Dazzled by Dipsy Divers: a MEMORABLE Lake Erie walleye and steelhead fishing adventure

  • Diving Plane colors do not matter to the fish.
  • Let the fish tell you what lure and what shape they want.
  • Multiple lines and multiple depths are simple with Dipsy Divers.
A Dipsy Diver and an assortment of stickbaits and a worm harness that veteran walleye angler Rob Oram uses when fishing on Lake Erie.

By David Figura

It was an October Lake Erie fishing trip that began mid-morning in Chautauqua County, New York, out of Barcelona Harbor, on a windy but sunny fall day.

It ended a couple of hours later with an impressive catch of walleye (we boated 23 keepers between 17 and 29 inches) and two nice-sized steelhead, all from using a fishing technique that blew me away by its effectiveness.

Having fished elsewhere for walleye, I’ve caught them drifting and jigging, trolling with downriggers and just plain casting.  Our guide, Rob Oram, a veteran walleye tournament angler of more than 20 years on the lake, introduced me to a piece of fishing equipment I hadn’t tried before – Dipsy Divers.

The best time to fish for walleye on the lake’s eastern shore, Oram said, was mid-summer through early fall,” Oram said. He’s found that Dipsey Divers tended to make fishing fun and easy on the lake during that time and others.

“I just think when you’ve located fish suspended at a certain depth – say 50 feet or more – that Dipsies are the most effective way to get your lure down there to the fish,” he said.

Judging by the morning’s catch, he wouldn’t get any argument from me.

A smiling Jim Proffitt, an outdoors writer from Ohio, holds up a nice-sized walleye he reeled in, caught on a stickbait using a Dipsy Diver.

I’m an outdoor writer from Central New York (Skaneateles). I was on Lake Erie in early October as part of the 2024 Chautauqua Outdoor Media Camp, sponsored by Chautauqua County’s tourism folks. That particular day, I was joined by Jim Proffitt and Jeff Frischkorn, two outdoor writers from Ohio, as we took off at around 9:30 a.m. aboard Oram’s 22-foot Olsen Brothers Marine boat, a Skeeter WX 2000.

A relative newcomer to the Lake Erie walleye fishing scene, I had popped a Dramamine shortly before going out as a precaution due to my long-standing inclination to get motion sickness on big waterways. However, once we got several miles out, the wind died, and the wave size decreased. And the fun began.

So, what is a Dipsy Diver?

It is a light, round disk-shaped device (slightly bigger than the palm on your hand) that attaches to one’s line. While trolling, it enables an angler to easily get a line and lure down anywhere from roughly 40 to 80 feet, which is ideal for targeting suspended fish.

It’s a cheap alternative to using a downrigger setup, which can cost hundreds of dollars. Dipsies range in price anywhere from $15 to $20, Oram said.

Another advantage to using Dipsies is that they allow an angler to get more lines in the water, experiment, and learn quicker at what depth and what lures/baits the walleye want to bite.

Outdoor Writer David Figura from Central New York, said this walleye, pushing an estimated 27-28 inches, was his personal best.

“Personally, I don’t think the downriggers catch enough fish,” Oram said.

Oram said that when fishing with Dipsies, there’s a dial on them with three settings. By using the different settings, an angler can have three lines out on one side, with Dipsies taking one’s lines straight back or off to the left or right without getting line tangles.

Thus, Oram added, he can have six lines out at once by fishing both sides. By having them all at slightly different depths, you can find out relatively fast what depth or lure works best.

“And once you start catching fish on one line (or one lure), you can quickly make adjustments,” he said.

When using Dipsies, Oram uses 8-foot rods and bait casting reels with line counters (which tell you how much line has been let out), a 20- to 30-pound braid line and about an 8-foot fluorocarbon leader on each. With a Dipsy attached to the line, one controls the depth of the lure by the amount of line let out. Oram says he has a chart aboard his boat that he refers to help with this.

Options for lures when using Dipsies, he said, include stickbaits, worm harnesses, spoons or worm burners (spoons that allow one to attach a worm to it).

Oram said his years of fishing with Dipsies have reinforced the fact that the color of the Dipsy has little effect on the bite. The color of the stickbait, spoon or worm harness — is more of a factor. Also, at times, adding a live night crawler to the lure can help.

