sherman51

I was using the lite bites. still have them and may possibly set them up again. I did not have all the extra parts anymore so it was difficult to get them to hold on the braid. If i re-rig them again, i will probably use mono.

i just use them like a standard diver anyway. i just tie my braid to the diver and tie an o ring to a short piece of line put it through the trip arm tie it to a snubber then tie on about a 6 or 7 ft leader of florocarbon. works great for me. have a great season.

....sherman....

just my 2 pennies. thats what they make coats for. looks like you can get outa the rain on your boat. but the more lines you have in the water the better chance you have of catching fish. the sooner you catch a fish the sooner everybody gets warmed up. make sense??

....sherman....

The problem with okumas creeping is the braid or wire line slipping on the spool. I went through this with a few reels until okuma and tuna toms helped me solve my problem. Easy solution is to splice a really short section of mono to your line to attach to the spool. Otherwise you can have a line tie post added to the spool by tuna toms. In all reality, if okuma knows this is a problem they should just add the posts from the factory.

i walleye fish only on the central basin. so i take my daughter n law,s and grand kids. and i dont have to worry about alot of long screaming runs. so i went with small reels. i got sg17lca for one side and daiwa accudepth plus 17lc for the other side of the boat. power handles on all of them. the charter boat that we used when we moved to the central basin used 65# braid. so i did the same. the point is i was having the slippage problem. with the small reels i really didnt have alot af extra room for the mono backing. so tuna tom put the pins in mine. the line slippage is gone.

i was useing a 6 ft rod on my down rod untill last yr. i started useing a short boom dr so i went to a plain old black beauty m action 8.6 dr rod that worked great. so now my front rod is 10' middle 9' back 8.6. but im going to 4 riggers this year. with longer booms so i plan on doing 11' 10' and 9'. i have the 9' and 10' any suggestions on an 11'? sorry i didnt mean to steal your thread. but you do need a rod just long enough to clear your rigger. whatever it is. and maby somebody can help me while helping you. good luck to all.

....sherman....

I am eliminating my braid divers altogether this year and sticking strictly with wire. i think i only fished my braid divers twice last year and that was playing with slide divers.

as far as reels, i am using Okuma Catalinas and love them, but i am fishing almost everyday. If i wasn't doing what i do, some convectors would be perfect to just go out and fish casually. comparing $65 convectors with $170-200 Catalinas or Tekotas is not apples to apples.

hey

you said you were playing with the slide divers. was that the newer lite bite divers or the old diver without the trigger arm?? i use the lite bite,s and just love them. whats your take on them??

i,m like everybody elce, you,ve got to go with braid or your not going to enjoy your fishing. atleast 30# i use 65# myself. i know braid costs alittle more but it last for years and years and years. i change mono every year. i,ve been useing the same braid for atleast 12 years or more. but thats just what i started with and have my depths set up on it. i reccomend the okuma convector 30 or the daiwa sg27lca reels for braid. but the daiwa 47,s will work good for braid or wire. the convectors are about 65 to 70.00 the daiwas are about 100.00. unless you get them used on ebay.com. i bought 6 sg17lca,s on ebay, the most i paid was 64.00. i did get one that had to be repaired. and the seller paid that. if you get a bad one ebay will make them give your money back, or they will give it back. just make sure the item is covered under that plan. got carried away again.LOL. good luck to all.

....sherman....

hey guys and gals

its me again. some guys are talking about the price of the chamberlains. if there worth the extra few $$$ then its not that bad. also midwesthuntersoutlet.com had them for 12.99 the other day and 4.99 flat shipping for everything you bought. and you can go to keiths web site(he,s the guy who makes them) if you do be sure to watch the video. he,s going to have the ultamate stacker out in may. the only thing is if you use a bead type auto stop you,ll have to add another bead above where you plan to stack. or just watch for the stacker and stop before it hits the bead. but just bringing up the rigger the release will trip when it hits the pully and just slide down your cable to your bead or your weight if you dont use beads. i only stack about 5 ft above my weight if i stack at all so it wont bother me. downriggerrelease.com and contact keith and he,ll sell you 6 releases for 17.00 each. i think thats 102.00 for 6 and that includes shipping. sorry again about such a long post. im just trying to help. i get fired up and cant shut up.LOL. i,m new to forums so i should burn down alittle before long. GOOD LUCK AND HAVE A GREAT SEASON

