Diver Trolling for Salmon

 

 

Divers.  These have been around in the same basic form as we have today since about 1970.  There are many different makes & styles, but the principle is to attach it to your mainline & it acts as a shovel, diving to what depth of line you let out & the speed you are traveling, taking into account for any current movement also.   This uses no additional sinker to achieve this depth, just the angle of the diver's front edge.  Your lure is attached to the rear & when a fish hits, that weight is supposed to trip the tail of the diver down & allow you to pull the fish in with no resistance from the diver.

 

The first one I can remember came out about 1968 & was made by Collins & Collins from Anacortes WA. with patent pending, & it was called The Pink Lady.  It was made of sheet orange plastic like the 1960s illuminated edge drafting squares that showed a bright edge.   The 3/16" brazing rod was threaded & had nuts on each side holding the rods to the plastic.  It had an external lead weight bolted onto the single brass arm underneath.  

 

Luhr Jenson soon bought them out & changed the design slightly by making it injection molded & put lead shot in a hollow cavity underneath.   A somewhat improved copy of the original is back on the market under a different name now of E-Z Diver now that the patents have expired.  Colors today can be about anything you want, with chartreuse, & red still being the most popular, with green, blue or just the plain silver coming in also.  A change in color sometimes makes a difference to the fish, but also flattens the fisherpersons wallet somewhat.

 

They usually come in different sizes & may have different weights also to achieve deeper depths.  

 

Pros & Cons for different types.  

 

(Original Pink Lady)  You will not see many of these being used anymore, as they are in the antique category now days.  Only a few Moldy Old Fogies will even remember them.  As I remember, they only came in one size & color.  They function basically the same as the Les Davis Pink Lady or the E-Z Diver, which followed these pioneers in the diver sport fishing industry.

 

(E-Z Diver)  As mentioned before, this diver appears to be a modification to the original Pink Lady, but improved with the addition of an adjustable depth diving washer.  This being a white nylon washer affixed to the main upper wire.   By moving this washer up the shaft, will place a stop point of the line attachment that will change the depth of the diver's dive.  There is no mention on the packaging as to how deep each different size will dive.  They have no mention in the instructions of being able to be tripped by the angler. 

 

These divers are made in 4 sizes.   The 00 size is the smallest with a width of the plastic at 1.800".   The 0 size is 2.250" wide & comes with 2 different weights of either a 2 or 4 oz.   The largest is 2.625" wide.   They are made in many different colors of which some can be had with prism tape of different colors installed on the top side.

 

They are made by E-Z Tackle Co. Suite 165 9205 SE Clackamas Rd.  Clackamas, OR. 97015

 

(Pink Lady, current model)  Here the swivel that is attached to the front bow is where the mainline is attached.   When entering the water you need to be sure that the swivel will ride UP & into the slight bend at the upper part of the center rod.   Here it will act as a pivot point & allow the shovel front to engage the water, pulling it deeper.  The farther out you let your mainline, the farther it dives, to a point where the drag negates it going deeper.  That is why they are made in different sizes.  The principle is that with the leader to the bait being attached so that when a fish hits the bait, the diver trips the swivel out of the shallow notch & lets the swivel go down to a more central location in line with the body, creating minimal drag, allowing you to fight the fish with no resistance from the diver.

 

This works good unless you get a smaller fish that has not got enough weight to trip the diver.   Also IF you need to pull the diver in to check the bait or remove weeds, it is about impossible to trip it off the front.   So you are pulling the diver in with all it's diving effort functioning plus any weeds that may have accumulated on it.  The advertisement states "resets instantly when line is allowed to go slack".  In essence this would mean to pull the diver in by raising the rod tip, them suddenly drop the rod tip & the diver will trip.   Don't count on it to happen all the time however.

 

This model comes in 3 sizes.  The (#0), (#2) & (#3)

 

(Deep Six)  This diver is my favorite as it can be tripped at about any time by the fisherperson, & can be adjusted for the amount required to trip it.  Here the attachment point of the diver is the barrel swivel attached to the front wire.  Also attached at the same ring as the swivel is another swivel with the rear eye removed.   This part swivel's body snaps into a stainless upright that has a round receptacle notch matching the swivel body.  Below this is a stainless steel screw that runs crossways in the clip that can be tightened or loosened creating the desired tension. 

