Lake Champlain United - Forums

Made it out to Fishville this afternoon. Launched at Arnold's Bay around noon and scooted SW running the troughs. Much more wind and sea than I expected. Dropped off plane in about 70 feet and quartered the wind west.

Started with 3 colors of lead rigged with a CI Silver Bomb Pop. Had a fish before I grabbed the second rod -- nice, colorful laker. Reset the lead core and managed to get the second rod set - torpedo weight (Cuda this time) with a CI Green Mtn Boy deep and a CI Purple Edge on the fixed cheater -- before the LC fired again. Another beautiful laker.

One casualty of the waterfowl season was my MK Ulterra -- broke that damn thing twice in the last two weeks. They're just not robust enough for freezing temps. So, without the trolling motor, I had a helluva time maintaining course and speed.

Made it to the NY side and turned north. Then things went nuts for about 45 minutes. Landed 4 lakers and a salmon. But, curiously the LC went silent -- all of those fish were on the torpedo weight with 2 deep and 3 on the cheater.

In the mayhem, I turned south to better manage lines. Also swapped the Silver Bomb Pop for a Silver Sapphire.

Once things settled, I turned back north zig-zagging along the contours. Had a 30-minute lull and then the torpedo weight fired again -- Scotch-double on salmon!! Landed both somehow.

Continued north and had another lull. Then had a lazy tug on the torpedo weight. Turned east and let the wind carry the boat south to avoid tangles. Started working the first fish and the LC fired. Both were lakers.

Turned north again and saw another lull. Around Barber Point, I landed my final laker.

I trolled faster than usual today. 2.6 mph was my target but was a bit above and below depending on course.

More bites south, but wads of bait north.

I made the decision to fish north due to chop. I was able to run down sea when I headed back to the ramp.

Using my heaviest torpedo weight, I presented lures at 50 and 30.

The LC was probably running at 10 feet.

I did have a 5-color rod on board but I never used it.

Thanks for the detailed post. Missing the water this week and felt like I was out there with you for a while…


I think you would Love slide divers. Long set backs between lure and diver and 60 foot depths are easy to get.
The diver binds line with long set back, hair trigger is released by fish then diver slides down to top of leader for the fight…

Even though I have 4 riggers I rarely finish a trip without running 2 slide diver rods. Many times they fire best!

Much appreciated!!

Fish on!

Thanks, Matt!

I'll consider bringing slide divers into the mix. That'd be a great option when I have a partner and can run more than 2 rods.

One benefit of the torpedo weights is the ability to easily rig cheaters. I've been very happy with those.

I’d really like to hear more about cheaters on torpedo divers. Never heard of doing that before!

The full name of the divers are “Lite bite slide divers “ those are the model the hair trigger that will set when even the smallest perch hit:)

Fish on!

Here you go:
I run 12# mono on these rods. The dive charts seem very accurate with that line.

I then splice in 22 feet of 20# fluorocarbon with a blood knot. I then tie two dropper loops about 20 feet apart. Next, I splice 50 feet of 14# FC, again with a blood knot. Finally, I use a small ball bearing swivel and a 6-foot FC leader (either 10 or 12#) to a crank bait snap.

The torpedo diver snaps to the bottom dropper. I tie the snap to about 2-feet of 25# mono.

I use a ball bearing snap swivel to attach the cheater (6-foot leader as described above) to the top dropper.

You must use either the Cuda or Musky divers so the droppers are almost vertical.

I do all this single handedly. No problem landing a fish on the cheater. A fish on the main is a little trickier but the weight keeps them pinned while removing the cheater. As long as the boat is moving, I've never had slack while removing the diver. No worries slipping the rod into a rod holder if I need to use two hands.

The weights are fairly easy to retrieve. They're nothing like a dipsy or disc. I think my Okuma Coldwaters have the 5.2:1 ratio. High speed reels would be a little more difficult.

I do set the drags very lightly and engage the clicker.

Sweet! I use Torpedo Divers, too, in the kayak! I like your cheater setup!