Hi!
Have been reading posts for a month now and can't believe how much I have learned as well as how much I have been missing when it comes to walleye fishing. ie. planer boards! I see how much success people have been having with them on the boq. I realize that on a large body of water you have a lot of room, but on a smaller lake do you think they would be ok? Do other boats ever cross lines? Where I fish it is not uncommon for boats to pass within 20-30 ft of each other while trolling. I suppose planer boards could be used for smaller spinners as well as shallow diving lures. I am going to equip myself with these for next spring so please bear with me if I ask a million questions! Thanks
Hello and info !
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M.T. Livewell
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- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2003 3:05 pm
- Location: Rockland
Xcal
here checkout this report from Skooter, using planner boards and mast on the Grand River... he only used the boards on one side and he had to go far enough up river to avoid the water skiers/jetskis...
http://www.fish-hawk.net/hawktalk/viewtopic.php?t=14544
Welcome to the site.
here checkout this report from Skooter, using planner boards and mast on the Grand River... he only used the boards on one side and he had to go far enough up river to avoid the water skiers/jetskis...
http://www.fish-hawk.net/hawktalk/viewtopic.php?t=14544
Welcome to the site.
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eye-tracker
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- Posts: 1998
- Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2003 9:23 am
- Location: Perth, Ontario
- Contact:
xcal,
I run inline boards in the spring, summer and fall for walleye. They are a great tool for boat shy walleye near the surface or getting a bait out into shallow water that would be impossible to troll without loosing your prop. You have to keep an eye on other boats because on the inland lakes they will drive over them. This summer I caught lots of walleye on Mississippi Lake only a few feet below the surface running four mini inline planers.
Here is some additional information I put together on inlines...
Magical Inline Planer Boards
Getting your lures down and out from the boat so you don’t spook the fish in clear water is a technique that has been around for a long time on the Great Lakes. But, many Walleye anglers are just starting to find the magic of trolling with inline planer boards when fish are in shallow water, roaming basins or suspended on any body of water.
The inline planer boards I like to use are made by Off Shore Tackle and Church Tackle. These boards run true in the water and do not dive or fall over at the slow or stop and go trolling speeds needed to coax walleye into striking. These inline boards also have lots of options when it comes to rigging for different situations. The church Walleye Boards can support heavy lead weights and a full ten colour spool of lead core line. Church also makes mini planers that are great for small inland lakes or rivers when you need to get small cranks, spinners or live bait rigs away from the boat, along shallow structure or spread out for trolling passes.
The inline boards add a very attractive pause and go action to crank baits when the water has a chop or some wave action. This is one of the reasons the inline boards have become a standard in the walleye anglers hat of tricks.
Rigging
1.Double Snaps.
This style of hookup is used for open water trolling when the walleye are suspended over deep water. Connect the line to the front snap and then to the back snap on the planer board. If you use a super line like Fireline you should wrap the line twice around the first snap so the line doesn’t slip. With this rigging style, when a walleye hits the lure you will notice the board falling back due to the drag of the fish. Now you remove the rod from the holder and start a steady retrieve until the board reaches the boat. Remove the board from the line and finish reeling in the fish.
2.Slider.
This is also used for open water trolling and sometimes along shore lines with lots of snags. You attach your line to the first snap and then pass your line through a snap swivel that has been placed in the rear location. When a fish strikes, the snap releases the line and the board slides down the line with no resistance to a barrel swivel tied into the line so the board does not hit the fish. I use a fluorocarbon leader the length of my trolling rod. This rigging style is very popular with trout and salmon anglers because of the hard strikes and drag stripping runs, also the hard fighting salmonoids can’t use the boards leverage to toss the hooks. I do not use this rigging style for walleye because they do not strike hard enough and when the snap releases it causes slack in the line and often results in a lost fish.
A feature of the Church boards is a back connection made by passing the line through a pin and no rear snap is used, therefore if the board came of the line in waves or when a fish strikes it will slide down the line.
3.Tattle Flag.
