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Last year I fell in love with trolling crankbaits for crappie. As I'm gearing up for this summer, what do you all use for planer boards? Most specifically size. I feel like too small and the cranks will drag them too much, but too big and I won't be able to tell a bite. What's that Goldilocks "just right" size?
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I run planners pre spawn and spawn and post spawn we just longline with 16's 12's 8's and 4's It is the best way to go in my opinion. The fish are deeper and the length of line you will have to put out between boards and crank is a headache to put up with in my opinion. If you've just got to do it Offshore makes a big board for this. Ask by sending a PM to MrDux. I think he's on their prostaff. Tell him Tenncrappie sent you.
Off Shore Tackle's OR-38 is small enough to run jigs and roadrunners shallow but also big enough to handle cranks the size of Pico INTs or Bandits. If you want a bigger board with a tattle flag, they make the OR-12. My eyes aren't as good as they once were so in summertime I like to run the OR-12 sized board with tattle flag. It takes some practice to be able to trip the front release but watch the videos on the Off Shore Tackle web site or Facebook page to learn it.
Many folks don't realize one must let out the same amount of line from the crankbait to the board as you normally would from the crank to the rod tip THEN clip the board on and let it out as far as you please. I use my line-counters reels just like if I was pulling cranks without boards. I rarely run big boards with clients but they love the small boards in shallow water. There is a learning curve to boards as Chris will tell you but they really add another arrow to your quiver if you'll take the time to learn.
I like the Redi Rig Stealth Planers, they are perfect for crankbaits. You can see them very easily, I also have some Opti mini boards I like to use with jigs or roadrunners. They will run crankbaits as well, but if there is a chop / waves they can be harder to see. The release system on the redi rigs are not a challenge much at all, the opti's can be a bit more difficult.