Planer Boards are a ‘must have’, in my opinion. They work! There are many different fishing situations that call for this type of trolling, but yet many of us still fish without them!
Fish are sensitive to strange noises! So, when they hear us coming they ‘dash’ away from the boat. However, when they see the bait from the planer board 100 or more feet away doing its thing with out any strange noises, the fish can’t help but want a taste.
I use my planer boards for most species including Salmon. When the cold Georgian Bay waters reach 45 degrees I troll in 20 feet of water with one planer board in the deeper side of the boat and the other in the shallow side. You would be surprised how many fish are taken using this method. The deeper planer board would pick up the Salmon and the shallow running board, Trout. If that doesn’t work I troll 40 feet of water and do the same, but with both down riggers fished as well using long leads behind the cannon balls. It’s that simple! This is what I call, ‘rod management’! They are a serious fisherman’s tool and have no limitations in usage. It is basically versatile fishing at its best!
For suspended fish use the planer boards with deep diving crank baits, or even a worm harness trolled on the bottom for Walleye. You can run two or more rods from each board itself to really get as much bait in the water column as possible and yet fish for different species at the same time. In Lake Erie Rainbow Trout and Walleye can be had by rigging different baits on different rods. It allows you to cover as much of the water column as possible just by using planer boards alone.
In line, planer boards are used more and more nowadays. This system of planer boards is incorporated into your main line and just simply releases when a fish hits the bait and travels to the end of the line, or you can rig it with a stop. I like to rig the release tight when I see the first sign of the fish taking the bait, I simply reel in to the planer board and remove it totally and then fight the fish. This type of board is good on the budget.
There are many advantages to the mast set up. I find it to be much more beneficial to trolling. Aside from the fact that you can use multiple rods, this set up is time saving. On the water, time is everything, especially when the bite is on! When you have reached your destination just simply let the boards out to the desired distance. Put your bait in the water and free spool the amount of line needed, then attach it to the release and get it out to where the fish are. When the rod goes off you have full reign for fighting the fish. The release stays on the planer board for you to collect when the fishing day is done. Obviously a dozen or so releases are required, but they are worth every penny!
I have learned many different techniques over the years using planer boards, but the one thing I know is that by using planer boards, now you’re trolling with ‘stealth’.