Planer board speed questions

Alright everyone, I joined this board because no one local to me (South Carolina) uses the large board and mast system. Everyone uses the inline planer boards. So I joined here because I figured you guys would be the right people to talk to to learn this technique.

Personally I don’t like to run the inline boards designed for striper and catfish trolling because they tend to dive when fighting a fish even after they release and also I like to use a set of medium light striper rods for most of my fishing and these boards pull to much on those setups.

Im thinking my solution is to give the big boards a shot. My plan is to build a set and run a fixed line from my T Top initially to make sure they do well for me before getting a reel system.

My only concern is speed, which may not be an issue but I have no one here to ask. When trolling for catfish and striper in cold weather we pull as slow as .3 mph and the boards we use here do plane out well at these low speeds. Will these larger boards pull out well at slow speed? The max i typically pull is 1mph in warmer weather with boards.

On the other end of things, I also troll umbrella rigs and Alabama rigs straight out the back of the boat but not ones as large as used in saltwater. I typically pulled these anywhere from 2.5-4mph. Being able to pull these with the boards or not is not a deal breaker but will a typical big board set up handle this?

The answers to these questions may be why no one here uses this system but I have no way of knowing till I ask. Thanks for any help and if this seems like a possible technique I’m sure I will be frequenting this board to talk to you guys about it!

Thanks,

Steven

Steven, properly designed boards will do everything that you describe. The boards should have multiple cord connection locations as the boards will react differently at different speeds, requiring either a more forward connection or a more midpoint connection depending on conditions. I run Big Jon boards but a buddy that built his had to play with connection points and weight the rear of the board to get it to plane properly.

I use big boards on superior on a regular basis. I use a single board not the dual style (captain rich’s from Marine general if you want to look online.) 40″ long weighted 1×10.
I know these boards work well at 2mph and up but have not tried any slower. I could possibly see issues if your boards dont pull outward hard enough when going slow as you mentioned but changing your boards tow point and weight would help that.
I know that store bought boards like Riviera brand pull like crap as they are so light weight and dont pull out hard at all. When a board does not pull out hard your tow line will sag, dont want that. You may have to do some fiddling with your board design but I have no doubt it will work. Its way more fun to fight the fish and not a board.

Thanks for the info guys. It’s good to know that it is possible at the speeds I need. I know there are plans online to build but do y’all know of any particular designs that would be the best to start with? Any particular adjustments that could be made to help with slow speed trolling? I know multiple attachment points will be a big factor to get it tracking nose out with less speed. Would bigger or smaller boards work better at slower speeds?

Also I’ve seen People talking about painting and also not painting boards to let it soak up some water. What do y’all recommend?

I looked at the time it would take me to build my own and then started thinking about how long it would take to tweek, adjust, weight and modify them. I just decided that $80-$100 was much cheaper to buy ones I knew pulled great.
I will add a link to what many use in Duluth.
They have an adjustment screw to make them pull harder or softer and you can also bend the tail fin more. I don’t think you would be disappointed with these.
http://www.marinegeneral.com/product/captain-richs-boards
http://www.marinegeneral.com/product/laurvick-planer-board-release

Captain Rich’s Boards

Laurvick Planer Board Release

Mark is spot on with the Captain Rich’s.

NOTHING pulls better.

I’m an inline guy myself, but if I were to go back to big boards they would be Rich’s without a doubt. Save your time and just get them. They’re dialed in, something that would take a ton of trial and error to do on your own.

I had folding Riviera’s on my last boat……they were absolutely terrible.

Thanks for that link. For the price of a set I will probably get those as I would rather be fishing than adjusting boards. What length 30” or 40” would you recommend? I’m guessing 40” so I know I’ll be able to pull the biggest baits and lures I can

I just saw you want to pull them as slow as .3

I don’t have any experience going that slow other than stalls or turns. Not sure how well they’ll perform, most of the time on Lake Superior we’re doing 1.8-3.5 and they work great.

Ive not run the smaller set, i have no input on side. I often pull leadcore have had no issues pulling an 8 color, 6 color and 4 color core on the same board.
If you notice your main line going slack in rough water when using big boards try using a shock obsorber on your tow line. Ive found that Traxstech makes a monofiliment tow line and the stretch it has is a great shock absorber to keep the tow line tight and dont need a seperate bungie or shock system.
Dont get too concerned with these minor details at first but they come in handy when you start refining your system that works best for your boat.

I will try to temember to take my big boards along in my small boat and try to pull them slow and let you know how they work. Send me a PM in a week or two to remind me.
If you do end up getting the capt. Richs boards and dont like them let me know by pm, im sure i can find someone to buy them.

Thanks For that info Mark. I have never pulled lead core but I know that it can put a lot of pressure on a rod with a lot of line out. So it should handle what I need. I typically only run 3 lines on in line boards when I freeline live bait so I known it will handle that. I would only pull 2 small plugs or 1 umbrella rig on each side which will be at faster 1.5-3mph. Now the only question left to be answered is will it pull at a slow enough speed for freelines and catfish trolling.

I will try to remind you to check out the different speeds for me and it is comforting to know I can resale if I decide they don’t work out for me.

mark-bruzek wrote:

I looked at the time it would take me to build my own and then started thinking about how long it would take to tweek, adjust, weight and modify them. I just decided that $80-$100 was much cheaper to buy ones I knew pulled great.
I will add a link to what many use in Duluth.
They have an adjustment screw to make them pull harder or softer and you can also bend the tail fin more. I don’t think you would be disappointed with these.
http://www.marinegeneral.com/product/captain-richs-boards
http://www.marinegeneral.com/product/laurvick-planer-board-release

B-man wrote:

Mark is spot on with the Captain Rich’s.

NOTHING pulls better.

I’m an inline guy myself, but if I were to go back to big boards they would be Rich’s without a doubt. Save your time and just get them. They’re dialed in, something that would take a ton of trial and error to do on your own.

I had folding Riviera’s on my last boat……they were absolutely terrible.

Thanks for that link. For that price for a set I will probably buy those I’d rather be fishing then adjusting planer boards.

What length do you use or would you recommend? I’d like to be able to pull plugs at a minimum.