How to catch crappie with planer boards by Brad Wiegmann

It seems simple enough. You attach a couple planer boards to your line and kick the trolling motor up on high taking the boards out to the side of your boat. It’s a great way to catch lots of crappie, but is there really more to it than just tying on a couple lures and moving forward?


“I like using planer boards to get the lures away from the boat especially if the crappie are spooky. Plus it lets you put out multiple rods and troll at the same time,” Kentucky Lake Crappie-Gills-n-More fishing guide Doug Wynn continued, “I use Off Shore Tackle (www.offshoretackle.com) planer boards when I’m trolling because they have the best boards and by far the best releases you can buy.”



Wynn usually uses the OR12 Side Planer with a Tattle Flag for trolling crankbaits or heavier lures. When using an underspin or jig an OR38 Mini Planer. Although an angler can use the larger OR12 Side Planer with the smaller, lightweight lures Wynn believes the majority of the time the lighter weight lures are better suited for the more economical OR38 Mini Planer.


One optional product Wynn has on his larger OR12 Side Planer is the optional Tattle Flag OR12TFEK upgrade. The Tattle Flag upgrade changes the stationary red flag to a Tattle Flag that indicates if the lure is getting a strike. “The Tattle Flag indicates if a crappie strikes a lure, but crappie have a tendency to come to the surface when caught so you will actually see the crappie and flag when one gets hooked,” Wynn went on, “I use it mostly to see a strike or when some trash or debris gets hooked on my lure.”


Normally, Wynn will use 3 rods out to the side of the boat and one rod right out the back over the outboard. “Really the number of rods depend on where I am fishing, angling pressure and size of area I can fish,” Wynn continued, “If its congested I may only use 3 rods out each side, but keep them in closer to the boat. If the crappie are spooky than I want the boards out as far as I can get them.”



His typical setup is the shallowest rod out the farthest having an OR12 planer board with the shortest line out to the outside with just a PICO Lure (www.picolures.com) INT Deep Diving Crankbait. The next rod is another planer board having a free line with a PICO crankbait. The last one and the closest is planer board with an Off Shore Tackle #2 Tadpole. To complete the trolling setup Wynn adds a free line over the outboard with a lure or crankbait.


Once an angler has their rig setup for trolling planer boards the big question is how deep or how far back should my lures be running? Wynn noted that there is no magic bait or number of feet let off a reel when trolling. In general Wynn likes to stagger out the lures according to the depth he is trolling.


Anglers that are interested in how deep their lures are diving can go to Precision Trolling Data. The Android or iOS app allows anglers to input their crankbait model and brand like PICO INT Crankbaits to see how deep their lure is diving according to the amount of fishing line out from the reel. In addition to lures the app also include diving depth of trolling hardware such as diving planers line Off Shore Tackle Tadpoles and also sinking line like lead core.


Another product accessory that can’t be overlooked is releases. Planer board releases are like M&M’s. Off Shore Tackle has any style of release you would possible want capable of holding everything from monofilament to braid, from off shore to inshore fishing to any specific species of game fish. When purchasing planer boards an angler should order planer boards with the correct style and size for the lures they are fishing.