planner boards

[speck chaser]

do any of you use any planner boards when you fish for crappie wondering what brand and size would bre the best to purchase.also how to rig them.

[tdonaldson]

sent u a message on this td

[J White]

I use the yellow offshore brand ones, with the spring loaded flag add-on.
Can't comment on others, cause these are the only ones I've ever used -
But I like 'em. A lot

[chaunc]

They've got some new boards. they're called mini-riggers. Got mine from Cabelas catalog. or it might have been BPS. Made just for panfish. Hard for me to use them as i fish by myself. Need someone with me to help watch them.

[TAE73]

Do a search on planer boards, I asked this question a month or two ago. Got some good feedback from several memembers.

[David Waters]

somehow I knew JWhite would reply to this thread

[Shellback]

Sounds like you guys are talking about inline planner boards. I have a pair of Yellowbirds, and with them or other inline boards, I believe you have a choice of a pinch pad on the front of the board and a snap on the back, or 2 pinch pads. With a pinch pad and a snap, the pinch pad releases on a hook up with a fish and then the board slides back to a bead and snap swivel before hitting the lure or fish. If you choose to use 2 pinch pads, the board can float free to fight the fish and then you return and pick up the board after landing the fish. I have never used my boards for crappie, mostly walleye or trout. Personally if I was going to use boards for crappie, I'd go with the big boards and a planner mast. If any of you aren't familar with that setup, you have a mast on the boat with two large reels with towline, a planner board or ski as some call it is snapped on to the towline, and then the board is sent out to the side as far as you desire. I'd run them 50 or 60 feet. Once your board is out, you let your bait out as far as you want and then there is a pinch pad release on what looks like a shower curtain hook, put your line in the pinch pad and snap the shower curtain hook around the boards towline and let it slide back on the towline until it's the desired distance from the boat. With this style of boards, you can run 2, 3, or as many lines as you are brave enough to run out each side. You want the leads from the pinch pad to the lure, longest on the outside rod and then each one shorter as they get closer to the boat. That eliminates tangles hopefully! There's no need to reel the board in after you take as fish, just adjust the distance from the boat for the other rods on that towline and snap another release on and send the rod out again. With this style there is no fighting the fish with a board on the line, and you can use as light a release as you need for crappie and not worry about popping a board because of a lightly set release. I personally like running big boards myself and I'm sorry I let my mast and boards go with a boat I sold. If you think about this setup with the mast and boards, it's kinda like spider rigging, only the baits are running much farther away from the boat.

[J White]

somehow I knew JWhite would reply to this thread

Yeah, can't help it, I like trying to help. One thought on releases - it is
going to depend a lot on what kind of baits you're pulling. Some of the
crankbaits I use pull harder than the fish you catch, so a release that
won't turn loose of the bait, won't release with a fish either! I use the
"two pinch pad" method, after you get used to it, it is pretty easy to
reel the board in, unsnap it and drop it in the boat, then reel the fish in.
With practice, you can do it without ever letting the fish have slack, one
reason I seldom shift to neutral when reeling in a fish. As David can attest,
if I get to yakking, I have towed keeper fish around for 30 minutes and didn't
even realize they were on - If you miss the strike, not looking, it will pull
the slack out between the releases, and the tattle-tale flag will quit working.
Gots to grow eyes in the back of your head, and pay attention

[ShilohRed]

Jeff sounds like you need to figure out a way to add a lazyboy and a big screen. And its fish on..LOL
Bet you could have fun below the dam in the striper...
PEte

Yeah, can't help it, I like trying to help. One thought on releases - it is
going to depend a lot on what kind of baits you're pulling. Some of the
crankbaits I use pull harder than the fish you catch, so a release that
won't turn loose of the bait, won't release with a fish either! I use the
"two pinch pad" method, after you get used to it, it is pretty easy to
reel the board in, unsnap it and drop it in the boat, then reel the fish in.
With practice, you can do it without ever letting the fish have slack, one
reason I seldom shift to neutral when reeling in a fish. As David can attest,
if I get to yakking, I have towed keeper fish around for 30 minutes and didn't
even realize they were on - If you miss the strike, not looking, it will pull
the slack out between the releases, and the tattle-tale flag will quit working.
Gots to grow eyes in the back of your head, and pay attention

[J White]

Jeff sounds like you need to figure out a way to add a lazyboy and a big screen. And its fish on..LOL
Bet you could have fun below the dam in the striper...
PEte

I've got darn near a lazy boy, one of those bucket seats like you would
usually see in a ski boat or something. The big screen... can I get a sat.
dish that will stay aimed while the boats rocking and turning? Just kidding,
I miss enough stuff whats going on without another distraction! :D