PVC Diver for RF Trolling

It had to be cheap, easy to make and work. This is for getting my floating diving lure down next to rocky/weedy bottoms but it also has to be lightweight so that when it trips, it will feel like it's not there.  It needs to be cheap because I'm bound to lose some on the rocks/weeds. The photo is of the one (version 1.0) I used at SWS yesterday to catch a couple of fish.  But they bite on bare hooks there!

 It didn't dive steeply enough for me, so I've attached a pic of a diagram showing version 2.0's slant cut at the front end. That should make the diver dig more sharply into the water because the main line attachment is further back.  Also, on 1.0, I used a loop of 4lb test at the top, but it never broke, even with a good-sized fish on.  Maybe I should use 2 lb.  On 1.0, I tied on multiple loops of the 4 lb, so that I could reattach the snap swivel without tying knots in invisible line while on the yak.

 I think I'll also experiment with the weight placement - it needs to hold the bottom of the tube down, but I wanted it to hang some distance below the diver, so that I could feel it tap the bottom before the diver got snagged.  I don't think 1.0 got near the bottom, maybe I won't be able to tell with 2.0 when the weight does tap.

 

wow!  that looks like something someone would want to steal&patend. You better claim it quick!
iHEARthereARElurkersLURKING

dang i must be dense- why do you need a diver? why not just use a heavier weight on 3-way swivel like we do trolling for halibut? is there some advantage i'm not getting?

dang i must be dense- why do you need a diver? why not just use a heavier weight on 3-way swivel like we do trolling for halibut? is there some advantage i'm not getting?

   Well, I was hoping to fight a ling caught on the troll without most of a pound of lead in between us, but whether a 3" hunk of pvc is going to be an improvement, I won't know until I try, and a ling cooperates in the experiment.  I also would like to shorten the amount of line between me and the bottom, without going too slow to be interesting to the ling, or adding more lead.  With halibut, I presume you're trolling over smooth bottom.   

i get it now...yah with the hallies its usually fairly smooth-- but sometimes the bottom is really "sticky".  when trolling for the hallies i usually only use at max about 8oz- that's with the spectra...

I'm gonna try trolling if i get out next week i think- you've inspired me!