In Line Flags

Went out this evening NW of Kelleys up to the line. Around 43 fow. Marked fish mostly 20 to 33 feet. Trolling bandits with 2 Oz at 50 feet then 50 to 80 more feet behind in line boards. Just learning to troll with boards. 2 keepers and 2 little shavers. Problem was I had a hard time knowing when I had something on. Both keepers around 20”. I had 4 lines out with boards lined up best I could but I didn’t really see the boards act funny except during turns. I pulled in the boards from time to time to check and that’s when I realized I had fish on. I don’t have active flags and am thinking about adding those but have heard a few say they aren’t all that helpful.

Any guidance for this old beginner would be appreciated. IÂ’m interested in your experiences as I gain mine.

Thanks...

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Originally Posted by Mapleshade

Went out this evening NW of Kelleys up to the line. Around 43 fow. Marked fish mostly 20 to 33 feet. Trolling bandits with 2 Oz at 50 feet then 50 to 80 more feet behind in line boards. Just learning to troll with boards. 2 keepers and 2 little shavers. Problem was I had a hard time knowing when I had something on. Both keepers around 20”. I had 4 lines out with boards lined up best I could but I didn’t really see the boards act funny except during turns. I pulled in the boards from time to time to check and that’s when I realized I had fish on. I don’t have active flags and am thinking about adding those but have heard a few say they aren’t all that helpful.

Any guidance for this old beginner would be appreciated. IÂ’m interested in your experiences as I gain mine.

Thanks...

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I have the tattle flags on my Offshore boards. If I am pulling bandits unassisted the flags work pretty good, or when using tadpoles with spoons or harnesses. But once I start pulling anything more that adds to the resistance, the slack required to make the flag work becomes tight and it wont work any way. I use 30lb Powerpro braid so it slips through pretty easy. To be honest really do not think they add that much. One thing I know for sure though. If you see your board get yanked back by a fish, even if it only tugs once, I always check it. Many times the fish will be there just cruising along. Sometimes they will be a nice fish too. Other times you can drag a dink around for a good long time. This is true with Dipseys and Trutrips also. Just check them a bunch. That what I do.

Kent

I had the same problem too. I started referencing the location of my boards when I first set them out. Sometimes they would just fall back farther beside the boat from the extra weight of a fish on. Since then we have moved to using big boards now. We used to drag a few around for a while til we got used to it. A lot of light bites this year. We have had a lot of fish on the big boards too that won’t even release or break the rubber bands.

I hate the boards. I know u can cover more ground and present more baits. But catching a walleye and not seeing or feeling the bite or fight is not fun. The only positive is meat in the cooler. I'm just an average Joe fisherman. My set up is having two back rods at about 100 and 120, never the same distance out. I will then put two more rods out on the side of boat at like 50 and 70 with a 2 or 3 oz snap weight so they are as deep as the back rods or deeper with less line. I'm not covering wide ground.but am covering vertical, which can be good if u r on top of fish. I have seen some guys use a big balloon or bobber way back so u can fish more from behind the boat.

You can see all of your bites and feel the.fight. yiu can also tell if your crank is not running correctly. I also like that u can change baits more often because u don't mess with boards.

I don't get many tangles.

I do the same for harnesses.

I do like planer boards for live bait slow trolling.

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Originally Posted by Kyfish

I hate the boards. I know u can cover more ground and present more baits. But catching a walleye and not seeing or feeling the bite or fight is not fun. The only positive is meat in the cooler. I'm just an average Joe fisherman. My set up is having two back rods at about 100 and 120, never the same distance out. I will then put two more rods out on the side of boat at like 50 and 70 with a 2 or 3 oz snap weight so they are as deep as the back rods or deeper with less line. I'm not covering wide ground.but am covering vertical, which can be good if u r on top of fish. I have seen some guys use a big balloon or bobber way back so u can fish more from behind the boat.

You can see all of your bites and feel the.fight. yiu can also tell if your crank is not running correctly. I also like that u can change baits more often because u don't mess with boards.

I don't get many tangles.

I do the same for harnesses.

I do like planer boards for live bait slow trolling.

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I am with you 100%. Call me an old fuddy dud but I have fished all my life. To me using boards is not fishing. I want to see the rod move and feel the fish fight. Boards are for charters to take out non fisherman and meat hunters.

You can always use dipsies and jets. Dipsies will run out from the boat and they trip when a fish hits. Yeah some of my fish come to the surface but we reel them in slow and get good fights out them. Like I said in my other reply, I use big boards so once it releases, I let it swing to the back on tight line. Like Longliner said trolling covers a lot of water to increase your odds of filling the cooler. You can always try vertical jigging or use Erie dearies with a crawler to feel the bite. I see quite a few guys out drifting for walleye

Don't start the debate. If you want fish. Troll. The odds are in your favor. You will get your limit, and alot faster. If you want the sport, cast and retrieve. Its not always fun, and a lot of work, but you earn what you catch.

