Planer board questions?

[Majja]

Hey all for those of you that troll with boards which would you suggest and if you have reasons why feel free to voice them as well. I am torn between making some like Dubob's or just purchasing some as I have some money left on a gift card at Cabella's. If I buy them I was looking at either the Church's or the Off Shores.

Thanks
Majja
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[Paddler]

I have the Off Shores. They work well, but are pricey. I replaced the clips with the high tension ones, so the board stays on the line when you reel in the fish. Having them come off is a pain. Replacing the pads is tedious, too. Overall, they're nice.
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[Kent]

I own and use both. I prefer the Church's if the waves are small (they are smaller and lighter) and the Off Shores when the waves are larger.
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[dubob]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]You already know what I prefer, so I won't go there. [] But I would suggest that you DO NOT want to use ANY board that attaches directly to your fishing line. [:p] You want the fishing line to be clipped to the board line via a release of your choice so that when the fish strikes and the line is released, you are only fighting the fish. [][/size][/#800000][/font]
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[Troll]

Here are some pics of some I built. First geneation did not fold. They had to be taken apart to store.
the second generation folds almost flat for easy storage.

I use alligator clips for releases. I put a short piece of plastic hose on the jaws to protect the line. I put a short piece of wire leader from the clip to a curtian ring.

I just keep stacking the releases on the planer board line till I have several out there, then I rerieve the board and releases.
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[N.E.T.O.]

I have the Offshore's. They work in all conditions. I've been with other people that have used different kinds/brands, that did not work as well, but I don't remember what kind those were.
In a perfect world, they release and float away when you get a fish, that way you are just fighting the fish (thinking about Willard Wipers while typing this), but as others have mentioned, it's a real pain in the butt to have to go retrieve your planer board when you are done with the fish, so I try to make mine STAY ON the line, by wrapping the line twice around the front clip. Even doing this they still come off sometimes when a fish is on. I wrote my name and phone number with permanent marker on mine so that if for some reason I can't find one when I go to retrireve it, maybe a nice honest fisherman ([shocked]) will return it to me...
They are nice as they allow you to troll with 5 poles at a time in a normal boat (with enough valid licenses/two pole permits aboard of course) as long as the driver does his part. However, one ticked off Wiper can tangle all five lines. Been there, done that.
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[DallanC]

Sheesh I run 5 lines right now with no boards. Boards would let me run another 2 to 4 lines but thats way more headaches than I want to deal with for trout [cool]


-DallanC
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[tmas]

+1 haha i run 5 lines all day long never even touched a planer board! I'm sure they are nice i just don't like the idea of stopping my troll to go retrieve one or fighting a board instead of a fish!
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[mactuna]

Off Shores
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[RDRRM8E]

In-lines are the way to go. I've used both kinds and in-lines are cheaper and easier but you do have to reel in the boards with the fish until they get to the boat. I prefer the OffShore in-lines modified with the red releases as was mentioned before. You don't want to have your boards coming off until you take them off.

If you decide to go with the type dubob uses, I'll sell you a pair of masts (port & starboard), homemade boards, and some releases (if I can find them) for a hell of a deal. The boards are the same design as the ones Troll posted pictures. They've been sitting in my boat house for who knows how long collecting dust and would work a lot better on some one's boat. I got to admit, you can cut a big swath and drag a lot of lines with this set up.

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[Paddler]

Yep, I never have the boards come off with the red clips. It's a pain to reel the board in first, but it's better than having to interrupt your fishing to retrieve a lost board, or having to deal with a separate board with it's mast, etc. I typically run the boards ~80' and ~50' from the boat, so it's not that bad.
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[Majja]

Thanks for the info guys. I was looking at a way to build some masts so I do not have to have them on the line.

Rdrrm8e shoot me a pm lets take a look and see how much we are talking.
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[mactuna]

Mast with release are great, but spendy
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[OLDGUYSRULE]

I use the offshores. The only difference is i use my down rigger cable to hold the planer board. Then when the fish hits the back clip lets loose and the planer board stays on the down rigger.Works good for me.[fishin]
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[mactuna]

Thats a good one, I have a downrigger. Think I'm going too try it out.
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[jacksonlaker]

The idea behind planer boards is not to get more lines in the water, but to get the lures away from the boat. When fishing in shallow water or for boat shy fish, boards will out fish your other presentations. I use a home made mast which slips into my front seat hole ( no boat modifications ! ). You can run bigger, heavier things off a big board such as mini-dipseys or lead-core or big cranks and snap weights. Also if you are running 5 lines off a boat with an 8' transom, those lines would be awfully close to eachother.
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[toyguy]

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I use a home made mast which slips into my front seat hole [#000000][/#000000]

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[#000000]Brilliant! [] [/#000000][#000000]Clever idea of the day! [][/#000000]
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[#000000]New project [crazy][/#000000]
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[#000000]And Majja, how many planer boards are you gonna run simultaneously? I can understand it being a big deal to go back and pick up a dropped board if you’re running more than one cuz you'd have to reel in your other lines, but if you’re only running one, it’s only a 30 second chore to retrieve.[/#000000]
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[#000000]And dropping/retrieving a board is a much better alternative to having the board on the line. It’s a totally annoying way to fight a fish.[/#000000]
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[#000000]I like DuBob’s design, but I didn’t have access to a table saw, so I just bought 2 Churchs Walleye Boards with the intent of bolting together. The one mod I was gonna make from DuBob’s was that I was gonna space them further apart (like 15”) for even more stability. But then ice-off came, and since I had never used planers b4 I decided to see how much I mind retrieving. It’s been a non-issue.[/#000000]
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[#000000]So: if you’re just gonna fish one, then consider drop and retrieve. If your gonna fish two, you have to do DuBob’s design, using either home-mades or your Cabela’s gift card.[/#000000]
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[#000000]HTH; gotta go outside and see what it’s gonna take to turn my front chair mount into a planer mast.[/#000000]
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[jacksonlaker]

I made my mast from some 1" galvanized conduit. The reel is a cheap Shakespeare trolling reel from Wal-Mart. I used some thicker PVC condiut to fit into the seat mount. I bought a Riviera planer board from Cabelas. The whole deal was less than a hundred bucks. Buy the off-shore planer board releases. They are yellow and a little pricey ( $20.00 for 4 ) but they work the best. I use some Luarvick ones and they suck. You can P.M. me if you need more info. Tom JL
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[DallanC]

[quote jacksonlaker]The idea behind planer boards is not to get more lines in the water, but to get the lures away from the boat. When fishing in shallow water or for boat shy fish, boards will out fish your other presentations. [/quote]

I think planer boards are a great idea, excellent solution to shallow areas like you mention. As for boat shy fish, I dont run into that problem. I run my lines way behind the boat, stacked 2 poles per downrigger, 12' between lines with the 5th pole trailing on top water with a rapala or something.

Soon as I can slip it past the wife, I'd like to get a couple planer boards though


-DallanC
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[RDRRM8E]

I beg to differ but one of the attractions to a mast and board is to get a lot of lines (a legal number of course) in a wide spread to cover a lot of ground. If you put a board out each side of the boat you and fish 3-4 lines per side with the correct spacing. With a good set of masts and boards, you can cover over a 100 ft swath with lines every 15 ft apart. Pretty effective in locating fish.
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