Planer board brands???

[waskawood]

I have decided to give boards a try this year. I would mainly use them at night to sneak a rap up next to the rushes. I would like to hear from you guys as to what board you are using and why. Being I want to use them at night, ease of use is important to me. Thanks for any help you can give.

Waska

[PerchJerker]

I like Offshore boards, Church is also popular. Both are in-line boards that work pretty much the same.

Sounds like you've never used boards before?? They are extremely tough to use at night, especially in the situation you're describing. You need to be able to see them and see what they're doing. I think boards are great, but you'll want to get a lot of experience with them in the daytime or you're risking getting really frustrated really quickly with what you're talking about. Good luck.

[Northlander]

Man boards at night would be a hard one. I guess if I were to try it would mount some kind of a glow stick on the board flag. I would use a Church board at night set up so it slides down your line to your rod while reeling in. You wouldnt want to try to find a board on the lake in the dark. They are hard enough to use and find in the day time.

[waskawood]

Thanks guys. Not what I wanted to hear but appreciate the honesty.I was hoping that I could use a board to get my rap away from the boat without letting out massive amounts of line like I do now. I was hoping to use larger raps in shallow water.

[PerchJerker]

When I troll at night (mostly just in the fall) I run 50 lb or 65 lb Power Pro or Stren Super Braid. The line is extremely sensitive so you can easily detect weeds and bottom, and by going with such a heavy lb test you get a big enough line diameter that you can run baits in shallow water and let out enough line to get them away from the boat aways - usually 80 to 150 feet back depending on the lure and the water depth.

Another thing you could consider is going with a long trolling rod to get away from the boat. I don't like rods longer than 7 or 7.5 feet, but it's easy to find trolling rods up to about 10 feet long.