well my dad has 2 of these and i just found out that i might need to troll next week up in green bay. but was wondering what side your suppost to have your line run? the side with the words or the other side? i’ll post a picture and you guys can tell me what picture looks like the right way. thanks for any advice 
Netmann14,
You’re line should be on the side of the post opposite the board.
Said another way, you should be able to pull the line out of the clamps by pulling it straight away from the board.
The first set of trolling boards I ever owned were Willies.
I still have four of them although they don’t get used as often anymore.
They do work quite well with superlines! 
Figuring out the clamping pressure is the key.
I’m pretty sure you want to see the writing. The line should run on the inside.
You can use the Willie boards on either side. Note that the shaft has a small spring on it. By pushing the shaft in you can rotate the shaft 180 degrees. The board is loaded with shot (shake it) that will fall to the bottom of the board regardless of right or left. You can either snug down the wing nut real tight and fight the board in or connect the rear snap and let the board release from the wing nut. (If you choose the latter attach the rear snap to the line with rubberband so that the board doesn’t slide down to your bait and dislodge the fish from the bait.
best fishes – jim
After taking a closer look at the pictures…..the first picture has the post mounted on the board incorrectly and the second is correct.
The line still goes in the clamps as I described above.
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You can use the Willie boards on either side. Note that the shaft has a small spring on it. By pushing the shaft in you can rotate the shaft 180 degrees. The board is loaded with shot (shake it) that will fall to the bottom of the board regardless of right or left. You can either snug down the wing nut real tight and fight the board in or connect the rear snap and let the board release from the wing nut. (If you choose the latter attach the rear snap to the line with rubberband so that the board doesn’t slide down to your bait and dislodge the fish from the bait.
best fishes – jim
That is correct, but….the arm is mounted backwords in the first picture. The second picture has the arm mounted in the board correctly.
When the arm is mounted correctly, you can then push in on the arm and rotate it 180 degrees. This will allow you to run the board on either the port or starboard side of the boat.
ok thanks guys i will run them with the post opposite the words. thanks again.
Definetley the picture on the right. (The angled edge is what causes the board to pull away from the Boat). If you rotate the metal shaft 180 degrees you can use it on the other side of the Boat. Be sure to set the tension tight enough to keep the board on when a Fish strikes or it hits a big wave.( you DO NOT want to be trying to turn around to pick-up a released board) You can then reel in until you or someone in the boat can remove it while you keep tension on the line. Be sure to reel down to the persons hand and have them release the line when you get reeled down to their hand to avoid slack line. 
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Be sure to set the tension tight enough to keep the board on when a Fish strikes or it hits a big wave.( you DO NOT want to be trying to turn around to pick-up a released board) You can then reel in until you or someone in the boat can remove it while you keep tension on the line. Be sure to reel down to the persons hand and have them release the line when you get reeled down to their hand to avoid slack line.
I begg to differ, this is a break away board that will remain on your line and you will not loose the board.
How to set this board…
1. infront of your lure, maybe 6′, you will want a barrel swivel with a bead on the front line.
2. let out the line you want to run behind the board.
3. snap the board’s rear swivel and snap to line
4. attach line in the front spring loaded clip. You will want to play with tension on it. This style of board is made to release at the front spring loaded release when a fish hits. Remember the rear snap and swivel on the board attached to the line? It will slide down to the bead and barrel you attached 6′ infront of lure. If you dont run the bead and swivel you risk the board hitting the fish and knocking it off.
5. The reason for this set up is that you do not have to fight the board into the boat and then release the board before fighting only the fish.
It can be very tricky to set the spring just right when fishing in waves. I typically use a solid attachment at the front because i hate the front releasing on waves and choose to fight the board. It can be tricky tell if there is a smaller fish on the lure, watch for subtle changes it how deep the board rides in the water. I rigged mine with tattler flags that drop when a fish is on the line, MUCH easier. Best luck.
-Mark
Nettman
Forget about trying to set these boards to release when a fish hits. They were made to do that but its to big of a pain in the 
.
Just turn the clamps tight and reel the board in with the fish.
Here is a tip for fighting fish behind a planer board:
Some fish may try to swim from starboard to port side of the boat (or port to starboard) – either way, don’t ever allow this to happen! (big brown trout like to do this sometimes) It you allow a fish to do this, it will come off almost every time due to slack in the line. It’s impossible to keep the line tight to a board running on the wrong side of the boat.
When fighting fish behind a board, always keep the fish & the board behind & slightly to the side of the boat by steering away from the fish. Do not be afraid to goose the engine if needed in order to stop a fish from crossing or passing the boat.
Good luck and be sure to let us all know how it goes!
Haven’t run a willies board in years, but we used to always crank them down tight so they wouldn’t pop. Just easier than trying to mess with the tension. They always seemed to work fine, just prefer the off-shore. They’ll be fun to use on Green Bay. Always like to see the board get buried by those GB fish. Those fish will probably take the willies down like a big orange bobber. 
Where can I get parts for this planer board. Such as the rod assy. with the release? Thankyou in advance.
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Haven’t run a willies board in years, but we used to always crank them down tight so they wouldn’t pop. Just easier than trying to mess with the tension. They always seemed to work fine, just prefer the off-shore. They’ll be fun to use on Green Bay. Always like to see the board get buried by those GB fish. Those fish will probably take the willies down like a big orange bobber.
Agree! We always just ran them tight. If they pop and slide down to the crank, you will lose fish.
-J.
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