Planer Board Questions

[big musk411]

This weekend I will be doing some trolling with Planner boards for the first time. I have the otter mast set up. I have a couple of questions.

I have four rod holders in my boat. Do I want the bow rod holders to have the lures farther out or the rear rod holders? I was thinking that the back rod holders would be farther out, but the diagram on the release clips showed the opposit.

How long of a lead line should I use? I plan on fishing shallow and the water should be stained. Big lures.

Thanks in advance.

[Surface Tension]

Mast and planner boards setups are the way to go on the Great lakes. They work well on the inland waters if your not fishing the bottom. Biggest reason why is you don't want to snag bottom when using a mast/planner board rig. How much line out depends on how far down you want a specific lure to run. We run up to 6 lines on each side of the boat but you have to do some planing in order to not tangle. With your rig the outer lines should be in the bow holders. The outer lines should be your shallowest sets or have longer lines out. The inner lines should be shorter or run deeper then the otter lines, you never want the inner lines shallower then the outer lines. So by using lead and or different diving lures on those inside and outer sets you can get get to your desired depth and not tangle lines when you have a release.

Now if your not clipping at least 2 lines to each mainline I wouldn't go with the planner boards and I'd go with in-line planner boards.

[big musk411]

ST, Thanks for the quick response. Thats what I'll do. My reason for the mast system is that I will be muskie fishing and I had problem running the small boards with big baits in the past. My area I fish is snag free for the most part so I think I'll be ok. Should be a learning experience this weekend.

[Surface Tension]

Your welcome and good luck.