Planer Boards

I’m looking into buying a couple planer boards for walleye fishing. I have never used them and was just wondering if anyone has any advice on a certain model to get or any info on their experience on how useful these boards are. Also can anyone explain on how these fish seeker divers work and if they are useful. Thanks

I love pulling boards!

I have off-shore tackle boards with the “tattle-tail” flags.

I’ve never fished with the dipsey’s or fish seekers above, you may want to check out Lake Erie specific info. I know they get used out there.

As for boards, I’m an Off Shore tackle guy. I replaced the standard clips with quick clips and added the tattle flags. You don’t have to do these things right away, but they are nice options if you decide board fishing is for you. Go to your local sporting goods store and play around with one or two different styles. Come back and ask questions.

I use Off Shore as well, but my favorite board is my Gary Roach board! Best clips in the biz!

Those fish seeking divers are notorious for good cluster busters! I speak from experiance!
I use Gary Roach boards and love em!

I think they are the same as the Roach Boards,but I use Church’s Walleye Board. CLICK HERE for information on these boards at Cabelas. They also come with tattle flags. I think it is called the “Pro Pack”. CLICK HERE for those boards. I think they are the best. I have Off Shore’s and never use them unless I have more than 3 rods going.

The fish seekers are similar to Jet Divers. I have minimal use with the divers. I think they have different diver sizes that dive different depths. There is a “Big Water” trolling bible that talks about these and has dive curves for them along with dipsys and perhaps these Seekers you are refering too? The jet divers do not work with deep diving cranks. They pull the back down and do not dive properly. Spinners and shallow cranks work on these. I will be using these a lot more this Summer, along with my secret weapon

Yep. Those would be the ones. The clips do wear faster, but I like them a lot!

I use the Off-Shore Boards. I also replace the back clip with a snap weight clip, I have found they hold the line way better than the ones that come on them. They have the peg in the middle of the pad so the line can’t come off.

Timely topic, I was just looking for some boards to try for the first time. Can anyone recomend a book that explains how to use them?

I use the Off Shore’s as well as the small Church in line boards.

I like the Church boards for spinners and shallow running cranks when I’m pulling in shallow water. They tend to get out to the side a bit more, and they don’t seem to churn up as much wake or noise in the water, plus they are a smaller profile so they are less likely to spook fish in the shallow water.

Thanks for the input guys. The Church and Off-Shore were the boards i was looking at. Sounds like a lot of you switch the back clips. This something i will want to do? What pound test seems to work the best with the boards right off the shelf?

TUO, I have kept the “stock” clips on the Church Boards and have never had a problem. I think this is the consnesus of most users. I do know most people switch the clips out on the Off Shore boards. I have not done this to mine, therefore I do not use those often.

Where do you plan on pulling boards? Are you fairly new to this presentation??

I use 10 lb Smoke Fireline and 10-14? lb Spiderwire Stealth on my line coutner rods. I like the Stealth better, just waiting to switch a reel over when need be.

I have never used them before. Just thought it would be fun to try for something new. I will most likely be using them for eyes on lakes in northern wisconsin. Probably in nothing over 25 feet of water for the most part.

Is braided line the way to go, with a mono leader?

I personally use 10 lb XT, but I do know that the super lines will get your bait down alot deeper with less line. I have not tried running them with anything else besides mono.

Ok sounds fun. This is a great way to fish. There are quite a few of us IDA’ers that Pull boards a ton in the Summer on Mille Lacs. There were quite a few good posts for beginers and long time board pullers last Summer. I will look to se if I can find one or two on post the link here. I think someone in that “seminar” called it ‘Planer Boards 101’.

To answer your question I usally run the braided/superline and tie it direct to a snap or clasp and attach your lure of choice. Look back for the link to the post.

JB is correct. I think like most other things the line used here is a “personal preference” thing. I like Super line and I know a few other guys besides JB that like mono. A guy that I traded a lot of information on spots, lures, speeds, etc. last year liked mono way better. It was tough cause we always ahd to do the mono / super line conversions for lure depths . Anyways that brings up another subject for TipUpsOnly. I highly suggest on getting a “Trolling Bible” to help you out with Lure depth vs. Line out ratios. Most Ganders, Fleet Farms and Cableas carry them.

Here is a link to a great thread on Pulling boards. It is quite lenghty but well worth the read. Not only the report, but also all the replies after the report is where it gets very detailed and inforamtion shared very freely.

CLICK HERE