 

They come in 3 different sizes, the (#0) dives to 40', the (#1) dives to 60' & the (#2) dives to 90'.   Then there is the Double Deep Six, which has more lead weights & it's supposed to dive 50% deeper than the standard version, (#0) dives to 60', the (#1) dives to 90' & the (#2) dives to 135' according to the advertisement by Luhr Jensen.

 

In use, you rig it the same as all the others, but you have the ability to adjust it to trip at your setting.  I have never had a problem tripping it off if I wanted to bring it in for inspection, or more important to get it out of the way quickly if a fish is on another rod. 

 

(Dipsy Diver) Here is a diver that is adjustable similar to the Deep Six but the attachment bar snaps into the plastic body of the diver.  There is an adjustment screw also.  Around the outer edge is a plastic ring.  With this in place it dives 20% deeper than without.  Underneath is a weight system that can be rotated either right or left, which allows the diver to track off in that direction.  This can at times be beneficial if there are numerous divers being used off the same boat.

 

This one also comes in 3 different sizes.   The (#030) dives to 20' without the ring.  The (#000) dives to 35' with the o-ring, & the (#001) dives to 100' with the o-ring.

 

(Jet Diver)  This diver is not used that much in saltwater but was designed primarily for back-trolling for salmon in rivers.  It works on the same basic principle as the Pink Lady, but it floats when no current or movement is applied.  The design has changed slightly over the years.  The early versions had different pivot point holes on the front & or rear that allow deeper dives, where these extra holes seem to have been eliminated on later production.

 

This one comes in 5 different sizes & for once someone thought ahead in the size designations.  The (#10) dives to 10', the (#20) dives to 20', the (#30) dives to 30', the (#40) dives to 40' & of course the (#50) dives to 50'.

 

In use :  The length of line from the rod to the diver is what usually controls the depth for the average fisherperson.  You may hear 12 pulls or something along that line used by fishermen when using a diver.   What they are referring to is that how far out did they let the diver go.   In doing this, let the diver out into the water, & when it starts to go down, strip out a "PULL", which is from your reel to as far as you can pull, (usually just beyond the first rod guide eye), this is usually 2'.   So if he said go 15 pulls, he was actually out about 30' after the diver is in the water.   Now you take into account that the line is probably at about a 40 to 45 degree angle while in the water dragging this diver.   So you will actually be down to a depth of about 22'.   This depth will also vary depending on how fast you are trolling, or whether into or against the current.  However this is a method that can readily be identified with, & you can adjust your depth to a known level.   You don't really need to know how deep you are, but just a reference to how far out you are to a depth where the fish are being caught. 

 

This is the place where the newer line-counter reels really shine as you can see in the chart below.  If you let out about 44' of line after the diver is just in the water, you will be fishing a depth of about 28'.  This may vary somewhat depending on the current & or the trolling speed, however the 40 degree line angle chart will give you some close approximation of your depth.  As mentioned earlier, the "pull method" will also give you these results.

 

 

Rigging :  These usually are rigged with a 4' - 6' mooching leader attached to the rear & the mainline attached to the front swivel.   Here you can bait up a herring, either whole or cut-plugged.   But about any lure can be run behind them, like a Coyote spoon or Apex plug, even a Spi-N-Glo will catch fish.  The larger divers can even be used to pull a flasher or dodger ahead of the lure.

 

The amount of leader used can also depend on the lure, as some require a specific minimum length for the lure to become active to it's best potential.   Trial & error is the only true method.   One thing to consider is that you should take into account of how long your rod is, & how tall the fisherperson is, when tying on a leader.  You need less distance for a short rod, or even a shorter person, like a 10 year old child, as it will be about impossible for the person to get the fish close enough to the boat to net if the total leader, diver set up length (especially if a large fish is arcing the rod) which will not be able to get the fish close enough to the boat to net it. 

 

Set up your best shot & put it in the water at the speed you want to travel & watch to see if it does as intended.  If not, make changes until something happens.