Rob Oram, a veteran tournament walleye tournament angler, holds up a steelhead and a walleye, both caught using Dipsy Divers and stickbaits.

“I like to start with a variety of colors and let the fish tell me what colors they prefer that day,” he said. “Walleye are finicky. Some days, they want just a certain color, at a certain speed, at a certain depth.

“And when the school of fish is big, and the bite is on, the colors don’t really matter at times.”

The day we went out, Oram had us using stickbaits at around 65 feet down. We were over anywhere from 150 to 135 of water.

Oram said his biggest Lake Erie walleye to date weighed 12 pounds and measured around 31 inches. “I’ve caught lots weighing 10 pounds. They were in length anywhere from 29 to 32 inches.”

He said his past year was the warmest the lake has ever been and warmed the earliest on record. He said the fish travel where the bait (most often shad and smelt) are. “Where the bait sets up is often determined by water temperature and currents in the lake,” he said.

That can change each year. Where he caught lots of fish one year can be unproductive the next. Oram said the key is getting out fishing as often as possible to determine where the schools of bait are and what areas of the lake and depth the walleye that follow are located.

As for fishing with Dispy Divers for other species of fish, Oram notes that “you can run them for salmon and steelhead as well.”

“In the middle of the summer, I take my walleye gear on Lake Ontario, and the guys all laugh at me. I just run my walleye spread, and there are days I catch as many as the best charter boat captains there,” he said.

David Figura is the retired outdoors writer for The Post-Stand newspaper and the Syracuse.com and NYup.com websites. He’s also the author of “So What Are the Guys Doing?” – a book about how men are handling the mid-life years.

Outdoor writers, L-R, Jim Proffitt, David Figura and Jeff Frischkorn, pose with the morning’s catch of walleye and two nice steelhead — all caught on rigs using Dipsy Divers. Frischkorn reeled in both steelies.

 

 

It’s Not Always About the Catch

  • Chautauqua County, NY, is noted for mega-limits of Lake Erie walleye and monster musky from Chautauqua Lake.
  • Great sunsets with a glass of microbrew beer or local vintage winery tastings are on the usual after-dinner menu.
  • Our group learned a lot about the fun of camaraderie, effective fishing tactics and great walleye recipe ideas. 
Fun fishing on Chautauqua Lake with (L to R), Jerrod Vila, Megan Plete Postol, myself (Dave Figura), and John Childs.

By David Figura

For many, a good time fishing is about how many fish one catches and/or the size of the ones reeled in.

Even more important, though, is getting out on a scenic, soul-soothing lake, river or stream and the company and conversation one experiences with fellow anglers. And if you’re lucky, it includes a great meal consumed from the day’s catch.

The fish cleaning table is where the grins and tactics are shared for long-term memory. Jerrod Vila (L) and myself.

I experienced all that and more at a Chautauqua County Outdoor Media Fish Camp along with four other outdoor writers in early October in this southwestern corner of New York State. The four-day get-together was sponsored by the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau.

The purpose was to expose us to the celebrated Lake Erie fall walleye and perch fishery, the angling opportunities in nearby Chautauqua Lake where walleye, bass, perch and monster musky are plentiful — and a chance to fly fish on one of the tributaries that flow into Lake Erie this time of year that boast hard-fighting steelhead preparing to spawn. The Lake Erie tributaries along the eastern shore in New York are appropriately known as “Steelhead Alley.”

Much has been written about all three angling opportunities, and I was anxious to try them all. David Barus, the camp organizer, set us up in a quaint cottage on Point Chautauqua just off the eastern shore of Chautauqua Lake, scheduling us with experienced guides and “fishing hosts” for each of our three days of fishing.

Unfortunately, the stretch of warm, dry sunny conditions in the week leading up to our trip resulted in the streams being unseasonably low for the spawning steelhead who chose to stage out in the lake rather than running up the streams. That outing was scratched.

As things worked out, walleye and musky fishing were the offerings, and we had a good time wetting our lines.

I got out on Lake Erie the first day with fellow New York State Outdoors Writer Jerrod Vila, guided by charter boat Capt. Tom Yetzer of Reel Time Charters and his soft-spoken first mate, Randy Hinsken.

