Dave, if you don't have a fish on....the board should stay outside the inner board as you bring it in to check. Sometimes I will turn the boat to the side I'm pulling in and that helps keep it outside as you bring it in. You can still do it with a fish on but you will probably have to turn into it since the fish pulling will make it difficult for the board to keep tracking out. I make sure to keep plenty of space between boards...like 50 feet...to help eliminate tangles I've seen others run them closer but it's not worth the possibility of tangles for me...especially when running RR's as they tend to be a little more erratic.