This board option allows the angler to install a tattle flag that shows when fish or weeds are on the line. The flag will start to go down when any drag is added to the line. This is great way to indicate a fouled up lure when fishing weed lines. Once again the board stays on the line and you retrieve the board and the fish to the boat. This is the method I prefer to use when fishing all types of water for walleye.
4.Snap Off.
The board would be released from the line when a fish strikes. Although traditionally designed to be used in this fashion, I can’t see any advantage to this as you would end up loosing your board or you would have to circle back to pick up the board in water that may be too shallow for your boat. Also going back into water that has active fish would only spook them out of the spot.
Set Up
Start your trolling run at 2 mph (I find this is a good speed to make the boards plane straight out to the side of the boat). Put your shallow baits out first with the longest lead out behind the board. Put the rod in a holder in a near vertical position as possible to keep the line off the water. Put the second line out with a deeper presentation and less line out (see image for example). I like to use 7 foot 10 inch light tip, extra fast action trolling rod with a very strong butt for planer board trolling because they take the pounding of waves, get the line up off the water and have a solid backbone which keeps the boards running smooth without any surges or racing and gives you the power when needed to crank in the board and fish. Also a level wind counter reel helps determine the amount of line being used and puts the bait at exactly the same distance and depth every time.
When a board starts to fall back, snaps off or the tattle flag drops you let the hooked fish carry the board and line straight back behind the boat. Reel the board and fish in from the stern, also net your fish from this same position while the rest of the boards are still out. This allows you to keep fishing and covering water while landing. In these situations an auto pilot bow mount trolling motor can be a real assistance when you are fighting fish and your fishing partner is netting your walleye. This takes practice and some times line tangles will happen, so don’t start off with 6 rods out on your first trip with inline planer boards. Start with two - one off the port side and one off the starboard side, once you have the hang of it you can start adding more boards.
So the next time you are out on a body of water and the walleye are in shallow, roaming basins or suspended, pull a planer board out of your magical hat and land some fish.
Offshore inline board
Church Tackle inline boards.
-Sheldon Hatch
I run inline boards in the spring, summer and fall for walleye. They are a great tool for boat shy walleye near the surface or getting a bait out into shallow water that would be impossible to troll without loosing your prop. You have to keep an eye on other boats because on the inland lakes they will drive over them. This summer I caught lots of walleye on Mississippi Lake only a few feet below the surface running four mini inline planers.
Here is some additional information I put together on inlines...
Magical Inline Planer Boards
Getting your lures down and out from the boat so you don’t spook the fish in clear water is a technique that has been around for a long time on the Great Lakes. But, many Walleye anglers are just starting to find the magic of trolling with inline planer boards when fish are in shallow water, roaming basins or suspended on any body of water.
The inline planer boards I like to use are made by Off Shore Tackle and Church Tackle. These boards run true in the water and do not dive or fall over at the slow or stop and go trolling speeds needed to coax walleye into striking. These inline boards also have lots of options when it comes to rigging for different situations. The church Walleye Boards can support heavy lead weights and a full ten colour spool of lead core line. Church also makes mini planers that are great for small inland lakes or rivers when you need to get small cranks, spinners or live bait rigs away from the boat, along shallow structure or spread out for trolling passes.
The inline boards add a very attractive pause and go action to crank baits when the water has a chop or some wave action. This is one of the reasons the inline boards have become a standard in the walleye anglers hat of tricks.
Rigging
1.Double Snaps.
This style of hookup is used for open water trolling when the walleye are suspended over deep water. Connect the line to the front snap and then to the back snap on the planer board. If you use a super line like Fireline you should wrap the line twice around the first snap so the line doesn’t slip. With this rigging style, when a walleye hits the lure you will notice the board falling back due to the drag of the fish. Now you remove the rod from the holder and start a steady retrieve until the board reaches the boat. Remove the board from the line and finish reeling in the fish.
2.Slider.