Outdoor media communicator, Jerrod Vila, landed the largest Lake Erie walleye of the day with this 28-incher.

Lake Erie, which at times can blow anglers off with high wind and waves, was comfortably calm that day. The wind vacillated around 3-5 mph, the temperature was in the high 70s (unusually warm for that time of year). The skies were sunny and bright. We were bottom-bouncing spinners tipped with worms in 60-80 feet of water. The marks on the fish finder were plentiful, but the bite was slow.

Vila got us all excited as he hooked something big. “Feels like I’m reeling in a cinder block,” he said, straining with his pole as the fish had several pronounced runs.

We were thinking of trophy walleye. Vila, after first catching sight of the fish in the water, changed his mind and announced it had to be a huge lake trout. Once the fish was netted, though, we all laughed. It was a hefty, 30-something-inch blue catfish.

Shortly after, Vila hooked another big fish. This time, it was an appreciable 28-inch walleye, which turned out to be the biggest walleye of the day. We ended up boating several more, keeping a total of six for the tasty fillets. My biggest was a 22-inch ‘eye. I also lost three keepers right near the boat.

Meanwhile, writers Mike Joyner and Megan Plete Postol, also NYSOWA members, brought back two nice walleyes from their excursion on Chautauqua Lake, using a “snap jigging” technique with weighted lures. The remaining writer, John Childs of Texas, who went out himself with Captain Frank Shoenacker (Infinity Charters) on Chautauqua, caught some perch and silver bass, but no walleye.

When we got back to the Air Bnb, Barus was talking about going out to dinner or preparing a meal himself. But Vila, an expert cook when it comes to wild game/fish dishes, wouldn’t have it. He made a quick grocery store run with Plete Postol and came back with crab meat, celery and several other ingredients and spices

This is an 18-inch cooking pan filled with a customized gourmet walleye preparation, as described in the story. Served with couscous, a salad, and a glass of Dry Reisling wine from Liberty Vineyards, it was delightful and enough to feed 10 people!

With the help of writer John Childs from Texas, Vila proceeded to slice the walleye fillets into strips and prepared a filler with the crab meat and other ingredients.

The filler was spooned onto the fillets. The fillets were then rolled up into little coils about 2-plus inches in diameter, placed on a huge frying pan, sprinkled with mozzarella cheese and white wine, and then baked.

I‘d be negligent if I didn’t mention the writers came up with a delicious sauce in a separate pan to drip over Vila’s creation, along with couscous in another pan as a side dish. It all made for a delicious, filling meal.

The following day Childs, Plete Postol and Joyner get out with Capt. Yetzer on Lake Erie with slightly rougher conditions. This time, the three-some boated around 20 walleyes and kept 10.

Vila and I spent our outing that day jigging with weighted lures for walleye on Chautauqua Lake with experienced angler Don Staszcyk. Despite the best efforts by Staszcyk, who repeatedly marked fish on his fish finder in more than 20 different spots, we were unable to hook a single walleye. However, we did boat a number of silver bass and small perch.

On the final day, Joyner had to leave early. The remaining four of us went out with Rob Oram, another experienced Chautauqua Lake angler. We began by trolling for three hours for musky but had no luck. We finished up jigging for walleyes, boating a 22- and a 17-incher,

In hindsight, the beauty of the three outings wasn’t about the catch, although it was appreciable and more than enough to prompt a return to Chautauqua County. It was the chemistry and conversation of the five writers.

I came home with several bags of walleye fillets and insight into several walleye jigging techniques — methods I intend to try out soon on a local lake near me.

Fishing Lake Erie was fun, we filled our coolers with fillets for a special dinner or two at home.

I also picked up some cooking tips for fish, suggestions on improving the offerings of NYSOWA to its members, and solid advice on playing and purchasing an electric guitar and amp. Two of the writers had played in rock bands for years, they said.

Do you say you don’t have the time to get together at a fishing mecca such as Chautauqua County – or any other countless angling destinations in New York State?

Make the time! It’s there waiting for you. Do it with a friend or someone you’d like to befriend.

That’s how deep friendships in the outdoors world start and last.

For more info on lodging, fishing and the area, visit www.TourChautauqua.com.