What trolling setup do you use?

[wakina]

I'm new to the trolling myself and still learning what I need to get started.does anybody use any of the offshore planer boards? If so would would a tt40 work with this planer. I've heard guys say can't read the board much with these divers.any input?

Offshore boards work the same as the Church boards, they just attach to your line in different ways. They may or may not be able to pull as much weight as the Church Boards but there are experienced fishermen who swear they use them effectively with the TT-40's. I say if they stay afloat and move in a direction away from the boat and to the sides and not straight behind then they are doing the job as intended.

As far as reading boards there should be a difference in how they appear in the spread of boards be it 2 or 3 as even a small fish will make the board pull harder and that board will fall back some maybe no more than a foot or so. But that will indicated that you have something causing that board to pull harder and it is time to check it. The boards will form a some what straight line that V's away from the boat to the side and to the back with the boat being the bottom of the V and the boards will be in an almost straight line on the wings of that V. The more wt. that they are pulling will cause the top of the V to be narrower and less wt. will allow it to widen out. If one of the boards fall out of that V then check it.

If the TT-40 has tripped then the board should pull altogether different than when the TT-40 is still set. Reading the board comes with the experience of using them and you will pick that up rather fast. If you happen to be looking at the board when it gets hit you will definitely see it be jerked backwards in a back and forth motion, it is unmistakable. Just think big bobber and that is how they act.

The hard part is when you get a fish that swims along for the ride and keeps just enough tension on the board to make it ride normal in the spread, there will still be slight differences in how they are pulling.

If you are using just one board on a side then by using the same rod holder for the board rod on their respective sides of the boat will allow you to use a part of the boat to determine if that board is pulling harder or easier than normal, I use the back corners in relation to where the board is pulling while fishing on my boat and if that changes even a little then it is time to check that board.

Like I said before, experience will become the best tool for you to be able to read the boards with reasonable accuracy.

[jigginfool]

Thanks a lot guys for the posts I can use all the help I can get lol

[sherman51]

I fish the central basin of erie in the summer months. I run 3 lite bite slide divers per side. were only allowed 2 rods per fisherman, if I have more than 3 people onboard I run 2 outriggers with 15# braid and a small dipsy and let them out anywhere from 250' to 300' then if I have a 5th person on board I run 2 downriggers.

early in the season before the thermocline sets up good I target the fish im marking on the bottom. once we have a good thermocline I target the fish im marking just above the thermocline. I put my divers down about 5' to 10' above the fish.

on my divers I run 65# power pro for my main line then use about a 9' fluro leader. I don't use the slide part of the diver but use them like a dipsy and use the lite bite trigger. I went out to 50' of water and run 1.8 to 2.0 and let out line on a 4.5 setting on my diver until I started bumping bottom. it took 185' of line out to hit bottom. that comes out to 2.7' dive for every 10' of line out. so with this set up I just go by the 2.7' for every 10' of line out as my dive curve. then I run this rod in front then set my middle diver on a 3 setting and let it out 20' less than the front rod, then I set my back diver on a 1.5 setting and let it out 20' less than my middle rod.

so if I want to fish 60' I set my 4.5 diver at 220' out which gives me 59.4 feet depth, then I set my 3 diver at 200' out and my 1.5 diver at 180'. this dive curve wont work with say 30# braid because you get a steeper dive curve with lighter line.

if your using dipsy,s then you would use a 1.5 and a 2.5 and a 3.5 setting. go out to 50' of water and let the 3.5 diver out until it starts bumping bottom. then just devide 50' by however many 10' of line you have let out. say it takes 160' of line out to hit bottom then you would devide 50' by 16 that would give you a 3.1 dive curve. so I would just use the 3 as my dive curve. if it takes a 145' of line out to hit bottom then you would devide 50' by 14.5 which would give you a 3.448 dive curve then I would round it off to a 3.5 dive curve. then just use the front rod to get to the depth you want and run the middle rod out 20' less than the front rod and the back rod out 20' less than your middle rod.

if your planning on running dipsy,s or the deeper diver or even the lite bite slide diver I hope this has helped and not just confused you.

[OffShore24]

As for rods the ugly stik 7' 2 piece medium is a great verstile rod. it stores easy and is durable. Fairly inexpensive. They will work well w/ boards and dipsy's.

i like Okuma magda pro 20 reels durable, expensive and work great!!

For inlines ethier offshore or chruch. eitheir way get tattle flags if you run worms. You can pull weights, jets, or cranks with them

Next would be dipsys. Gotta have them most run #1 w/ ring

Also an easy set up to add to those is large bottom bouncers on the cormers just flatlined. keep em deep and close and they will not interfere.

[jigginfool]

When everybody refers to 40 and 45 back are they referring to allowing 40 ft of line out before connecting planer board to the line? If so how much line should be let out after the board is connected? Or iS the amount u let out after just preference to keep the boards spread evenly?

[jreed2528]

You are correct!

[wakina]

When everybody refers to 40 and 45 back are they referring to allowing 40 ft of line out before connecting planer board to the line? If so how much line should be let out after the board is connected? Or iS the amount u let out after just preference to keep the boards spread evenly?

Remember the planer boards do 2 main things.

1. It allows you to target those fish that have moved away from the approaching boat as well as those fish that are high in the water column.

2. They enhance your ability to use of the boat as a weapon, the boat and its noise moves fish out of its path and out toward the planer boards which are spread out on each side of the boat.

With that being said, you should keep the spread far enough apart that if you get a rowdy fish it does not tangle with the other lines unless that fish is so rowdy it cannot be controlled right away. Silver Bullets come to mind in that situation.

Here is how I base my separation on the boards. Keep the separation between boards at least the distance of the lead for the board closest to the next furthest board. EXAMPLE: The Farthest board out from the boat would be back 20 from the board and out an additional 100ft, so the total on the line counter would read 120. The second or middle line would be set back 25ft from the board and out an additional 75ft making the total on the counter 100ft.
That way if the middle board is hit and the fish would run to the outside on the surface toward the furthest board out it would get no closer than the board on the outside which is 100ft away. Because, the total length of the line from rod to lure on the middle rod is 100ft. Now using that formula you can set the other boards out in the same fashion.
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[jigginfool]

thanks for all the great info. I'm starting to have a better understanding now and the guys on this forum have greatly increased my catch throughout the time I've been on this forum.awesome to see a group of guys willing to share a few tips and tricks. Keep it up guys