Trolling ? ?

[SPIN DRY]

I'm going to try and take up trolling with boards this year, So I have a couple of green horn questions when you have a fish on.

1 How do you keep the board from knocking off your snap weight.

2 I might know the answer on this one, how do you keep the board from slideing down to your crank bait.{ swivle and a large bead?}

I know how to troll just not with boards. Thanks for your help.

[LMITOUT]

I'm not sure I follow your questions, but all you should have to do is let out the amount of line that you desire so that your lure is running at the predetermined depth and then clip the board onto the line with the spring-loaded rubber clamps that are attached to the board. Then let out a little more line to get the planer board out away from the boat. That's about it.

Sometimes if you use a super line such as Fireline it will be too slippery for the rubber clamps to get a good hold of the line and the board will just pull off the line after it hits the water. There are a couple of remedies for this: One is to put a loop in your line and give it one wrap around the clamp. The other is to purchase heavy duty clamps that are offered by certain planer board manufacturers and replace the ones that come with the board. They have a heavier spring to hold onto the line better.

When you have a fish hooked up the board should reel right up with the line if it's clamped on good. Pop it off when it gets close to the rod tip and continue reeling. It won't slide down because it's clamped onto the line.

[PerchJerker]

You want to clamp the board into position on the line and have it stay there, you don't want it to slip or come off the line or slide down closer to the fish. The higher tension clips and line wraps around the clips accomplish this. You really don't want the board popping loose and/or sliding down the line.

[SPIN DRY]

Ok.I thought that when the fish hit the line pulled free on the front clip and slid down the line on the back loop. But what you're saying is it just stays put, where you set it at. So when a fish hits, the board just starts drifting towards the back, instead of staying off to the side? Hard to believe that I've been fishing 40 years and I'm still a greenhorn. Thanks for the help.

[PerchJerker]

In the "early days" of in-line planer board fishing the idea was that the front clip on the boards should pop loose from the line and the board should slide down the line. I think they still use that technique for salmon trolling in the great lakes, but in that situation they have many lines set (and many deep lines) and they want the board and the fish to move into position behind the boat before they reel it in.

When the walleye guys started using in-line planers they figured out it was better for them to leave the board clamped onto the line. Usually you only have 2 or 3 lines out per side, so there's not many lines to clear out of the way. And you don't have to worry about the board knocking off the snap weight or the fish. Big strong heavy fish will still bring the board behind the boat, but many times you can bring the fish in to the side of the boat. It really is a slick system with 2+ guys in the boat that know what they're doing regarding clearing lines, controlling the boat and the throttle, unclipping boards, fighting fish and netting fish.

[hanso612]

Offshore makes a release that has a pin in the middle. If you put the line behind the pin the board can't come off.

When salmon fishing, I like to get the board in before it releases. Some guys switch out the back clip for a pad to help the boards stay on or to come off completely, but I like to have the option of tripping the board when a big fish pulls the whole works under, but I also don't like to pick up boards that can come completely off, that's why I only use the pin pads with a snap on the second release point.

In rough water or by yourself it is easier to get a board off if the back snap is a pinch pad instead, but they are expensive. I'm still looking for a better rear clip than the traditional snapp that's cheaper than adding another release. Any ideas? Big snaps require a big bead down the line so it needs to have a small opening, but a large,easy to open with one hand, opening system that's light, with no drag, and cheap.

I use a large swivel ahead of the leader to keep the board from sliding all the way to the fish. But beads are cheaper. Hans

[tunrevir]

I use a bead ahead of the swivel on mine with a eight to ten foot lead back to the bait which makes it interesting when it gets net time. when I am by myself I run the line single through the front pinch pad and then wrap it around the rear pinch pad so I can take the board off myself and continue to reel in the fish. I typically run pinch pads on both the front and the back of my offshore boards and run a swivel with a large bead on the walleye boards that have the removeable pin to take the board off.

Tunrevir~

[high five]

I use Church tackle boards-TX-22-they are reversible. The line is held in place by the front clip which is very adjustable for different types of lines and line sizes. I use 8/30 stealth with very little problems of the boards sliding down the line, just tighten the screw accordingly.