Just bought a boat, need advice for planer boards.

Hello everyone,

I just recently bought a 20' OMC Neptune for fishing on Lake Erie. I am extremely familiar with down-rigger fishing as I've been salmon fishing in Huron all my life. The family decided it was time to get back into fishing once again and here we are with a new boat. I've been looking at some planer boards (heard it was the ONLY way to fish eyes') and was looking to gather some opinions on what is best.

I was looking at the offshore type planer boards which attach directly to your line feature a handy flag/strike indicator. I also looked at the planer boards in which you have to buy reels and mount the reels to the side of your boat, the latter obviously the more expensive route. I've attempted to look all over the net to see which was best but there are very few websites out there that list enough information for a planer board freshman. I can handle spending a bit more money if I know I'm going to get quality and a better product.

I guess I'm also looking for what is best to use on downriggers/planer boards bait and tackle wise as I'm sort of new to this. We went out last weekend using salmon plugs and spoons but only managed to conjure up a few sheep-head.

Thanks in advance,
Austin.