planer boards

[live4chrome]

Going to be in canada next week. Word is the walleye are tight to shore. I would like to do some trolling to locate them and am thinking a set of boards might help alot. For the guys who run boards near shore what model do you use and are there any.tricks or tips. The fish are in 2-4 feet of water so we dont want to be running the motor in that shallow as its a relativly big boat we will be using.(18 foot tyee)

[JohnMickish]

I use the Off Shore brand, and prefer them but guys also use the Church boards. My tips to you would be to go with the tattle flag conversion and upgrade the front clip to the OR-18 "snapper" clip.

[Jim Hudson]

I agree with John about OffShore.. And just like John, I love the tattle flag assembly and snapper releases too. Tattle flags for light biting fish or to see if you are weeded up at times. Snapper release for no slippage of line in the release. Also, the OR-16 release (red with a pin in the middle) is another option as well, to use instead of the Snapper Release. This clip, with the pin in the middle, helps in not losing boards. With big fish, the line could slip out of the factory orange release. The pin of the 16 eliminates that, as the line can not go past the pin. Cheaper option than the Snapper.

But, if you are not going to use them much right away - you can always upgrade to any of these at a later time. Out of the box, they will work great for what you want to do for your trip.

[MattL]

I use the offshore boards also. I just use the orange clips with 10 lb Trilene XT. I've been thinking about upgrading my boards with tattle flags. Does anyone know how the tattle flags perform with a heavier bait, or more specifically leadcore?

One thing I have added is white reflective tape along the top edge of the boards and the top of the stationary flags. They are very easy to see after dark, even with a dim headlamp.

[live4chrome]

Thanks guys will be picking up some offshores for the trip. How do boards hold on braid?

[tacklejunkie]

Thanks guys will be picking up some offshores for the trip. How do boards hold on braid?

If you're trolling braid and are not epecting to troll big cranks or heavy weights, go with the Church boards in the TX-6 or TX-12. Cheaper than the OffShores and you don't have to buy a clip that will hold braid as the Church's clip holds any line.

Plus, both boards are small enough to detect light bites or weeds on your tackle

[JohnMickish]

How do boards hold on braid?

They suck, but there are a couple of tricks to make it work.

First, the OR18 can be set tight enough to hold the line in most cases. If it dosen't hold, run the line through there twice.

Second, if using the OR16 clip, you will have to make a loop and run the line through the clip twice. There are some youtube videos that show this.

I personally don't like the OR16 clips with braid because if you get one of the loops on the back side of the pin it can be dificult to get the board off with a large fish on.

I do run my boards with lead, again with the snapper clips adjusted to not crush the leadcore.