....sherman....

hey tim

just thought i would ask. did you take the time to check out the lite bite slide divers. if your having problems with your releases they are great. i fish only walleye on the central basin. and sometimes the trash fish are a real pain. we can set the divers tight enough we get hardly any false releases. then adjust the trigger where those stupid white perch will even trip the diver just about every time. im not a salesman for them or anything. they just work for me. and i,ve used the dipsy,s first then heard about the walker, switched to them. then heard about the lite bites, checked them out and then tried them. they are the best. you can get info and the standard colors at slidediver.com if you want the metallic colors check out allseasonssports.com i think. let me know what you think.

also someboby said put out your lure with braid and troll towards shore when you hit bottom you know your depth. i suggest you do this about every 20 ft out. keep track of your length out and what setting on your diver. i just did it on my outside rod. because i always ues a 4 setting on it a 3 setting 20 ft shorter on my middle then a 2 setting and another 20 foot shorter on my back rod. so as long as i know where my 4 setting rod is the others are always set up off that rod and not the depth. does any of this make any sense?? i always troll within .5 mph of the same speed and always use the same size braid. so im always close. i fish geneva ohio in july and aug. my boat is last chance. if your ever up there and need help im on ch.68

....sherman....

i just went to the chamberlain this year. havent had a chance to use them yet. but they sure seem to be the answer to the small fish problem. you can set rod tension then you can set lure tension. downriggerrelease.com check it out for yourself. have a great season.

....sherman....

just bring a hot wire from the battery and touch the wire coming off the horn button to the horn. if they work, your horn button may be corroded inside. may be a simple fix. just a suggestion.

....sherman....

hey

just my 2 pennies worth. i dont fish salmon any more. but i use to fish new buffalo in the spring. we used 8# line for awhile for the cohos. and we would hook into a nice king and the fight would last forever. we didnt have any break offs, but just lost to much fishing time. with a big king on and 8# line we always cleared the other lines. if you set your drags right you shouldnt have to worry about breaking your line. but after awhile i figured out we were just losing to much time. and we used 20# later in the season. so we went back to 20# all season. didnt hurt our catch rate, but gave us more fishing time. hence more time more fish in the boat. good luck. have a great season.

....sherman....

hey tony

just watched your videos. great video,s and great reds. i,ve only caught a few reds. i fish the bridges around the ft pierce area. usely in late jan or feb. so its not the best time for reds. we catch mostly black drum and sheephead( not to be confused with lake erie sheephead). but i did manage to get 2 nice keepers this year. well you know how they fight.LOL i just love to catch them. and i am a fish eater, so there great there to. have a great season.

....sherman....

I assume to switch to wire I would need to change rods...what about braid, can I use my normal mono/line counter rod/reels?

i,ve used dipsy,s then walkers and now i use lite bite slide divers. i,ve used braid with all of them. and i just use standard rods and line counter reels. good luck. have a great season.

....sherman....

i would like to thank all you fisherpeople on this forum. for all the good information on downrigger releases. if i fished only big fish i think i would be happy with the blacks release. but from all the info i gathered from this forum, and the fact that my biggest problem with downrigger fishing was the release trip on small fish. i decided to go with the chamberlain release. i love the idea of 2 adjustments. 1 for the rod trip and 1 for the lure trip. i got mine and checked them out in the barn, and they seem to be the answer to all my problems. i do live on a budjet so the extra bucks over the blacks was a big factor. but like one of you said. with what we have invested in our boat and tackle, and then the price of gas. and all the other $$ we have invested. and then you spend all that time dragging around those small fish. how could i let a few dollars keep me from getting what i think is the best release for the type fishing i do. i just bought 6 releases for 102.00 at downriggerrelease.com and then gave him a call. i just paid 65.00 each for some ratcheting rod holders. whats 17.00 for the top of the line release. all of the people on here helped me make my decision. absolutly nobody that has used them had anything bad to say about them. other than that the only negative was the cost. and like i say if an extra 40 or 50 one time bucks is going to make my decision for me i better quit big water fishing. im not bashing anyone here. i just want you to know everyones opinion helped me make my decision to go with the chamberlain release.

