DIY Tattle Flag for Offshore Planer Board

[MattL]

Just set these up and thought I would share some pics and info for those thinking about giving it a shot as I could not find a how-to post on this site. I just couldn't stomach spending $25/board with the offshore kit, but didn't realize how unbelievably cheap and easy the diy route was until I tried it.

I picked up some misc parts from fleet farm for less than $10 for both boards.

Each board required the following...

1 #6x3/4" stainless pan head screw (to attach flag)

2 #6 stainless flat washers

4 #6 nylon flat washers

1 1/4"x2-1/2" spring

I already had a wire leader making kit to attach the back release to the flag.

First thing I did was remove the eye bolt from the face of the board and install it on the back side. I removed the flag, installed a stainless washer and 3 nlyon washers to move the flag away from the board. On the outside of the flag I installed another nylon washer and stainless washer, all connected through the original hole in the flag by the #6 sheet metal screw.

The other hole in the flag was used for the wire leader and spring connections. The face of the board also had small holes which I attached the spring to.

I haven't tried these on the water yet, but it may require tweaking the spring size and mounting locations. I will update once I've done a trial run.

Here are a couple pics of the finished product. Total install time was less than 30 minutes.

[pikerliker]

Awesome post Matt!! I'm always looking to cut costs anywhere I can and this is nice with pics, costs, etc. Thank you!

[Northlander]

I have done this on 12 of my own boards and many boards for others now and its super easy and way cheaper. Everything can be found at a Menards or Home Depot type place.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I just bought the opti tackle boards with the spring flags on them for $18 a board. same design has off shore only better since it has clips like church boards. Thought I'd give them a try since the entire setup is cheaper then the flag kit for off shore. I am impressed, and now have 3 sets of opti tackle boards and only spent $20 more then my friend did for one set of off shore boards.

[Northlander]

I thought the same about the opti boards until I broke 2 clips in 1 week. never broke a off shore board in any way.