Do you bend your dodgers?

[BROWNBAGGER]

From reading this thread, it seems most use a sling blade or equivalent. I started fishing for kokes before rocky mountian tackle was a twinkle in their dads eye. I miss the days of fishing ( i should say snaging) kokes in october. of course I don't feel the same way about the means anymore. I can't believe
they still sell buzz bombs. Off subject. I still use and like lure jensen dodgers, espically the one I call wonder bread. lure jensen dodgers have way more action right out of the box compared to sling blades. does anyone still use dodgers? If you could just get them to come out with koke colors.
I even buy plain silver dodgers and buy different tapes to put on the sides.
You can even troll slower with lure jensen dodgers

 

[SuperD]

You can even troll slower with lure jensen dodgers

But you would be hard pressed to fish them faster. Those style of dodgers all report rolling beginning about 1.4 mph. I think the increase in the sling blade / RMT style was because they could be trolled faster.

 

[BROWNBAGGER]

got ya , good answer. I used to troll as slow as I could through the school so I would have multiple lines with fish on. ahh the good old day's. things seem to change so fast.

 

[SilverBullets]

But you would be hard pressed to fish them faster. Those style of dodgers all report rolling beginning about 1.4 mph. I think the increase in the sling blade / RMT style was because they could be trolled faster.

In some lakes the kokes like things a bit faster and the tear drop shape dodgers of Shasta and Rocky Mountain work quite well (I've read that Gary M. of Shasta Tackle likes a faster speed than what most people troll in this neck of the woods.) Dodgers like Luhr Jensen, Seps and Vance's (in the traditional dodger shape) are more for lakes where the kokes like things a bit slower. The sling blade type dodgers do well right out of the box for fast running lures like the Apex, but for slower speed lures in some lakes an additional bend is sometimes required. If you don't want to bend them but need more movement try attaching 2 in tandem.

 

[SuperD]

A lot of big Koke lakes also have big wind. The only way to maintain control of the boat is to troll faster. I think dead slow works everywhere but when conditions aren't perfect, faster is the way to stay on the water and keep fishing (effectively).

 

[DLM]

(I've read that Gary M. of Shasta Tackle likes a faster speed than what most people troll in this neck of the woods.) .

101idea101101duh101 Now it is starting to dawn on me why I have always had problems with his shuttle hawk, it is not designed to work at the slow speeds I troll at.

 

[Full_Monte]

The Shuttle Hawk needs a little boat speed to descend the wire. Once it gets down the wire, a slower boat speed is fine.
I don't think the speed will roll any dodgers...you just need a little.

 

[Bduck]

With the Sling Blade and RMT dodgers, you can slightly bend them back & forth to see there flexibility. Putting an additional bend into them doesn't mean you can't return it to its close original state. Last year I had one RMT dodger doing well out of the package catching kokes and when I added just a slight bend for more action, the bite had changed some to almost nonexisted. Retuned it back to its normal state and the bite was back on. I was surprised at what little action that had effected catching kokes. Since then, I still have that same dodger(one of my favorites to use) with a slight bend and its catching fish. Go figure. It goes to show you that the bite can change on any given day with the slight little changes made.

 

[trollmonkey]

We bent our Sling Blades for the first time yesterday and it worked great Looking forward to more experimentation.101ok101

 

[bigbobwilliams]

I guess I'm confused on these sling blades. Doesn't the big end go forward like the instructions say? Seems the instructions above have them going big end toward the lure?

 

[SuperD]

Swivel to the main line and snap swivel to the lure. Yes, big end goes toward the lure which is behind the the dodger.

 

[trollmonkey]

I guess I'm confused on these sling blades. Doesn't the big end go forward like the instructions say? Seems the instructions above have them going big end toward the lure?

Running a slingblade backwards can also work especially with a tube or small spoon(frisky fish,etc)101chromefish101