Planer Board Question

[chris.brock]

Is there a brand/ model that you would recommend, or a model to avoid?

 

I'm looking to pick one up before next weekend, ordering online would be great if it could get here in time, and I don't want to spend a lot.

 

In-line, no mast

 

I would likely only use it a few times a year, for early and late season lakers, off my pontoon or 14' tinny.

Edited April 24, 2015 by chris.brock

[John Bacon]

Are you looking at in-line planer boards; or, running them off a mast?

 

I use in-lines; I think the brand is Yellow Bird. They work pretty good. They can be a problem in rough water, but that can be expected. These are the only ones that I have used; so I can't compare them to another brand.

 

Otter Boats seem to be faboured brand for people who run them from a mast. I hope to have a mast set and working on my boat this summer.

Edited April 24, 2015 by JohnBacon

[Grimace]

I have Offshore planer boards and they work fine. A good product.

[spincast]

a couple weeks ago I ran a set of offshores (a friend brought his) and a set of church walleye boards (mine) in a spread. The Offshores pulled noticeably harder. This means they run further to the side of the boat per foot of line out and more parallel to the boat. great for getting to the side of the boat, but it also means your turns have to be bigger so the inside one doesn't flounder or catch bottom. Both do the job well. You cant really go wrong with either one. I do like the offshore releases.

[Raf]

what rod do you plan on running them on? offshores are great and come in different sizes. if you're not running a 'planer board' rod but instead just using regular rod you might want to look at the church or smaller offshores i think. i run a church board on a 8'6" 'steelhead' spinning rod and it's a good combo that doesn't overpower the rod.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Raf

[Fisherman]

I've used the med size yellow bird a few times with a downrigger rod, seems to work fine.

[G.mech]

You can run offshore boards off a spinning rod or very light trolling rod no problem. Head to Leamington in June and you can see about 5000 of them out there every Saturday. The only thing that makes them pull hard is the lure behind them. We only run about 6 at a time but I have seen 10 & 12 board spreads lots of times trolling worm harnesses and deep diving cranks.

Edited April 25, 2015 by G.mech

[ecmilley]

Chris if u want can lend u the three offshore boards i have ( left right and a right with tattle flag) and a rod to use a 8.6 bps walleye extreme planet rod with a daiwa sealine 17 counter reel get a feel for em before dropping coin

[Sinker]

I like the offshores myself. Ive ran med spinning rods off them for spring lakers with no problem. They work good, and have the best release IMO.

 

S.

[Moosebunk]

Offshores 95% of the time. Have two Church boards though and don't mind them at all. If running them they end up 5 & 6 in a spread on the inside, or if fishing trout I like them for ease of use... so they can end up 1 & 2 now and again.

 

Go Offshores though Chris... and replace that back clip with a huge snap swivel if thinking it's gonna be way out there, or pulled fast or hard through some chop.

[captpierre]

I hear you need a different clip if you use braid?

[chris.brock]

Chris if u want can lend u the three offshore boards i have ( left right and a right with tattle flag) and a rod to use a 8.6 bps walleye extreme planet rod with a daiwa sealine 17 counter reel get a feel for em before dropping coin

Thanks, very generous, but I think I'll just buy an offshore. If you want some company fishing Haliburton, let me know, we'll do it.

 

I've got various outfits, but using medium tackle like Shane said is what I was kind of hoping for.

 

I catch them in the prop wash but I feel like buying a new toy and seeing if getting lateral helps.

[mike rousseau]

Church are good for calm water but offshore are the best all around in my opinion

[Old Ironmaker]

We have had great success using manual downriggers to get the line up and out of the rougher water thus eliminating the mast. We run boards made by one of the guys late father in laws. He was a very talented man.

[G.mech]

Forget releases on the inlines.. just reel them up to the boat and take them off. If you run braid, wrap it around the clip once and it wont slide down.

[Sinker]

Forget releases on the inlines.. just reel them up to the boat and take them off. If you run braid, wrap it around the clip once and it wont slide down.

Works good on big fish, yes, but these haliburton lakers are smallish, usually, so the release clip is the better way to go. Just swing around and pickup the board after landing the fish. No big deal. Fighting a 16-20" laker with a board attached to the line on med spinning gear isn't a whole lot of fun.

 

S.

[G.mech]

Works good on big fish, yes, but these haliburton lakers are smallish, usually, so the release clip is the better way to go. Just swing around and pickup the board after landing the fish. No big deal. Fighting a 16-20" laker with a board attached to the line on med spinning gear isn't a whole lot of fun.

 

S.

i suppose you have a point there....

[fishindevil]

Yup I have both offshore & churches and prefer the offshores I have several clips I run as well a soft medium & hard clip depending on what baits I'm pulling for lakers I would let the board come off I also have sliders and the board will slide down the line but for different applications I will switch it up many options Chris ?? For running xraps and stick baits for spring lakers I would let the board come off you won't loose as many as small & medium lakers go crazy and thrash about it's better that way .... Tex me if you need any more info I might be in Hali next weekend crappie fishing if I am you are welcome to a seat in the Lund !!!! ). Cheers

[fishindevil]

like Shane says !!!! I seen it after I posted

 

Works good on big fish, yes, but these haliburton lakers are smallish, usually, so the release clip is the better way to go. Just swing around and pickup the board after landing the fish. No big deal. Fighting a 16-20" laker with a board attached to the line on med spinning gear isn't a whole lot of fun.

 

S.

[Rizzo]

I tried one of the bigger church boards but found the clip wouldn't hold once you got a bit of chop....would start sliding down the line. Ended up going to a mast that I bought off kijiji and much prefer that route

[Headhunter]

Offshore boards and the OR16 clip installed in the centre position. The board will never come loose and you will not have to pull all the lines in, after catching a 12 inch fish, to re-set everything after you turn around to grab the board.

I have Church boards as well and they work fine. I prefer Offshore as the flag makes seeing the boards easier, especially in rough water and if it's too rough, just drop the flag and it will preform, just like a church board.

Just reel the fish in, until the board gets to the boat, keep the line tight, un-hook the board and reel down to where the board was, offering no slack line.

Again, having the board release with a fish on is crazy, especially when running multiple boards/lines.

HH

[Sinker]

Offshore boards and the OR16 clip installed in the centre position. The board will never come loose and you will not have to pull all the lines in, after catching a 12 inch fish, to re-set everything after you turn around to grab the board.

I have Church boards as well and they work fine. I prefer Offshore as the flag makes seeing the boards easier, especially in rough water and if it's too rough, just drop the flag and it will preform, just like a church board.

Just reel the fish in, until the board gets to the boat, keep the line tight, un-hook the board and reel down to where the board was, offering no slack line.

Again, having the board release with a fish on is crazy, especially when running multiple boards/lines.

HH

Yes, this is all true for big fish, on big water, but when fishing smaller fish, in smaller lakes, its easier and more fun to let the board go. I don't think Chris plans to run a whole fleet of boards for haliburton area lakers, but I could be wrong I suppose.

 

Your set up is the way to go for quinte, or lake O or similar though, for sure.

 

S.

[Headhunter]

Or, simply get the smaller versions of the boards, for smaller water.

HH

[fishdawg]

Agreed. I love Church TX6 mini boards

[Rizzo]

my buddies smaller church boards worked better than my bigger board ....those little buggers would just be humming along jumping from wave to wave..."Go little guy" we would often cheer the board on. Musky fishing will get to you mentally apparently