Planer Boards

[Guest]

I am new to this forum but have been reading and learning from the rest of you for months. Thnaks for all of the hot info, it is appreciated. Can anyone give a brief overview of using planer boards on the river? I am looking for basic tips: length of line to board, length of line from board to crankbait, lures that work best with boards, etc. I would appreciate learning from the rest of you with more expereince before I lose my new boards in the river!

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[crappie getter]

KingFish,

I was using planer boards last week on Pepin with good success. We used both lead and silk lines with the boards. Lead for deeper water and silk lines for more shallower water. With the lead we basically let the line out until you hit bottom reeled up a couple of cranks and hooked the board on you can fish it out from the boat as far as you need for us it was around 40'. Fishing the silk lines in shallower water we had reels with a line counter we would put the cranks back 50' and hook the line on the board and let the boards out farther 60-75' you want the lures a little bit farther out from the boat in shallower water so the fish aren't so spooked. The cranks we used were reef runners and rapalas #5. The boards are fun to try so go out and mess around and try different things to find out what you like.

good luck

crappie getter

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Chris's Croix Guide Service
http://fishingminnesota.com/stcroixguide/
(651) 458-1899
[email protected]
St. Croix River

[Guest]

Hey NW! I like to use planer boards on the faster portions of the river too! They are really useful if you want to troll shallow water but can't get in too close without spooking them out. Find the drop off and keep your boat a little off the edge, so your motor is running over deeper water. I like shallow running shadraps. Size is dependent upon how shallow you are going. Rattl'n Raps stay up pretty well too in current, usually around 6ft if you are using a standard 50/50 method. That's 50 ft from line to board and 50ft from board to lure. I've had is much as 100 ft out behind the board. I guess it just depends on where you want the lure and what lure your using. When you get comfortable, you can fish two planers out on one side. Put the one you want closer to shore out first and let out about 1/2 the line from rod to board on the second. Then you're really covering dropoff and shallow without actually tracking over it! I usually use 12lb mono for this. Haven't got into the silk lines yet, but sounds like a good choice as well. I've used as little as 8lb test mono, but it doesn't release as easily from the clips on the board. If you like lighter line, just pinch it a little closer to the edge of the end of the clip.
Have caught a lot of nice walleyes with this technique. Sometimes they are just really shallow and they can't be fished for as effectively with a jig due to current or big rocks.
note: In different current speeds, you may have to adjust your running weight located at the bottem of the board to keep it from skipping or diving.

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