Braid Trolling planer boards in Windy Conditions?

So this weekend we were fishing in 3′ trolling planer boards and really struggled at times keeping the fish hooked up. We first tried slowing down to relieve some of the tension on them then we tried speeding up to keep a constant tension. We were using power pro braid just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and what they did to solve it? We had the drags set really light to try to minimize the shock on the fish. Does a mono leader help much? Tight lines

50′ of mono can deffinatley help.

How stiff of rods were your using?

Do you need planers in those wave conditions? Perhaps a pair of 12′ and a set of shortys? Not sure on your spread, maybr you ned to get wide to not spook fish…

Might try a light Snubber like the ones we use for salmon. Opti-tackle makes some good ones. Stay away from Lure Jensen brand and like types that are big and have a “stop cord” if stretched too far. Dream Weaver and Opti make some 24″ clear ones. Try them 10′ in fromt of the lure to a mono leader. They are pretty cheap.

http://www.dreamweaverlures.com/products/accessories/rip-cords

That sounds like a nightmare to me even if the bite is good. Have you tried a controlled drift using the electric for fine tuning the pass while casting cranks? If I was on fish that shallow I would way rather chuck than deal with boards. Just me, good luck

Just the cabelas standard planer board rods. I was wondering about the mono leader just didn’t set that up. Thanks for the response going to have to experiment a little and yes it was a pain in the butt.

I won’t question whether or not you needed to use boards. I can think of many situations where I would still want to use in-line boards even if the weather was rough. Green Bay is like that on many days.

Just wondering though: How long are the rods you were using to pull boards?

Long rods and good reels will go a long way towards keeping fish hooked up in rough conditions.

Sunday we fished P4 and ran boards doing pretty well with them. We fished in river and lake with boards, just have to run with wind when using boards till become a veteran! We run a 24-30 inch 20lb floro leader from crank bait to braid to help aborb the hit and first head shakes! I’m not sure or dont want to get into a debate but we have our best luck using rod holders and after strike just holding rod with no pumping and steady reel, yes we still do lose some fish. just my 2 cents!

Some very good points were already brought up in regard to line, rods and reels.

Other things to consider if you haven’t already.

Try not to rod pump as you land the fish. Point the rod up in the air and allow the soft rod tip to absorb the shocks and not your reel.

Make sure your hooks on your cranks are sharp.

Leave your boat motor in gear. It’s OK to slow down but the key is to keep consistent pressure on that fish just so it’s not pulling out drag.

If fishing in windy conditions, try trolling with the waves. This will help you pull in your planer board alot smoother without having it thrash back and forth against the waves.

Consider modifying your treble hooks on your crankbaits and add a sure set hook. It’s designed to give you a better hook up ratio.

Good points on not pumping the rods as you are reeling in the fish.
I totally forgot about that one but with braid, it becomes very important.

This thread is exactly why I love this site! I never stop learning new things here. Always great responses!

Thanks for the good responses! Very Good Ideas