Big Planer Boards (How to guide)
Updated: Mar 6
With the power of the internet these days you can jump on the confuser and learn new fishing tactics fast. With that said there doesn't seem to be a ton of good information floating around the interwebs about big boards. It could be that it's just not that popular of a system in many places other then the Great Lakes. In this article I will illustrate how we setup and run them on our boats. We don't claim to be the leading authority of big boards, however, we do spend a lot of time running them.
To put it simply, you have a planer board that you're attaching to a line. As you let out line the board planes out to the side of the boat as it's being towed along. Once the boards are out then you send out a lure to the desired lead length. You attach a release clip directly to your fishing line. The clip does not allow the line to pay out any farther. Once that's done you now clip the other side of the release clip to the tow line where it's allowed to slide freely up and down the tow line. Letting out more line at this point will only put the bait farther away from the boat, but will not change the depth or lead. The first line you continue paying out your fishing line until the clip is nearly at the board. From there you keep setting lines inside one another stopping them short of the last one, leaving enough space as to not tangle them up. You always want the first line out to be placed in the farthest forward rod holder pointed straight up at the sky and working your way back from there with each additional rod. Now you have the clips spaced out along the towline with the desired number of lines set. It's time to start catching. Once your hooked up and you see a rod bending over you need to release the line from the clip. Grab the rod from the holder take it straight up and over all the other lines towards the back of the boat, then point the rod at the clip and jerk the rod tip up. This will release the fishing line from the clip and allow you to reel the fish in. It is important to allow the fish to fall in behind the back of the boat before you start reeling, otherwise you risk dragging the fish across your entire spread causing a massive tangle. After you have the fish unhooked you then just slide all the other rods down one space. Then let line out to respace the clips and add the rod you just caught a fish on to the rear holder setting the new clip nearest the boat. Take note that the spent clip will still be attached to the tow line. You will collect all of your clips at the end of the troll, or hopefully the end of the day.
The components of your setup will not make or break your success. There are many very good boards, planer masts and reels on the market. Most of them will do the job just fine. As far as that goes it mostly just comes down to preference. We run the boards Amish Outfitters sells. In fact we also run the 800lb test tow line they sell. We use them out of convenience, they are sold nearly everywhere around Lake Erie. If we need a set in a pinch we can have them the same day. We have cisco fishing systems electric planer reels (No mast) on one (The Rachel Marie 2.0) boat. The other boat (Walleye Wagon) has a Big Jon electric mast.
The setup for us is key to efficiency. The point where the tow line comes away from the boat is one of many important parts of the setup. You want the tow line to be high and forward. Ideally you want the line to come away from the boat from no less then 3/4ths of the way to the bow. The farther forward you can get the tow line the better but it comes at a cost. Keep in mind you will need to have access to the tow line to clip your releases on. We use retractable dog leashes attached near the rod holders and clipped to the tow line so it acts at a tether to pull it in so you can reach it. If its all the way out on the bow it makes for more work pulling the line in. You will have to pull it into your reach to clip on the tow line from the back deck of the boat. One of the advantages is you can turn quite a bit sharper with the tow line at the front of the boat. As the boat turns the boards don't respond straight away. The tow line will swing in tight to the boat as the board falls back and can interfere with your rod tips. More distance from the point at which the tow line leaves the boat to where your rod holders are located helps keep this from happening. Another advantage of having the towline forward is it helps keep fishing line from tangling around spent clips. With rods near the back of the boat and the towline forward it makes for more space between the fishing line and the tow line. The spent clips will live on the tow line until you bring your boards in. As the waves and wind take effect on your boat and boards the spent clips will bounce around and spin on the tow line. If your fishing line is laying right along side the tow line the wind and waves will be sure to send it in to a knotted mess wrapping it around the clips and tow line. The more distance and harsher angle you have from the fishing line to the tow line the better.
The height of the tow line helps to keep the tow line out of the water, allowing you to send the boards out farther. This also comes at a cost. With the tow line being very high off the water it will change the depth of the baits. Assuming the same leads from the line nearest the board to the line closest the boat. Sounds terrible right? Its not really a big problem as long as your aware of it. In fact it can be a very effective way to dial in a program. The lines as they catch fish release from the clips, leaving a spent clip on the tow line. If after a bit of fishing you notice you have a pile of clips starting to form at the center of the tow line, lets say its halfway from the board to the boat you can then conclude that the higher lines are doing most of the catching. The opposite is also true if all the clips are out at the end of the line and there are few to no spent clips stuck between the other clips on the line. That also can be a good indicator that the majority of the lines are too far above the fish and don't take a strike until they get moved farther out on the tow line allowing to them run deeper. With that being said you also don't want the tow line up too high. As far as I can tell, you always want the tips of your rods above the height of the tow line. This helps reduce contact of the fishing line to the tow line and reduce tangles.
