Planing boards in Ches Bay
 

I fish mostly Ocean side out of OC but, today I gave the MSSA fall Striper tourney a try. I fished the main channel off Sharps Isalnd and everyone was towing these planer boards. First time I had seen this technique. Does anyone have any info on these boards. How's the setup and how many lines do you troll on each side? Any info would help.
Thanks

Short of just doing a "Google" search you have come to the right place for that question. Although I don't pull boards there are several here that do and I am sure it can fill a page or two with info for you. I know the basics but am not the one to do the explaining.

I'm surprised someone hasn't replied already....they are probably putting the boat away or cleaning fish:eek:

Planerboard plans
 

FishHawker,

Here is a link to a simple set of boards.

The line attaching them to the boat is usualy weed-wacker line or 700# test mono.

Attached with 75' line, you might get 50 feet out from each side.

From that you can run 3 lines. The lines can be attached with rubber bands or "scotty clips".

That's the basics. Check around the fishing shows starting in January and you can find other plans or complete boards.

I was going to reply sooner but there's just so many possibilities in answering this. So what I decided to do is describe how I pull them and you can tweak from there to fit your own situation.

I pull a set a triple planers made by user "Skip" on this board and I don't think there's a better pair out there.

I run 4 rods off of each board. One side is tandem parachutes and the other side is single parachutes with a daisy chain off of each board. I attach my lines to the planer line via carabiner and a scotty clip. You'll get a dozen different suggestions on how to best set the lines out and they'll all work. What I do is the 1st line I send out is the longest back (usually 100-120'), next one in is a little heavier and is set around 80'..and so on. Each line is seperated from each other by about 10 ft down the planer line.

If you'd like to learn more, you can PM me or post a HO request on this board stating what you'd like to do and I'm sure you'll get a response. It's much better to get 1st hand experience than to read a couple of paragraphs.

Have a good one.

Fishhawker..........you should try to get out with one of the guys that pulls boards. The learning curve will be greatly shortened. "Skip" sells a nice set of boards that pull real nice and will not flip......................Mark

Like the others said, Ho with someone. It will save you a year of trial and error.

i usually don't do alot of trolling so i don't run them either
always thought it was difficult until i fished with someone who knew how to do it well.
there are some tricks and techinques but it is farily easy with the right stuff.

good luck

Planer boards are not that difficult but there is a learning curve and trial and error practice.....especially boat handling since you cant turn sharp or let the bow drift too much.
Definitely HO with someone who runs them.
And any planer will flip....its ugly when it happens......less chance with triples vs doubles, wider vs narrow, and longer vs shorter.
Good luck to you.

I normally pull an 11 rod spread: 4 on port board, 4 on starboard board, 2 deep off the stern and one wwb.

This weekend I experimented with pulling one board instead of two. It was a 9 rod spread - 4 off the board, 2 deep off the stern, 2 intermediate length off the gunwales and one wwb off the roof. It was much easier fishing. From the helm I could keep an eye on all the rods except the wwb. Turning was much easier than with two boards. Also much easier to manuver in crowds.

I would still go out with someone because it is much easier to see it done but you may want to consider just pulling one board.

I currently only fish one board. Mainly because I can't afford any more rods but it is a lot easier to manuver in a crowd. Also it's easier to miss all those crab pots that pop up unexpectedly in 70' of water lately.