I am building my own double blade wooden planer boards. I have found some free plans online and some builds on Youtube. But I cannot find anywhere is what the best type of rope to use to anchor them to the boat. I found florescent Orange Para-cord for visibility but I’m not sure if it’s heavy enough. I know it’s strong enough but it’s diameter is very small…
What’s everyone else use?
Kevin
What are you using for planer reels??
Braided Mason line works as does trimmer line (weed whip line)
I use the Cabela’s orange planer board cord and I drag large Big Jon boats for my boards. No problems.
Parts from my DIY mast project.
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Im a fan of the Traxstech Planer line. Its a 200# mono, it has some stretch. Stretch comes in handy when you are in waves, the main line will not drop into the water near as much making for less jerking of your fishing lines. Mono also does not soak up water and get heavy causing the main line to droop more.
If you find that you like using big boards but get tired of them taking up the space look into Capt. Rich’s boards available at Marine General. They pull like a mule and are a single board with a folding arm. Very compact.
I second the Captain Rich’s boards.
I don’t think there is a better board available.
They are ten times better than the folding Riveara’s I had.
Super Dave that is freaking genius I just clip my orange cord to the rail in the tooner. To store I wrap up on an empty beer can than put in the front cup holders. In defiantly making a couple of those to swap between the tooner and boat!
What are you using for planer reels??
Braided Mason line works as does trimmer line (weed whip line)
Well B-man that is a very good question as I didn’t know you needed line reels.
I’ll have to think on that. I see Superdave is using bait casters so there’s an option.
I gather pretty much anything will work as long as it’s light weight.
For anyone wanting to make masts, I’ve got a lot of step by step pics and willing to post if you’re interested. Off the shelf masts were advertised for around $300/ea and these were around $100/ea
Heck yeah Superdave post them… I’d love to see them.
Don’t think that you need any fancy planer line reels. Keep in mind, its fishing not a fashion show. Mast line management can be very simple as previously stated by the fella that wraps his line around a can…
If you can afford the MFG spools that clamp on to your arch they do work great and look nice but don’t think you need to shell out $200 to wind your line.
Ive seen some really great ideas when searching google images for “Homemade planer mast”. Im currently beginning to build a mast for my small boat that simply uses 2 rope cleats fastened 24″ apart to each side my mast pipe. Just hand wrap the line around the cleats for storage, very simple and basic.
You can also make your own spools easily if you want to go that route also. Any large diameter spool will work and just fasten crank arm to it. Again you can just pay out the amount of main line you want out then wrap the line around a rope cleat to hold the line or even design a clutch system with lock knob if you like too.
Many ways to skin this cat, it can be spendy or simplistic it depends what you want.
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This post will be a series of posts I made on a different board back when I built my masts.
Here is the first round of Cabelas parts. I drilled and threaded the thumb knobs on the bases. Aluminum tubes are in transit from Amazon for the riser part of the mast. For the spool, Cabelas had some Depthmaster III – 45’s in the bargain cave for $40. They easily hold the spool of 150′ of mast line. I’m debating on whether or not to stay with the Bert’s pulley wheel of go hardware store.
In order to strengthen the tubes, I inserted a 5/8″ wooden dowel that fits snug in the 3/4″ OD tubing.
Project is complete but for the testing phase.
Mast connected to gunnel.
Damn SuperDave those are slick. Way fancier than what I had planned. Is aluminum really necessary or can I get away with 2″ pvc? About the only way to anchor a mast in my boat is in the pedestal base on the bow. I figured I’d run some guy wires to the front to support the pull from the planer boards.
I couldn’t find any of the pics I had from the ones I had in my Ratscene/Lake MI days in the 80s. Very similar to SupeDave’s. I only had a single mass with eyelets on each side for clipping my pulleys to. I made it into a seat post that went in a front seat base. Then I had supports going to gunnel cleats on each side.
