Well Monday the 4th of July found my rig back on the big pond chasing for that elusive 28"+ Eye. After enjoying a weekend with the family it was great to be back out chasing Piggie Walleyes. With my usual 2 partners not with me (Rufus and Stacie), I had my brother Rich out for his 2nd time pulling boards out on the big pond
. With another rough ride out to the flats with the wind being out of the NW starting to blow and the swells begining to grow, I knew I was in for another windy rough day on the pond. I was able to make it out to the flat a little faster this time only having to worry about my brother and not caring if I bounce him around a little bit
. We barely got set up on our trolling run when this eye decided to take our offering of a deep diving Reef Runner in perch color @ 120′ back. FISH ON
!
After we took a few pics and released that 26.25" fish, I looked over to my other board and see that it too has a fish on. I get my board to the boat and my brother is still messing with his lure in the net. So I decide I will take the board off myself. I get my rod positioned and start to reach for my board when I notice my tip of my rod come down and some huge slack in the line. I look back to see that my brother had picked up my rod
. I feel for the fish with my hand and feel nothing
This part of pulling boards is the trickiest of them all. You must keep that slack out of the line when taking the board off. Here is what I do when I have 2 or more people. Once the board gets close to the boat, the person with the rod and reel walks back towards the front of the boat. This is criticial with the 9′ plus rods I use. That person keeps on cranking the board in, to the point a person in the very back of the boat by the motors can reach the line and board. The person with the rod stops cranking and holds the rod tip up high helping maintain tension in the line. The person in the back very carefully removes the board, making sure the whole time there is tension on the line back to the fish. A very important part here is to keep the motor/boat moving in gear, to help maintain that tension. Once you remove both clips from the board you still have the line in your hand. The person with the rod starts cranking again and the person holding the line lets the rod load back up as he/she slowly realeases the line. This is very important step in bringing in these fish. As I said my brother has fished this method before and I assumed he remembered what was going on. I was wrong, we lost 2 fish We went back to having him crank the boards in and me taking the board off. Then I would take the rod and reel the fish in, when it was my turn. No mistakes happened after that. My advice is walk everyone in your boat through the steps that will happen when a board gets hit before the actual board being hit. Tell them where to stand , etc. and again when the fish is on, talk the person through this again. It just makes for better communication and less lost fish! Here are the 2 lures that produced for me this day!
I was graphing a ton of fish up high in the water column this day. Fish were being graphed 8 to 15 feet down in 33-36 feet of water. I wish I would have had another stick (person) or 2 in the boat so I could have dedicated more time to these fish up high. I tried short stints with cranks and spinners with gulp crawlers at these fish and also the fish @ 20 to 22 feet down in the water column with no luck. The fish seemed to be active right away when we hit the water (11 am) and then seemed to shut down as the afternoon progressed. Here is another fish that hammered my Cheap Sunglasses Reef Runner with 130′ of line out. This healthy fish came in at 26" on the nose.
Basically I was trying to keep the boat speed between 1.9 and 2.2 mph. This meant changing the throttle often depending on travel direction. Again I tried to troll parallel with the waves as much as possible keeping the boards in a more natural presentation, with smaller surges still happeneing from riding the waves. I’m just wishing for one calm day out there to see how the bite is then
. 5 pm came pretty quick and as it was time to pack up and head home. I had my board off and was reeling my lure in and Rich just started to bring his board in, when he yellled FISH ON! I’m guessing that walleye was sitting there watching that lure and when rich started to reel that fish smacked his bait. So this tells me that the fish are liking the quicker presentation perhaps? This last fish of the day shown here went just a tad shy of 26.75". This fish had a huge head but a skinnier body. Unlike all the other fish that have came to my boat this year pulling cranks. When this fish came up from the deep head first, I thought we had the 28" plus I was looking for. Every time out I see more fish schooled up and are becoming more agggresive. I can not wait for this weekend, to get back out on Saturday to do some more cranking and boarding on the big pond! Unlike some other presentations of fishing walleyes, having 4to 5 people fishing in your boatis a plus in my opinion The down fall is that sometimes it may be an hour between bites, but the qaulity of these fish are 
! The smallest fish that I have pulled this year doing this presentation, is a very healthy 19.75" fish. Until next time be safe and have fun!
*CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR LARGER IMAGES*
LIP RIPPER
Another fish 21.25″
This is another pic of the first fish of the day, after I pulled it from the net. This is the 26.25″ er that my brother caught to start the day!
nice report LIP and even nicer fish. man I cant belive the HAWGS you are pulling from the pond this year. way to go!!!
see ya, Corey
Rob,
You sure know how to make a guy green with envy.
