggestions are just some things you may try to see if they help.
Good luck.

wak'm&stak'm · 08-24-2002, 04:17 AM

Thank you...I can see my error now....I will go did them out of the garbage can.... :smile:

Marty · 08-25-2002, 08:42 PM

Wakem

I just bought a new diver (same as the old one) and rigged it with about 25 of cord and about 7 foot of leader. I put the diver out and it kept rocking back and forth and then would pop out of the water. I did this five or six times thinking it was flawed, so I put the old one on that I have had for years and it did the same thing. I finally figured out that I have always used a long leader on my divers, about 15 feet or so. I tied on a longer leader, put it out and no more problem. I think it is something like a long tail on a kite.

Don't throw them away until you give them another chance. Put a small 5 " natural or purple cedar plug on it and get ready to pull in some dinner.

Marty

Pilar · 08-26-2002, 05:06 AM

Ouch! at $30 a crack I would make a crab float or something out of it before I tossed it.

Don't give up Wak, you'll figure it out. BTW, I heard from the Sturgeon Princess second hand from Puffin about the 'Irish' trip on Saturday. They did well on the K-90 divers. The fish would hit little else.

I guess I better get a couple soon.

Any advice on cedar plugs? What brand, color, size, rigging? If I get any more tuna gear I'll need a bigger tackle box but I gotta have divers now.

Thanking you in advance.

wak'm&stak'm · 08-26-2002, 06:42 AM

I haven't given up quite yet......but I needed some expert advice and now I will go to work.

I want to go for tuna tomorrow but the weather forecast looks Iffy.

I wish they would update the SST.

Marty · 08-26-2002, 07:21 AM

Pilar

The last cedars I got were from Offshore Anglers catalog. They have 5 different colors, natural wood, blue/white, purple/black, Zucchini, and dorado. I have always used the natural until I purchased the purple/ black and found out it really works. The assasin likes the dorado color. I think they all work good as long as they are in the water. They carry some at Englund Marine in Newport, but only the bigger sizes. I really like the #4 (the smallest one). They cost $7.99 for natural cedar and the others are $9.99 and both come pre-rigged with 10/0. You can order this catalog or lures by calling 1 800 463-3746. As I am reading the phone number, it says you can order on line at basspro.com. If you go on line the item number for the small cedars are 35-245-319.

Maybe one of these days I will be able to join in the hunt with you guys. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Marty

Threemuch · 08-26-2002, 09:55 AM

If you can't get cedars in the color you want, steal your wife/girlfriend/daughter's nailpolish to paint them.

I have a purple and black I made this way with red gills. It catches buku fishies.