 

 

 

One set-up I have used that is VERY EFFECTIVE on Coho, is a Deep Six or Pink Lady about 14" in front of a medium red Fish Flash with 36" of mooching leader with a #0 orange Spi-N-Glo  in front of bare hooks, (Smelly Jelly won't hurt either).   Different colors are also effective, like the lime green/red dots "clown" or or a light green/red head.  

 

If you are tying your own leader, tie the hooks farther apart than if they were being used for herring.   Mostly I tie the rear hook back about 5 or 6".  What I have found is that when trolling the fish will make a pass at the lure & usually miss it as they seem to not come up from straight behind to take it, but from the side & make a pass at the lure.  Many will miss it the first time.  With this trailer hook, if they miss, they will have ahold of the line between the hooks, (flossing to some of you), but when they turn away, this trailing hook will imbed in the inside of the opposite jaw.  With this system I have NEVER had a fish take this lure with the hooks buried in it's gullet. 

 

You need to place a plastic bead on the leader above the hook & before the Spi-N-Glo to act as a bearing against the knot at the front hook.   Here I have found that you do need about 12 to 14" between the diver & the Fish Flash in order to allow the Fish Flash to achieve it's potential in rotation.   If closer, there seems to be enough disturbance from the diver that the flasher will not rotate properly.

 

I usually run this set-up set at about 18-20 pulls out off the middle of the stern close to the prop-wash while fishing downriggers on each side.  Many times when fishing for Coho, this one diver will pull as many fish as BOTH downriggers will.

 

The  #2 size diver is not for depth, but to get it down closer to the boat faster & facilitate pulling a possible fish on one of the downriggers while still maintaining a slower trolling speed.   When we get a fish on a downrigger, we of course pull that wire, & if things look OK, we leave the other downrigger where it was, but then can then move the diver rod more to the same side as the then functioning downrigger, just to give us more room to fight &  handle the hooked fish. 

 

In the photo below, the size of the diver is a #1 & the Flash Flash is a small, to facilitate crowding it all into a usable photo.   You may note the large plastic straw from Burger King that is cut into about an inch long that acts as a sleeve to hold my leader, works great & the price is right.
 

 

I initially set this up for the grandson years ago when he was about 8 years old, so he would be busy catching Coho.   It has proved so effective that many times I now use it as a standard item.  It not only catches Coho, as I have also pulled Chinook & Steelhead using it at.   This is a great set-up for the Buoy 10 estuary fishery.  It is also a great set-up to have as a spare in case your other line/lure gets tangled & you want something back in the water immediately as to not miss a possible bite.

 

I get MANY funny looks from other fishermen, but when the fish hit it repeatedly & the others on the same boat using a method of their choice go without, after a couple of days, they finally out of desperation, become a convert to my method.

 

This will work also without the flasher, but I've had so much success on it as pictured, that why change.

 

If you have 3 persons aboard a small boat & are using 2 downriggers, the 3rd person is not really handicapped by running a diver off the stern.  In a recent 2009 mid July Westport trip that I was invited out on, I was the 3rd person aboard.   I declined the use of a downrigger.

 

Number one was that the brand of downrigger the boat was equipped with, I was not that familiar with on how the brake functioned.  And since I was the guest, the boat owner should not give up usage of his gear for me.  Plus I knew I could catch as many or more Coho off the diver & lures as them off the downriggers with bait.  This proved true, however they each pulled a nice Chinook at a deeper depth that I could achieve off the standard Pink Lady diver I had with me that day.  The reason I chose it was that with me being a guest, I did not want to drag my BIG tackle box on someone else's boat, so I picked a smaller diver that fit in my mini tackle bag.

 

This particular day I chose to use a 5" chrome Sting King plug/wobbler  5' behind a diver at a line counter depth of 43'.   Initially,  I had problems of keeping them on the hook, loosing 2 that came off.   So I retied with a 2nd hook like I mention above when using the Spi-N-Glo set up.  This proved VERY effective.  In this Washington State Marine Area 2, we can only retain hatchery clipped adipose finned Coho salmon.   This day I lost 2, released 7 non clipped (so called wild fish) to retain my limit of 2 hatchery clipped fish.  And we limited the boat out & headed back to the dock by 2 PM.

 

 

Some of the pictures taken from Luhr Jenson's advertisement.  Copyright © 2005-2009 LeeRoy Wisner  All Rights Reserved 

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