This is also used for open water trolling and sometimes along shore lines with lots of snags. You attach your line to the first snap and then pass your line through a snap swivel that has been placed in the rear location. When a fish strikes, the snap releases the line and the board slides down the line with no resistance to a barrel swivel tied into the line so the board does not hit the fish. I use a fluorocarbon leader the length of my trolling rod. This rigging style is very popular with trout and salmon anglers because of the hard strikes and drag stripping runs, also the hard fighting salmonoids can’t use the boards leverage to toss the hooks. I do not use this rigging style for walleye because they do not strike hard enough and when the snap releases it causes slack in the line and often results in a lost fish.
A feature of the Church boards is a back connection made by passing the line through a pin and no rear snap is used, therefore if the board came of the line in waves or when a fish strikes it will slide down the line.
3.Tattle Flag.
This board option allows the angler to install a tattle flag that shows when fish or weeds are on the line. The flag will start to go down when any drag is added to the line. This is great way to indicate a fouled up lure when fishing weed lines. Once again the board stays on the line and you retrieve the board and the fish to the boat. This is the method I prefer to use when fishing all types of water for walleye.
4.Snap Off.
The board would be released from the line when a fish strikes. Although traditionally designed to be used in this fashion, I can’t see any advantage to this as you would end up loosing your board or you would have to circle back to pick up the board in water that may be too shallow for your boat. Also going back into water that has active fish would only spook them out of the spot.
Set Up
Start your trolling run at 2 mph (I find this is a good speed to make the boards plane straight out to the side of the boat). Put your shallow baits out first with the longest lead out behind the board. Put the rod in a holder in a near vertical position as possible to keep the line off the water. Put the second line out with a deeper presentation and less line out (see image for example). I like to use 7 foot 10 inch light tip, extra fast action trolling rod with a very strong butt for planer board trolling because they take the pounding of waves, get the line up off the water and have a solid backbone which keeps the boards running smooth without any surges or racing and gives you the power when needed to crank in the board and fish. Also a level wind counter reel helps determine the amount of line being used and puts the bait at exactly the same distance and depth every time.
When a board starts to fall back, snaps off or the tattle flag drops you let the hooked fish carry the board and line straight back behind the boat. Reel the board and fish in from the stern, also net your fish from this same position while the rest of the boards are still out. This allows you to keep fishing and covering water while landing. In these situations an auto pilot bow mount trolling motor can be a real assistance when you are fighting fish and your fishing partner is netting your walleye. This takes practice and some times line tangles will happen, so don’t start off with 6 rods out on your first trip with inline planer boards. Start with two - one off the port side and one off the starboard side, once you have the hang of it you can start adding more boards.
So the next time you are out on a body of water and the walleye are in shallow, roaming basins or suspended, pull a planer board out of your magical hat and land some fish.
Offshore inline board
Church Tackle inline boards.
-Sheldon Hatch
Sheldon Hatch
Just a guy that likes to fish walleye
Just a guy that likes to fish walleye
Thanks for the warm welcome and info guys!
The mini mag planers by Church tackle might be the ticket. Am looking forward to practising with these in the spring. They will probably force me to try new areas in the lake where there is not as much traffic ! This will be a good thing. Have been meaning to try new areas on lake but always seem to end up at the same old spot! Who knows, I may find a better spot that isn't as heavily fished! Hope to meet up with some of you Hawk Talkers in the near future either ice fishing at Petrie or at next get -together. From what I have read, you guys and gals all seem to have a blast at events. Hope to be able to hook up !
xcal
The mini mag planers by Church tackle might be the ticket. Am looking forward to practising with these in the spring. They will probably force me to try new areas in the lake where there is not as much traffic ! This will be a good thing. Have been meaning to try new areas on lake but always seem to end up at the same old spot! Who knows, I may find a better spot that isn't as heavily fished! Hope to meet up with some of you Hawk Talkers in the near future either ice fishing at Petrie or at next get -together. From what I have read, you guys and gals all seem to have a blast at events. Hope to be able to hook up !
xcal
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AzuluSpook'd
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