Like pimple pounder said, the flags are good but the benefits have some limitations. First off, when I trolled in line boards I ran 17lb Trilene, braid is a pain with inlines because it slips through the clips, especially the back clips that actually work the flags. If you are using mono, just make sure you leave a few inches of slack. You will need to adjust the tension when going from a crank to a weight or diver and they don't handle TT40 all that well. Honestly I think that they will help you out. If you have the tension set right it's easy to see even with a small fish on because the flag will be ever so slightly further back than usual. Good luck!

Believe me,all trollers have problems figuring out if fish are on the line or not,regardless of the technique you are using to troll with.I love using inline boards and they can really help you get out more lines and cover more water.There is a learning curve with all aspects of fishing and trolling is no different.The more time you spend on water trolling and reading forums like this the better you will become.Another great way to speed up that learning is going with or having someone with more experience join you.
We have changed the configuration of our boards over the years to what we run now.We have the tattle flag that goes down when you have a fish on.We use rubberbands(size 33 @ OfficeMax) on our boards.Like them better than the springs that come with board.You can adjust tension on the flag by moving the rubberband over the leading edge of the board.Easy and quick to adjust.We use the Black OR18 release on the front arm and the red OR16 with pin in it on back release.We are using Maxima 15lb mono line.Some people use braid,but the braid can slip through the releases much easier than the mono.The boards are much easier to read in calm water.You can tell if a fish on by either the flag going down or if running multiple boards,by the position of the boards in relation to each other.You have more problems if the waves are bigger and a lure and/or weight that is pulling hard.The flag will only go down if there is slack line between the two releases.The problem,is the line pulling through the releases with that extra tension,till all slack is gone and the flag won't go down.I normally wrap my line once around the back OR16 release to prevent it slipping there and tighten the OR18 release so you don't get slippage there either.
Another thing to do is when you initially putting boards out and not sure of rubber band tension on the flag,you can put your lure out and when you get the line positioned on both releases,hold the board with your hand and see if flag goes down or has too much tension on it.Move the rubber band over that leading edge to fine tune tension then put board out a short distance and lock the reel and see if flag doing what you want before putting board into proper position.
I think seeing that flag pull down and the board moving back is the coolest sight indicating a fish is on.Better than all the other big board or dipsey aspects of trolling.

Thanks everyone for the input. I first fished walleye near Erie, PA with my grandfather back in the 60s. Called them Yellow Pike. Fished with a steel rod and a crawler harness and you held your one rod all the time. I understand the argument that says that is real fishing. I still enjoy drifting and casting for walleye to this day.

That said I want to learn to use the boards as well now that I have a little more time to fish. I did make it out again yesterday (Sunday) and agree that like most everything you get better by doing. Did begin to get better at reading the boards. Used one board on each side and one line straight back off each corner of the boat. Caught 3 off the boards and three off the corners.

Cannot think of anywhere I would rather be than out on the lake. Hoping to retire in a year or two and maybe be able to get out more than a couple times a month!

Again, thanks for all the tips.

I use inline boards with rattle flags and pull 40tt with no issues. I use the newer flags that have more spots for tension adjustment. I also drop the rear eye for the rattle flags arm about 3/4 of the way down to just above the black foam retainer.

I also use power pro....I use Sam's pro release ip front and the off shore black locking clip double wrapped on the rear.......the front release allows the boards to drop back out of line when popped to clear inner boards.

But as stated sometimes you just need to cycle to make sure your not dragging something unseen.


I've had 10pounders swim along and not pull the flag down.

I try to set mine where the flag is slightly down that way if it stands up I can tell the jet opened up. Learning how the flags dip in the waves when running normal......a flag not dipping in waves can indicate a fish too



Getting the tensions right does take some tinkering

You will be able to “read” your boards better if you run 2 or more on the same side. The same thing with dipsys.

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Originally Posted by Mapleshade

Went out this evening NW of Kelleys up to the line. Around 43 fow. Marked fish mostly 20 to 33 feet. Trolling bandits with 2 Oz at 50 feet then 50 to 80 more feet behind in line boards. Just learning to troll with boards. 2 keepers and 2 little shavers. Problem was I had a hard time knowing when I had something on. Both keepers around 20”. I had 4 lines out with boards lined up best I could but I didn’t really see the boards act funny except during turns. I pulled in the boards from time to time to check and that’s when I realized I had fish on. I don’t have active flags and am thinking about adding those but have heard a few say they aren’t all that helpful.

Any guidance for this old beginner would be appreciated. IÂ’m interested in your experiences as I gain mine.

Thanks...

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Go to Offshoretackle.com and look at the many videos and articles there to help you with your decision to use them or not. If you already have Off Shore boards, you can get an economy kit with the parts you need to upgrade them.