Juls,great to hear that the charters are able to take out paying customers again.Let me take a shot on some of these questions.If somebody posts they are using Bandits,they are almost assuredly deep diver bandits.
As for how to adjust tension on in line boards,some people use springs and others use a rubber band.We use rubber bands.The rubber band is attached thru a hole in the arm then stretched over leading edge of board and looped over the wire loop that goes thru the flag.To adjust tension, just move the rubber band over that leading edge to adjust tension.With springs,most people have multiple holes on leading edge to adjust tension.The newer flags also have multiple holes to hook spring on to adjust tension.If someone uses springs and can explain better,go ahead,I have not used springs in a long time.
When running 6 boards,you have 3 on each side.You want longest lead on outside board and shortest on inside board.When bringing in fish on outside or middle board,need to bring rod to opposite side of boat and pull that board past the inside board.When setting out a middle or outside board,attach board and let board drift straight back behind board.When you think proper amount of line is out,lock the spool and board should ride into the desired position.Keep an eye as board moves into position and fine tune that position by adjusting the line length.
A couple other things causes tangles with boards.If a fish hits a line as another board is drifting past it,that fish can come up in water column and tangle that board moving behind it.Another cause of tangles is making turns too tight.If the boards stall and the line goes slack,that slack line drops down and catches over another boards flag.You may not even notice it happens once the slack is gone.But if you reel in either board,that is when you get the tangle.
If adding weight to crankbaits,either add weight to all the lines on that side,or just run weight on the inside lines.