....sherman....

hey guys and gals

i just remembered one very important thing. the chamberlain release is coming out with a great stacker soon. i seen one of them and they look great. you can put them on the cable with one hand. the way i seen them work is when you crank your downrigger up and when it hits your pulley on your boom it trips the release on the cable then just slides down the cable to your weight. if you use them with big jon,s with auto stop if you put them above your bead you have to stop them before they hit your bead on your cable. if there below the bead your ok. they should be out by may. i had keith put my name on his contact list when there ready. as always have a great season.

....sherman....

i think the chamberlains are going to be great for people like me. i fish the central basin on erie. we get alot of small trash fish like white perch white bass sheep head plus alot of yellow perch. and some small eyes. and these fish just wont trip the releases if you have them set tight enough to not trip in choppy water. i have been useing rubber bands. one band keeps breaking and 2 just wont break on these small fish. but atleast alot of the time with the bands you see the rod tip shake.

i just got my chamberlains took them down to the pole barn, hooked everything up. adjusted the rod tension to where i could crank the rod tip down to the water line on my boat. then adjusted the lure tension to where just a small tug would trip the release. if these work on the water like they work in the barn. well there just going to be a godsend for me. and these are based alot like the blacks to start with. so with these i think your going to have the best of both worlds. you can adjust for a hard release if thats what you want. then if your getting shakers or small coho or lakers or in my case small fish, you just loosen up the lure tension. and if you fish salmon and walleye like i use to then you just adjust the lure tension as needed. and still load the rod untill your drag slips. ofcourse this is just one walleye fishermans opinion. but its good to get everybodies take on these. if you happen to get the chance to check them out you have nothing to lose by looking. you can start at downriggerrelease.com and click on the youtube video. have a great season.

....sherman....

hey everybody

im home now. so just in case anybody is interested in the lite bite slide divers. i told you that when i got home i would give you the web sites where you can get info and purchase them. the one site i already put in my last thread is the best for info. but he doesnt have the metallic colors listed. but he has a video and package deals thats at. slidediver.com the other site is. allseasonssports.com and you can probably email him and get alittle better price if you get a few. the real nice thing about slidediver.com is he has package deals where you get the divers a set of larger weights a set or rings that has the large and small rings. and it also has a depth chart which is pretty close as long as you go by the chart. if you use the heavy weight and or the big ring you,ll just have to get in the depth of water that you want to fish and let them out until you hit the bottom. then you,ll know how far out to run them to get to that depth with that set up. you could do like i did. i spent about 4 hours one day and started in 50 ft and a 1 setting and then just worked my way out to the deepest water that i,ll be running my divers, and went from 1 through 5 setting at 10 foot depth changes. and i now have my own chart. even if i change speeds i know im going to be close. i know with 65 lb braid at 240 ft on a 5 setting im running 65 ft deep with the 2 ounce weight and the small ring. these dont pull out to the side like the ones in the video in this first thread. but they do make the dipsy and walker divers obsolete. good luck with whatever you use. i dont have anything at all to gain from telling you about these divers. except just knowing i might help someone catch more fish. have a great season.

....sherman....

Hey tony

i dont really know you. But im trying to get to know some guys on here. I put my phone in the intercoastel waterway at the fort pierce bridge a few years ago. Maby they can make friends.lol. I,ll be 60 in may so i know what getting older is all about. My sister just had back surgery. They went through from the front and did some kind of work. Then built a cage around her back. She,s doing great. And praises the surgery. The best of luck.

