Thanks Ebijack for all the great illustration and info you gave.Seams like you figured out how to modify your equipment to improve its function before the manufactures produced it.We have been using the size #32 rubber bands on our inline boards for last 5yrs.Think they work much better than the original springs which come with the boards.I do like how you cut that V into the front of the board to change tension on the flag.That is something I will have to do also to my boards.I did not even know/notice that Offshore lowered rear eyelet in their newer boards to run better.Thanks for sharing that tip.Will be lowering that eyelet also.Looking forward to seeing how those two modifications you pointed out will help us run our boards better.
We frequently use tadpoles and harnesses in the summer to fish.Usually two dipseys at 3 setting and 4 inline boards.I have run into same problem with our rigs hitting bottom,or even snagging when dropping boards back or making turns in shallower water or rocky bottom.Guess that will happen when you have weight pulling your lures down.That is an advantage tru trips and cranks have,is they float when slow down.Weight/sinkers sink when slowing down.i just have to be more attentive to the depth or rocky bottom when putting lines out.Usually when running two boards per side,the leads will eventually be running pretty close in length.So I can switch up inside with outside board when letting them out.That way I can put the clicker on when putting out the board and that speeds up the lure so less likely to sink too far.As far as making turns,i would speed up some and make wider turns,to prevent them sinking too far.But,if bottom not rocky,sometimes lure dropping or just sitting on bottom can trigger a strike.
We were trolling on Chickinole Reef back in October 2016 and were finding some active fish in 19fow.They were bigger than we had been catching previously,but was not catching as fast as wanted.Only color Bandit that was catching was Firetiger.I wanted to put out a worm harness out to see if would work.I tried several weights to try and get to desired depth,but nothing worked.Was lucky I didn't get a snag and lose everything.After thinking about it,I decided buy some TruTrip 30 to use in that situation.I had used TT40 on inline board and I feel they pull too hard and I didn't need to be too deep anyway.Unfortunately I did not get to use the TT30 last season.Looking forward to seeing how they work in shallow water.