Nice report and pics.
dave
Hey Lip Ripper,
I was out there on Monday as well, also right around “Columbus Flat”. I am kind of green when it comes to boards, and I was alone. I had several fish on, but lost them all about have way up. I realize what I was doing wrong after reading your report. I was kicking my motor in neutral instead of using the boat to keep tension on the fish. Learn something new everyday!! Gotta love this site!! Thanks for the report, and the help. Can’t wait to try it again. Has anyone had luck with lead core this year?? I couldn’t get anything on it for some reason.
Thanks Guys!
Hey Jason!
Glad to hear that you were out! What boat were you? I was in the Black/Tan Crestliner with Mercury’s on the back. I was indeed out by the “Columbus Flat”. Most of my fish came off the “Magellan Flat” though
. Yes leaving the motor in gear is key to keeping that tension. After you get the board off and your rod is loaded up, then you can throw it in nuetral if you wish. That way you enjoy the fight a little more 
. I just started boarding last Summer! So I’m a little Green also 
. I will be out Saturday again, with a few people. If you are out there come say Hi if you see me 
!
I can not help you with the lead core, have not tried this yet. Good Luck and you are right, this IDA site does rock
!
Hi guys,
Something that I have learned pulling boards is instead of letting the rod load up and then letting go have the person with the line just hold it and then reel down to the finger tips and gently let go of the line, I had 2 guys with me that never used boards before this last weekend and we didn’t lose a fish.
I have also done boards alone before…this is tricky but the key to it is getting the board in to your own hand. What I like to do is not reel it too close to the rod tip so I can swing the board easily to myself then I lay the rod down and take the board off. With the line still in my fingers I pick the rod up and point the tip straight away from the fish so the natural path of the line stays close to my body to prevent a “snapping” of the line when I let go. Usually there isn’t enough line to give slack so the rod starts loading up before I let go and then just crank back to a fighting position. It looks a little goofy but I have never lost a fish pulling boards alone or having to deal with my own fish during a double.
JB
Right on Buckshot! Same thing as I do but perhaps a little clearer
! I have not yet lost a fish until this last weekend. Go figure 
. I have been fishing with my brother since were like 5 and 7. You would think we would have this fish communication thing down 
. I just did not review this procedure with him. So it was my fault 
!
Nice Report Lip Ripper and good advice on taking off the boards!
I, like yourself, learned the hard way! 
Another thing to remember is to make sure your drag on your line counter reels are as loose as possible. In other words, set the drag just so your board does not pull out line (especially when you use braided lines that do not stretch). If the drag is too tight, you will end up ripping hooks right out of the walleye’s mouth. After you take off the board – adjust the drag again. And.. when you change directions reset the drag accordingly to the wave conditions. Like Lip Ripper said – avoid slack at all time and keep the pressure on the fish. When you pull these fish over 150 – 200′, sometimes one head shake can cost you a fish.
Didn’t get up there over the 4th but will be up there soon pullin those cranks!
Thanks for the report Lip Ripper. Glad to see the trolling bite is doing well. I’ll be up on the pond this weekend giving it a try. I plan on pulling boards most of the time, can’t wait. Should be a lot of fun. Just wondering if anyone has tryed trolling cranks around the rocks in the evening or early morning.
Good luck to everyone this weekend.
Derek W.
I was out Monday afternoon for about 3.5 hours trolling shad raps on the rocks. We ended up with sixteen keepers, a couple over 20″, and a few more really small walleyes. Color didn’t seem to be a huge factor. Traditional colors, holographics, and #4 R/S’s all caught fish. One thing that we did notice is that ticking the tops of the rocks appeared to be important in getting bites.
Lip Ripper,
I was in the Warrior BT. I plan on going up one day this weekend, depending on the weather. Hopefully I’ll be able to find someone to go with me this time. Can’t wait to try it again. If you see me (I usually always troll that general area) say hi. Maybe stop for a
Take care,
Jason
Will do Jason!
Be up there Saturday, all day! I remember you
Good point on how to handle boards with those rods. That’s our SOP on Lake Michigan when running high lines….
AS long as the subject of drag came up….here is a little secret…well probably not a secret but it is a great way to pull boards with cranks.
