Planer boards and equipment

[John Mickish]

I've been thinking of giving this method a try on some of the lakes I fish but have now experience in the matter. Is it as simple as it looks or is there more to it than I think. What rods/line do you guys recomend and is one board better/worse than any other?

[Northlander]

Im assuming your talking inline boards. I like the yellow Offshore boards the best.

I like a 7'10"-8.5' med light telescoping rods. gander, Gary Roach, Diawa, Shimano, Bass Pro, St. Croix, Fenwick and Lamiglass plus more offer good board rods.

I like 12# mono or power pro. With superlines wrap the line in the clips.

For reels I like line counters. Diawa Sealines are my favs but Okuma, Shimano, Cabelas and Shakespear all make good ones.

It gets expensive in a hurry. Rather than buy cheap stuff and then have to upgrade I recomend you get some better gear 1st and save $ in the long run.

[lawman]

You will love this method. I started doing it last year. I bought two 8'6" Cabela's telescoping rods, Daiwa Sealine linecounters and the orange colored Church brand mini-boards. These boards are 7 and a half inches long and don't pull quite as hard as the larger boards. Add a few crank baits and a trolling bible and enjoy. I used the method on Mille Lacs and other lakes last year for walleyes but was surprised at how many nice pike I caught...and released. Don't go cheap. Use good line too. I use a super line for the no stretch.

[ewirz]

I've been doing this for a couple of years now and love it. IMO the Church boards are MUCH better than the others. If you set it up right, you don't have to fumble with the board when a fish hits - just fight the fish and reel it in. The others are set up so you have to take the board off mid-fight (putting slack in the line), or the board comes off completely and you have to go get it. I modified my boards - I put a snap weight release on the front instead of using the one that came on it, they are a couple bucks for 2. This works better with both mono and superlines-no need to loop. I tie a #8 or #10 swivel about 3-4ft ahead of the bait. That way when the board slides down when fighting a fish, it stops at the swivel and won't knock the fish off. No need to stop and take the board off (still can if you prefer).

Takes a little practice to get it setup how you like. Experiment with how deep you set the line in the release. If you get it right, it will pop when a fish hits, making it easy to detect. Sometimes you get a light bite, small fish, or a fish swimming with the lure or fouled lure. You learn to notice the differences in how the board runs (kind of like bobber fishing).

They are very versitle. You can run cranks, spinners, bottom bouncers, and even leadcore tied inline (more then 3 colors sink the board).

What others suggested for rods/reels is good. If you want to save cash, you can use any bait casting stuff you already have. Just set your drag lighter. You can also figure out how much line goes out in one pass of the winder on your reel and count the number of passes for total line out. Not exact, but neither are line counters.

Rod holders make it a lot easier too. They do pull pretty good and holdong the rod tires you out pretty quick.

Good luck, its a fun way to fish!

ERW

[PerchJerker]

You can try to keep it "simple" but the more precise and specialized you are, and the better equipment you have, the more fish you'll probably catch.

I run boards a lot and prefer the Offshore boards over the Church boards. I use planer board rods and Sealine line counters but when I started getting into it I used 6.5 to 7 foot MH casting rods and line counters and caught fish on them.

I usually run boards on 10 lb XT mono. You can run superlines with boards but it usually creates more problems than it's worth (harder to keep in the clips and no stretch, not what you want in open water). Unless I need the extra depth from superlines I run mono on my boards.

[cjac]

I'll echo those above and say definitely do it right the first time. The $16 Yellow Birds just didn't cut it.

I'm looking at pulling bigger baits for muskies and bigger cranks for 'eyes and info I've received is split between the Walleye Board from Church and the Offshore boards. A couple different sets of clips can help with handling different presentations too. $10 a piece they add up quickly though.

For me it falls into the "do it right or don't do it" category.

Chris

[tacklejunkie]

another thing if you can afford it is have two boards on each side of the boat. it helps if you have a fish on and to be able to compare how the board is moving. I use superlines. the only time i use boards is early season on lake superior. i also use mini disks and longline early season, too. I use the offshore but maybe i will try the church. the other guys pretty much cover the rods.

[John Mickish]

Thanks for the help guys. There isn't a whole lot of discussion on the site about side boards so this helps out alot.

[PerchJerker]

I think boards are most commonly used for salmon fishing or for walleye fishing. You will probably get more specific info in either of those species-specific forums.