offshore tadpoles anyone??

[Kevmc]

Anybody using Offshore Tackle's tadpoles??
For....Planer boards (with jigs?)......pushing cranks....or ????
I got 6 #1's after reading an article by Tommy Skarlis on Planner Board crappie with tadpoles and Jigs, ( PBJ).

other uses???

[wicklundrh]

I run Offshore tadpoles for anything that doesn't have a diving bill on it!

In the walleye scene, they have helped put more fish in my boat then utilizing traditional inline weights or bottom bouncers. The dive curve/chart is accurate and allows me to instantly place a bait within the given strike zone with minimal water distortion caused by other diving equipment such as dipsy divers, bottom bouncers, in line weights etc... Another nice feature is that they "trip" once a fish is hooked. No need to jerk the rod to untrip anything. It is a simple coast lock that slides from the top to the front. In the event you miss the fish, give the rod a nice "pop" and it will actually reset it.

On the back side, I actually take the coast lock that comes with them and turn them around. This way, you can actually utilize the coast lock as a snap swivel of sorts and quickly change leaders. All of my rods are planer board rods which are softer toward the top 1/3rd of the rod. Many people utilize too stiff of a rod that causes "Board Hop" in the water. When a rod is stiff and you are up against some wind or waves, the rod cannot flex. As a result, the boards will "hop" out of the water. It causes issues with the baits being towed behind. A proper rod will flex with the waves and will not allow the boards to hop.

The tadpoles also work great for shallower diving baits. Say you have a bait that will only dive 4 to 8 feet (even after letting out more than 30 feet of line. If you put on a 4 foot leader on the back of a tadpole, you can get that bait to dive as deep as a tadpole will dive. Jigs are done almost the same way. I've even ran floating jigs behind mine on shorter leaders to avoid foul ups. About the only thing I have not done is push any baits with them. That just isn't the type of fishing I do.

Do I sound like a walking "Offshore" salesperson? I'm not. I have used about every planer board on the market today and in my opinion, nothing works as well as they do. Keep in mind that other companies produce products that are "species specific". Sure, they might work great at targeting crappies however they do not work great in larger water environments targeting walleye, salmon, steelhead, etc. They are not made for that. Offshore boards are. If people are running other boards, many of them still purchase offshore release products. That should tell you something! Since the day I was first introduced to tadpoles (by the makers themselves) I've used them in my boat. Many of the guys walleye fishing have yet to adopt this strategy. They are simply in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mindset. Well, if you catch 10 fish in a one day trip using your old methods while I catch 35 using the same bait with newer methods I would say something is broke!!!!

Nick and Bruce are the Owners and operators of Offshore tackle and also a member sponsor on this site. If you have any questions directly regarding their products, shoot Nick a PM: NickD
I spoke to him last week and will see him in a couple of weeks.

FYI... I get nothing for talking about their products. I love the products, love the company, and the owners are top notch. They are fisherman just like us!