Planer Board Advice & Weekend Report

[Jiga-Byte]

Went out Friday, Saturday, and Monday. Friday we trolled between the Islands from the west side of Kelly's to Starve Island. Had lots of good marks, but only ended up with 3 Walleye after 4 hours of fishing. We probably could have done a lot better if we had been able to tell when we were towing a White Bass. Seemed like every time we would check the lines, we would have a junk fish on there. I have a mixture of both Churches boards, and the yellow Offshore Tackle boards and have the same trouble with both. In most cases, the board didn't seem to be acting any differently. On the Churches boards I do have the tattle flags. I adjusted them several times, but it seems like a catch 22 - either the springs are too lose and the flags are always going down, or they are too tight and the White Bass don't move the flag at all. Does anybody else have this problem? And if so, I would love to hear how you overcome this issue. Is it just a matter of constantly reeling the lines in to check?

On Saturday we went over to the east side of Kelly's in the deeper water and had a little more success. There were less White Bass over there and we ended up with 6 Walleye, but still had a few of the White ones causing the same problem.

Monday I stayed close to the dock (about a mile or two in front of East Harbor) because of the winds. We managed to land 3 more after fishing for only 2.5 hours. I had some kids on board that didn't appreciate the chop too much, so we quit pretty early once the wind started to really pick up.

Hope everybody else had a great weekend on the water, I know we did. Just wondering if anybody has advice on the boards with pulling smaller fish.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

[Jiga-Byte]

Oh, I forgot to mention that we pulled a combination of both spoons and crawler harnesses. Speeds ranged from 1.5 to 2.2 mph. Friday and Saturday the crawler harnesses out produced the spoons. However, on Monday all 3 Walleye were caught on Michigan Stinger spoons, pink and purple colors. (You'll have to forgive me, I can't keep the names straight on all those spoon colors)

[BILLY JOE]

I would suggest running just 1 kind of board or the other and if your mixing lures run the same on both sides like spoons on one side and harness on other you want your boards to swim inline so you can tell if one drops back if you are not watching your boards like a hawk its easy to drag a junk fish you just have to check them now and them and the choppier it gets the harder they are to read going with the waves helps

[Eyezcrazy]

I'm not sure what diver you are using but I run TT40's.....they pull the rear end of the board down pretty good and if I am pulling a junk fish I can tell because the board will run more level or at least it will not pull down as hard on the back end.
It takes a little experience to really read the boards but once you get the hang of it you will notice the subtle differences that tell you there is a fish on.

[Jiga-Byte]

I'm not sure what diver you are using but I run TT40's.....they pull the rear end of the board down pretty good and if I am pulling a junk fish I can tell because the board will run more level or at least it will not pull down as hard on the back end.
It takes a little experience to really read the boards but once you get the hang of it you will notice the subtle differences that tell you there is a fish on.

Yes, I'm also running the TT40's. On the Churches board, I adjusted the keel weight to help level out the board. Do you do the same? or recommend not to?

[Eyezcrazy]

Yes, I'm also running the TT40's. On the Churches board, I adjusted the keel weight to help level out the board. Do you do the same? or recommend not to?

I have never adjusted the weight to level out the board. I'm not sure if that would make it easier or harder to read. I guess I'm used to seeing mine run low in the back and know there is a fish on when it's not.

[ebijack]

IMHO If your running inlines or jets or mini disks. Running the boards to close to each other can get you tangles. Besides your trying to find if the fish want the presentation close to the boat ( they are not spooking) or far away from the (very spooky). If your outside board/boards are the main one getting bit, move all the boards further away from the boat. If the inside are getting bit, bring the boards in closer. It's all about covering water, find out what/how the eye's want and then give them plenty of it.

[Dr.Ed]

The closer the boards are together the easier it is to tell when a junk fish has joined your party. Done right it is easy to see a subtle pullback. With a little effort you can avoid tangled lines and hopefully bring more good fish to the boat. Another thing I keep forgetting to mention is a long handled net. (7'-8' is a must) Keep the retrieve out of the prop wash and bring the fish to the net. Don't reach for the fish. And you are right. The farthest board out from the boat is always the longest. See you guys on Friday.....

[wakina]

I'm not sure what diver you are using but I run TT40's.....they pull the rear end of the board down pretty good and if I am pulling a junk fish I can tell because the board will run more level or at least it will not pull down as hard on the back end.
It takes a little experience to really read the boards but once you get the hang of it you will notice the subtle differences that tell you there is a fish on.

Yes you are right, once that diver trips the board drops down in the front making it obvious something has changed. As Eyezcrazy stated the more experience you get the easier reading them it becomes.

[imrsmk]

The more time you have, the easier it will get. I still have trouble sometimes, particularly when the chop picks up. As already mentioned, if you keep everything the same (rods, boards, lures) on each side, you can compare the pattern of the boards and the pull of the rods on one side with the other side. When one is off, then you probably have something pulling it back a little.

John