I made my boards out of 1×8 cedar and I don’t remember the distance between the boards. BUT – I ended up experimenting with the location of the eyelets for the inner board to connect my mainline too. Just moving it forward or back an inch or two can make a huge difference on how well they tracked.
Additionally, I ended up adding weight to the rear back corner’s to help the front cut into waves a little better. On calmer days, they tracked perfect. When I was fighting 1 to 2 foot chop, they always seem to get a drag in the waves and started sagging more behind the boat as apposed to out to the side of the boat. Don’t be afraid to experiment with them
Kevin, if you were committed to using PVC, I’d try to find 1 1/4″ or 1 1/2″ that you could slide a piece of closet rod in and then through bolt for strength. A mast is a long moment arm with a lot of stress. The guy wires would certainly help but also a little bit of a PITA. Just try it and adapt.
Damn SuperDave those are slick. Way fancier than what I had planned. Is aluminum really necessary or can I get away with 2″ pvc? About the only way to anchor a mast in my boat is in the pedestal base on the bow. I figured I’d run some guy wires to the front to support the pull from the planer boards.
Kevin, scrap the PVC idea. It just doesn’t have the stout walls you’ll need. As I mentioned above, I used a seat base up in the front of my boat for mine. Just bought an extra seat pedestal and added my aluminum pipe in that. Couple bolts and the base was solid. I did add eyelets on each side and supported the mass each side to the gunnel cleats. Worked out very well for lake MI use
That was kind of the thought I had had with the PVC Randy. I was going to bet another pedestal and slip a 2″ piece of PVC over it and then clamp it with some hose clamps. I guess I could try to get a chunk of 2″ galvanized pipe and see if that would fit over the pedestal. I”m assuming I’d still need the guy wires though.
Is that how you had yours only with aluminum tubing?
I found an aluminum tube that fit inside the pedestal I had. This isn’t the exact same, but very similar.
Sounds like I”m on the right track just need tougher materials. I’ll see if I can find some aluminum tubing somewhere.
Measure the ID of your pedestal and look for something that will fit snug. You can also drill and tap your pedestal so that you can add a knob or thumb screw to get a secure fit.
Got some pretty cool board set-ups. I do it a little different not to say my way is in amy way better. I have Cannon electric riggers on swivel bases. I rotate the riggers booms forward and let the board run out (manually back off the tension knob – electric out is too fast). No need for a mast as the wire cuts through any waves and the metal on metal releases really zing out….I also use inline boards when fishing alone.
Got some pretty cool board set-ups. I do it a little different not to say my way is in amy way better. I have Cannon electric riggers on swivel bases. I rotate the riggers booms forward and let the board run out (manually back off the tension knob – electric out is too fast). No need for a mast as the wire cuts through any waves and the metal on metal releases really zing out….I also use inline boards when fishing alone.
That’s ingenious if you don’t need to run the riggers down. I might steal this idea for early season Coho’s on Lake Superior.
Here’s another question. Fishing Pole location in regards to the Mast? Is the mast in front of the poles or behind the poles?
Here’s another question. Fishing Pole location in regards to the Mast? Is the mast in front of the poles or behind the poles?
The farther forward the mast, and the higher it is the better.
Higher the Mast B-man or higher the pole? As far as a mast I was thinking 6’… would that be high enough?
Higher the Mast B-man or higher the pole? As far as a mast I was thinking 6’… would that be high enough?
The higher the mast, the greater distance one can get without the line touching the water. I made mine 5′ off my gunnel. The problem that creates for a short guy like me is I need a stick with a hook to reach the mast line to hook up.
P.S. I ordered my clips off ebay for cheap and use standard curtain rod hangers for the retainer. the clips come from China so they take a while to get to you but at a buck a clip it was worth the wait to me.
Okay… It rained all weekend so I was able to finish my planer boards. They turned out so well I don’t want to get them wet!!! LOL… Seriously I hope they work as well as they look.
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