Skinny Dipper Set-up?

[salmicropterus]

Those of you that fish them or imitations, what are you using as to rod specs, line, hooks, weights (if any).

Here's my issue. I find a lot of fish with the SD, in fact it's kind of my go-to deal but I miss a lot of fish. I realize that missing fish is part of the deal with a bait and technique like that but what concerns me is the number of fish that are lost after initial hook-up. Yeah, you lose some in the vegetation down here but my percentage is p-poor like 50%. If I could improve that to 75% it would make a huge difference.

My setup is a Shimano Crucial rod, 7' MH with a fast tip. It got unintentionally  trimmed to 6-10. I use 40# braid to get a little better cast length and 4/0 Gamy weighted hooks although I've experminented with small bullet slip sinkers as well, and sometimes with screw-in nose weights. My sense is that while a good rod the rod may be lacking a bit in backbone. Of course, maybe I just suck too. This has been very frustrating

[T-rig]

Try mono.

[egolfer]

I throw the SD on a 7' MH with 50-65lb braid or 20lb flouro.  I rig it on a 4/0 or 5/0, 1/8oz, nose weighted toad hook with the a nose screw.  Then, I add a stinger, treble hook under the belly and stick one of the points into the belly and leave two of them exposed.  I have caught plenty of fish on the stinger hook so it defiantly helps.  It's pretty weedless for the most part. 

[J Francho]

6/0 Owner Beast works great for me.

[BenoBreath]

Has anyone tried rigging these on a jighead ?

[bocabasser]

Those of you that fish them or imitations, what are you using as to rod specs, line, hooks, weights (if any).

Here's my issue. I find a lot of fish with the SD, in fact it's kind of my go-to deal but I miss a lot of fish. I realize that missing fish is part of the deal with a bait and technique like that but what concerns me is the number of fish that are lost after initial hook-up. Yeah, you lose some in the vegetation down here but my percentage is p-poor like 50%. If I could improve that to 75% it would make a huge difference.

My setup is a Shimano Crucial rod, 7' MH with a fast tip. It got unintentionally trimmed to 6-10. I use 40# braid to get a little better cast length and 4/0 Gamy weighted hooks although I've experminented with small bullet slip sinkers as well, and sometimes with screw-in nose weights. My sense is that while a good rod the rod may be lacking a bit in backbone. Of course, maybe I just suck too. This has been very frustrating

i throw dippers with my 7'6 carrot stick, 50# power pro, shimano chronarch 50mg or the exact setup with a shimano citica. i use 5/0 ewg gamy's with no weight. 2 of my friends hate throwing dippers because of the reasons you just stated. i have a 90% hookup rate when i use them. this does not count losing fish in the grass, because that is an entirely different issue. the problem i see my friends having is this. when they set the hook, they are setting up vertically instead of sweeping. when i set the hook with a dipper i sweep and walk away from the fish (towards the back of the boat). another problem i see with my friends is that they set the hook as soon as they feel or see the strike. i find it similar to a frog bite when setting up. little fish will hit the dipper differently than a big fish will. by this i mean, a big fish will thump it and hit from the side, where as a little fish will swim behind it and grab just the tail. not all strikes are like this, but most are. try the sweeping hook set and see if that helps. i would also try a longer stick with heavy action and a fast tip.

hope this helps.

[FD.]

I agree with Bruce about the hookset. Either a sweep or just a small pop with the sweep.  I use a 7-0 MH fast with 40 lb power pro, sharp 4/0 EWG Gamy's skin hooked with a 1/16th screw in weight just help it get through the thick grass.  I doubt I lose 1 out of 20 with this rig.

[soccplayer07]

I use a 5/0 1/8 ounce weighted owner hook. never had a hook up problem!

[B-n-B]

Pegged 1/8 to 1/4 oz weight

Owner beast 6/0

65lb Power Pro

7'6" Heavy Abu Garcia Vendetta

Abu Garcia Revo STX

Sometimes when they hit it you can just set the hook..but sometime you would need to wait just a second.

As for the hookset, I like to make sure they "feel" it

[J Francho]

Has anyone tried rigging these on a jighead ?

Yes, BIG skirted jigs, but for Northern Pike, not bass.