planer board questions

hey im pretty new to trolling and i have some questions about planer boards. are the smaller ones better or the bigger ones better and why? these are what i was looking at. thanks

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Go with the bigger “Walleye” board. It’ll work better with
bigger crank baits and better in rough water.
WKW

Big ones will pull lots of weight, including leadcore. Smaller ones are nice on occasion, especially with smaller baits – although, you’d be suprised at what they are capable of pulling. They offer less resistance to reel in. I’ve used TX-6’s with success, but usually run the 22’s or off-shores.

edit – I should clarify that the reason why I usually run the 22’s is because most of my board fishing is with leadcore on Michigan…

i run fireline and power pro. i was looking for something that will handle #5, #7 and sometimes a bit bigger crainkbaits. i have used the bigger boards with a guy once and they seemed like they were alot of work just to get them back to the boat. thats why i was wondering if the smaller ones have any advantages

advantages to smaller boards??

1 cheaper
2 easier to reel in
3 less stout tackle is needed for the smaller boards
4 usually get the job done no problem.
5 store/carry easier

If nothing else, buy one and try it vs a larger board. I think you’ll find the smaller one will work nicely for most applications.

sounds good thanks alot

I use the walleye boards. I like them over other brands because there is the spring loaded pin that lets you thread your line through the back side. This ensures you never have to go back to pick up a board. It will just slide down to your swivel connecting your leader.

Enjoying your avatar by the way, Bubbles is hilarious. Trailer Park Boys!!!!!

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Enjoying your avatar by the way, Bubbles is hilarious. Trailer Park Boys!!!!!

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ha thanks, my favorite in the show for sure lol!

I recently got rid of my planer boards for trolling. I troll the river alot and it was such a pain to check or make sure my crankbait wasn’t fouled up. So this spring I am running 4 lead core rods. 2 five foot shorty’s and 2 twelve foot rods. If I have more people in the boat I’ll run flatlines without the boards. It becomes unrelaxing fishing the rivers with boards, just my opinion.

My only addition to what has already been said is that the smaller boards are not good in any rough water. They get swallowed by the waves and dive. I’ve seen the same happen with the church walleye boards. I was running them beside the off-shore boards and the walleye boards kept getting swallowed by the waves. The off-shores never did.

Does anyone know where you can find boards that tighten to the line instead of going back to the fish? A friend of mine has some that he bought 20 years ago. Its nice to be able to take them off and fight only the fish.

Off shore can be set either way depending on if you just use a front clip and a cross lock on the back, or if you use clips both front and back. I run mine with with a regular clip on the front and a heavy duty clip on the back. The back one has a pin in the clip so it doesn’t come off the line, but the front one doesn’t so it will release. Then you only have one clip to take off when you get it to the boat instead of both clips.

John – I have had that experience ocassionally (small boards diving in rough water), but often they will “skip” across the tops of waves if you have your rod tip high enough. It limits how far out they plane to some extent, but sometimes its a nice feature (vs a larger board diving constantly)..

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My only addition to what has already been said is that the smaller boards are not good in any rough water. They get swallowed by the waves and dive. I’ve seen the same happen with the church walleye boards. I was running them beside the off-shore boards and the walleye boards kept getting swallowed by the waves. The off-shores never did.

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John – I believe thats partly what the adjustable weight on the walleye board is for.

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John – I have had that experience ocassionally (small boards diving in rough water), but often they will “skip” across the tops of waves if you have your rod tip high enough. It limits how far out they plane to some extent, but sometimes its a nice feature (vs a larger board diving constantly)..

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I agree. You gotta keep those rods sticking up as high as possible in rough weather.

When it comes to pulling lead core on a board, I’ll go with the walleye boards every time.
If we’re just pulling flat lines, Off Shore gets the nod.

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John – I believe thats partly what the adjustable weight on the walleye board is for.

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They were Sime’s boards. I should have known it was somehow his fault.

well thanks guys, im gonna go with the bigger boards. i got 2 more scotty rod holders mounted today and 2 more combos from a guy at work yesterday. ready to hit the water with 4 lines next time we go out!