I use the Diawa Sealine 27s for line counter reels… and what I do is let the board out to the distance from the boat I want it to run then I turn the clicker on and loosen the drag to the point that it just barely holds the line without the clicker going. This way you know your drag is not set too tight and when a fish hits the additional load will pull drag setting off the clicker alerting you to a bite….sometimes waking you up if it is a slow day and you are doing long trolling runs.
It is also a good way to learn boards…sometimes it is hard to know for sure if you have a fish on especially if you are running only one board off either side of the boat, it is harder to tell if a board is riding back a little further or not.
Tattle flags are nice but cranks like reef runners need to be double springed to keep the flag up so the clicker approach is a great option, I use it all the time now that way you know immediately when you get a bite versus maybe not noticing a board dropping back for a few minutes.
Same here Buckshot! Learned that from Deezee last Summer
. Like you said, nice for using it as a bite indicator, but also like mentioned above, less fish lost due to ripping hooks through the Lips 
! My drags are usually set so that even a big wave that surges the board might give a click or two on the old reel! 
Might as well add in also…. When reeling in the fish or board. A nice steady retrieve is what I use with rod tip up high. Do NOT pump the rod when brining in the board or fish. This could cause the hooks to rip also.
I also use boards a lot when trolling cranks, but usually in shallow water, or when multiple lines are being used, or when targeting fish that are riding high in the water column and might get spooked by the boat. It sounds like you guys are getting most of your fish near the bottom, so my question is, why do you feel it’s necessary to use planer boards in this instance? How far out from the boat are you running your boards?
Of our five fish last Saturday, 4 came on the boards, 1 on the long line out the back. I wasn’t running my boards our very far, probably another 40 feet of line once clipped on. I use them just to get clearance from the boat so I have less tangles. Plus I look cool with lots of rods and boards sticking out the side of the boat.
Exactly slow and steady.
We got planer board 101 going here don’t we.
JB
Couple tricks on running boards as lots of guys are working on perfecting this technique.
Taking off boards – the advice of keep reeling and keep the motor in gear is a good one with two guys. The constant tension and getting that board off your line and back to fighting the fish with the rod is the correct approach. I was handling both lines this weekend (the labs just watched and the wife was sunning…) and caught all but one of my fish on a boards. While in the back of the boat, I retrieve until the board is ~ 4-5′ from the rod tip – slide the rod away from you while keeping tension, quickly remove the board and then walk to the front of the boat while reeling until the desired amount of tension is on the line. Then you are free to fight the fish (here is also where I advocate the use of a tiller kicker motor so you can keep turning the boat into the fish so when it comes up for a net job it’s not under the boat or behind the the engines). And for the way these mille lacs fish fight I have been running very light drags and haven’t lost a fish that I have hooked trolling this year. Now I am trolling mono and able to achieve 28-30′ depths. Make sure you are using medium light rods with very light drags with the no-stretch lines – drag should be set such that you are barely gaining on each revolution of the reel.
As for the springs – throw away the ones that come with the off shore boards (or keep to use when pulling spinners) and run to fleet farm, menards, hardware store, etc and buy C-73 springs and set them at the bottom of your boards and they will hold up big reef runners.
Hope this helps and good luck this weekend!
ted
CE,
Here is my thinking behind it. Not saying it is right, but I cannot argue with a method that works. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it sort of thing”.
I usually have my inside board with an additional 50-60′ of line out and the outside boards beyond that a safe distance not to get tangled. If I do run more than 2 boards (1 each side) I have the outside board running and targeting the shallower fish higher in the water column if they are present. For obvious reasons that you will spook these fish easier and will most likely move out farther away from your boat path. For the same reason when I run the inside boards, these boards I target the deeper fish.
My theory of why to run boards when you target these deeper fish (in addition to what Kooty & Buckshot already said)is that you are not trolling a structure and these schools of fish are not holding to anything besides the pods of baitfish and bugs. Typically within these big schools of fish, there are fish all through the water column. Last weekend I was finding fish 8-15 feet down, 20-22 feet down and also 28 feet to the bottom 33-35 feet. My thinking is when you are going over these schools you do spook the high fish to the sides. As you go down the water column I believe that the fish “lower” in th ecolumn sense these fish moving and kind of move with the school to the outside of your boat path. Also they probably do hear your boat above and on calm flat days may perhaps see the shadow?? The other reason to run boards again your not fishing “structure” and your fishing large schools of fish. You might go right over the top of these fish ( I’m starting to be able to tell on my sonar of the fish that I’m right on top of or if fish are out to the side of my sonar cone). Cause of the depths you are fishing 30-35′ these fish could be out to outside to begin with on your Sonar and again not fishing a structuree the school could be out to either side of your boat also. What this does is spread out your presentation, kind of the same way if I have 4 rods going I try different depths to try to find what depths the active fish are at (spreading out my presentation).
