Cosmo:
I've been trolling for salmon a few times this year and normally use a cannon ball or an in line weight, but this also means that I'm carrying several pounds of various weights in the kayak. In an effort to lighten the load overall and carry less gear, I'm seeing lots of people using, and having success with divers.
Where the heck to I start with divers? Cruising the isles at Fishermans and Cabelas, there are endless sizes, shapes, colors, sizes etc. I also understand that drag may be an issue in the kayak.
I also understand that some of the divers have adjustable depths while others are set for a certain depth. Even with the depth settings, how do know when you are at the depth?
With all of this in mind, any advice on brands, types, sizes, colors etc?
Thanks for your input.
SamM:
Hey Cosmo. I didn't care for the drag from the diver (also my diver wasn't set right, so did not release on the one fish I had while in use), so I've gone back to lead only. Though I've been mostly using 10oz, I also try to have a 6 and 8 on me in my bucket.
The diver I was using was a Deep Six - likely size 002.
-Sam
bsteves:
If you have your diver held in a rod holder behind you, straight out the back, it isn't so bad. However, if your rod his held out from the side, as most do, the drag can be annoying. I use a Deep Six... I like that they pop open when a fish hits and you don't end up fighting the diver. You can also run your flasher right behind the diver which shortens up your gear a bit. The other thing I like is the fact the faster you troll the deeper it dives. This lets you adjust your depth a bit simply with trolling speed.
Tinker:
Good information about how trolling speed relates to depth. I was wondering what Cosmo was going to do if the fish were just a little bit deeper. Now I know.
onefish:
I’d stick with lead....you should not need that many leads for targeting coho, a 4 or 6 oz banana sinker is fine. Maybe toss a 10 oz ball in your box if there’s some chinook around.
I can’t imagine having the rod tip out of sight behind me just to run a diver. You will not see those jellyfish and weed hits, not to mention short strikes where you may want to slow down and/or speed up to trigger a hookup. Whatever works though. The drag from pro troll type flashers is bad enough though!