In Line planner boards

[walleye2go]

Most of the time I just watch the pull or bend of the rods before I turn and duplicate it going the other direction this usually gets me really close. Happy fishing.

Same here. IMO it's much easier to pull fish circling back with big boards. When I used to run small boards, I would pick up gear and run back up and reset quite often, especially if it was rolling. With big boards you just can't do that. The interesting thing is, that now I can usually figure out how to pull the fish going in any direction. But, I was taught by the best.

Greg

[wakina]

Hmm. I disagree with the thought that you only catch fish one direction. It just takes a different speed over ground (sog). On Any given day maintaining the same sog speed going with and against is a +/- 4 foot difference in depth of my gear a simple adjustment of speed can put your gear back in the strike zone. Most of the time I just watch the pull or bend of the rods before I turn and duplicate it going the other direction this usually gets me really close. Happy fishing.

First I would like to say that whatever you are doing on the lake works much better than most and every bit as well as what any of the other top Charter Captains are doing. I don't believe there would be anyone that follows the posts on this site with any amount of regularity who would disagree with that statement. In other words you are one of the best.

I believe that although I did not specifically state that it takes a different speed over ground(SOG) which is commonly referred to as GPS speed when going from with the waves to into the waves (180 turn), that the inference to the (SOG) issue is there. Admittedly I was not very good at stating that in my first post on this thread.

I have never used a release while fishing with the big boards that would allow me to read or use the rods as an indication of speed, that does not mean they do not exist but only that I have never seen or used them. Most if not all of the tension that would normally be applied to the rod is being applied to the tow line and very little if any is transferred to the fishing rod. The releases that I have used in the past allow you to let the fishing line slide freely down the tow line for the big board. The slack is taken up by the force of gravity and not the pull of the lure. That is why most people who use rubber bands for attachment watch the rubber bands as an indicator there may be a small fish dragged along.

The smaller inline boards will allow you to read the rods to some extent, but when heading into the waves the most notable difference is caused by the force of the waves pushing against the boards which makes them pull harder, making it almost impossible to read lure speed and depth as the bend in the rod is created by a combination of surface speed and water resistance against the small board. Anyone who fishes with small boards should try this and see if I am correct or not. On calm days with 1 foot or less reading the rods works well and a 180 is a viable alternative to pulling the lines and going back to the starting point. On days like that I will sometimes troll in a 4 leaf clover pattern and catch fish and on others with similar conditions I end up going back to the starting point because the 4 leaf clover and the 180 turn did not work as well. Most often I just go back to the starting point simply because it works at a higher percentage of the time than any other method.

In retrospect I feel everyone should use the type and brand of boards that they want. The bottom line is that you will become better at catching fish with the use of your equipment and as your experience using the chosen method grows, whether that would be the big boards or any of the small inline boards.

[Hoytman86]

I'll put in my 2 cents here. We went with the Church "The Walleye" boards for one reason, the pin. I can't tell you how many times we would've been pulling lines and turning around to get our boards if not for that simple little pin keeping it on the line. I've even been able to rig them onto the line just right so that both clips can be pulled when you get a fish on so that board won't fight you and so that you don't have to pull it while you're fighting the fish, it'll just slide down the line to the swivel and it can be removed once you've already landed the fish. Also, I'm not sure what system Offshore uses, but the tension adjustment on the Church boards is extremely simple to use on the fly if you need to switch weights.

We've been very happy with the Church boards. Just make sure you leave some slack with whichever you choose if you're using tattle flags. Also, make sure to keep the line tight whenever you remove the boards as that is where a lot of fish are lost when you're new to using them. Good luck and stay safe.

[ebijack]

I'll throw in my experience, I will try a couple trolling angles once fish are caught to see if one direction is better or not. Not quite 1/3 of the time but close, I find trolling into the waves is a better bite or equally as good as trolling with or quartering the waves. I go more by feel/experience on speed when trolling into the waves. I never use the rod tips as a visual reference. I just don't find it accurate enough for me. I prefer Offshore boards using a Church super clip on the rear and an orange Offshore clip on the front. At any time I can snap the rod ( actually hitting the butt) and the front clip will release if it did not release on it's own. Rarely is a board ever lost and those times it is due to someone not installing it correctly. I can easily run 10 Offshore boards and 2 down rods off the side with heavy bouncers. As long as you have 2 other experienced crew members. With the front clip released, the board falls out of formation to the rear of the boat and you are not fighting the board at all. Also the releasing front clip releases when a fish takes the board under and you are able to keep tension on the fish and not fight the board. I prefer not to troll into the waves, but a lot of times you catch a lot more fish doing it.