Not sure if this is clear at all, but the fish are just not only directly below your boat out there. These schools are huge an enormous sizes. Some of my trolling runs last for a mile or so. In my opnion these deeper fish do spook or move out to the sides somewhat from either your boat or feel the school moving above them. Not to mention the school is WAY wider than your boat & sonar to begin with. The other thing as mentioned in the begining if it ain’t broke….
Hope this helps
I did not have much time writing this! 
Like I said, I run boards a lot and I’m very comfortable with my abilities to do so, even by myself. If I were to go out, I’d definitely run a board. With the deeper depths of the fish, I was just curious if using a board was absolutely necessary. I’m sure there are guys reading this thread that either A.) don’t have boards, or B.) don’t have experience running boards especially by themselves and are maybe wondering the same thing I am…Are boards necessary for these deeper fish.
This is a great post. Thanks for everyone for all the good input. I gaurantee lots of people are learning something from this.
Thanks for the info guys. I am new to dragging boards and every little bit of info help.
Derek
Are boards necessary….probably not….BUT….there is always a chance of spooking fish especially in a clear body of water like Mille Lacs when you are going over them so why take the chance. It is just one more variable you can remove from the equation of catching fish and not catching fish. Last Sat we only got 3 but 2 of them came on the outside boards that were 100′ from the rod tip.
Another thought behind boards is that you are covering more water. Who knows how far the fish we catch are coming from to hit your crankbait?? In a clear lake like the pond those fish might feel that crank coming and travel 20-30 feet to hit it, they might only move 2-3 feet too but if you have enough people a wide trolling spread covers a lot of water which increases your chances of getting your bait close to an active fish. In wide open areas I will run the boards 100-150′ on the outside and 50-100 feet on the inside. If it is a busy area or tighter quarters I will keep them much closer.
JB
If we would get a decent day, I’m hoping to put together some amateur video on trolling with boards. Not sure if James has the ability to host such a thing? If not, I’ll find somewhere to host it. This thread is the reason IDA is the best site on the net!!!!!
Right on Kooty and Buckshot! Even for us guys posting here with our own little personal tips and techniques. We all have learned that doing these little things is what makes a big difference in catching 3-6 fish to 0 fish or on good days hitting the double digits in fish rather than only picking up a couple! It is often these overlooked little techniques or changes that put way more fish in the boat. Is that not what we are after
.
Here is the list of a few off the top of my head that I consider in a day of trolling to get more fish to bite: Speed, Color, Depth of Lure, Lure type itself (Rogues, Reef Runners, Tail Dancers, Spinner rigs, etc.), How close my boards are to the boat, Sometimes having the boards surge into or with the waves is the ticket, sometimes a more natural (no surge is the ticket), S Turns with the boat, Perhaps it is the school itslef that is not biting so I will switch schools and come back later. I consider all these factors in trying to get more fish in the boat. It is important to think about these when you do boat a fish and remember how you got it. What lure, color, speed, where you in a S turn?, how much line out from lure to board? from board to boat?, were you with the waves?. Try to duplicate this conditon that you caught the fish on and do it again. Especially if you get another fish doing the same thing. I try to have at least 2 of every color crank I use, in case that is the hot lure. Pay attention to your Sonar and be sure your lure is htting the depth where the fish are located. A whole school might be above 20′ and it does you next to no good to run your lure down @ 30′.
Thanks Guys and IDA!
I will see you on the water! 
I’ve been trolling boards now for over 4 years and everything above are all very good theories. The only thing that I can add is that when I have enough people in the boat and I’m able to troll with multiple lines, I catch three walleyes for every one with boards versus long lining. Based on that history, I always put out a board when I’m by myself.
I agree about this site being a great source for fishing info.
I do alot of cutting, pasting and printing to save this stuff for future reference.
Thanks for the great report Rob.
Nice report and feed back Rob and IDA
Tagging along on Ted’s point, I will run with my trolling motor down when using the bigger motor for trolling. When a fish crashes a board, I click the big motor into neutral, and click on the bow mount. That way the forward momentum is still there, and there is never an issue with fowling in the prop in back. Small detail, but I find every little bit helps.
Tuck