....sherman....

hey everybody

i,ve used dipsy,s then walkers then last year i switched to the lite bite divers. i just love them. i walleye fish lake erie. we use alot of worm harnesses so we get alot of small trash fish. white perch yellow perch white bass sheep head to name a few. the lite bites will usely trip on these if you get the trigger set right. i dont use the slide part of the diver. so i dont have to worry about parts wearing out. i use braid line and tie to the front arm then i lace my leader on the back and tie it to an o ring. then just put it over the trigger. now if the fish are boat shy then you might want to use the slide part so you can have a long leader. as for the dive curve its about the same as the other divers. they do have different weights you can use and 2 size rings you can use to get more depth. i just use the stock weight and the small ring and i dont have any trouble at all fishing them out to the side and still fishing 50 to 65 ft. deep. thats just where my fish are. and you can get all the extra gear and a dive chart from the guy that invented them. im not at home right now so i dont have the web sites for you right now. but i think slidediver.com is one of them. he has package deals and if your a charter capt. he will give you a better deal. there is also a video on this site you should watch. he has the standard colors. there is another site that sells the metalick colors. i will put it on here when i get home to my computer. the best thing about these is the fact that you can adjust the rod part of the diver then set the lure part of the diver. hope this helps some of you. if you have any questions you can message me. im glad to try and help any way i can. have a great season.

....sherman....

hey tim

the farther out you run them the farther to the side they will go. and remember if your out say 100 ft your line may only run out a foot or so at the boat. but picture wher that will put your lure when you get back 100 feet. the best solution i found for the release problem your having, is to switch to the lite bite slide divers. you can set them not to trip even in choppy water. then set the trigger where a small fish will trip it. check it out at. slidediver.com i switched to them last year now i dont even take the dipsy,s or the walker,s with me anymore. i think they are awesome. and make sure when you put your divers in the water they start pulling out to the side of the boat you want them on. i,ve been known to put them on the wrong side a time or two. have a great season.

....sherman....

oh yea i run 65 lb braid line. i reccomend at least 30 lb braid. and a rubber snubber behind the diver.

Hey

i just got my new set of the chamberlain releases today. They may not improve my fishing but they sure are fun to play with.lol. No kidding just by playing with them alittle, i think trere going to be the answer for the rubber bands. Have a great season.

....sherman....

i went down to the pole barn. hooked everything up. adjusted the rod side to where i could crank the rod tips down to the water line. then adjusted the lure side to where i could just tug the lure and it would trip the release. if this thing works half as good in the water as it does in the barn. well look out mr. eyes.

....sherman....

i think mainly it just depends on how many people your going to fish. i fish with a boat load of family and friends. so i bought 2 new riggers so i could get more lines in the water.

the riggers must be in good condition or i wouldnt even consider them. you can usely get some real nice walkers on ebay at a great price. they have some right now that are nice with the auto ball retrieval and auto stop. but my first item would be how many rods do you need in the water.

....sherman....

just a suggestion. have you checked out the lite bite slide divers. before you buy all new divers you might just want to check them out. i used dipsy,s for awhile, then 2 years ago i switched to the walker divers because they didnt have the rings. then last spring i was introduced to the light bite,s. so they caught another fisherman. so i switched again. they do have the rings, but they fit real good and dont give you any problem. but the point being that you can run them pretty much like any other diver or you can have as long of a leader as you want. then you can adjust the tension tight enough not to have a bunch of false releases in choppy water. then adjust the triger as light as you want. if your getting alot of small fish they will still trip the diver. i uesd them for walleye on the central basin last year. it was great to be able to just get the rod and start reeling. very few did we have to trip from the boat. i think the web site is slidediver.com i run 6 of these and for me on walleye there priceless. just something elce to think about. i think the walkers are better than dipsy,s. i think the lite bite slide divers are in a class all there own.

....sherman....

i havent got to know you, but it sure sounds like your going to be missed. good luch.

....sherman....

try [email protected] he also sells motors at a great price.

....sherman....

i dont really go out of my way to tell the wife. but i dont really hide it from her. but then i have the same wife i,ve had for 40 years this dec. the other day i was looking at 6 of the cannon ratcheting rod holders at amazon.com. she asked how much are they. they had them for 62.00 each for 6. i told her the price. she said we have the money right now why dont you go ahead and order them. i couldnt come up with a good reason not to.lol. but i hadnt told her about the 2 big jon pro tournaments that i had just bought off ebay for 510.00. and she may never know. but i do think i would survive. but over the years most of my fishing has been paid for with overtime.

....sherman....

Hey

i just got my new set of the chamberlain releases today. They may not improve my fishing but they sure are fun to play with.lol. No kidding just by playing with them alittle, i think trere going to be the answer for the rubber bands. Have a great season.

....sherman....