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I just read in the new in fisherman about using off shore planner boards for crappie. As a walleye guy I know how to do it and have thought about it a couple times but never tried it. My question to you guys is have you ever tried it? If so what do you think.
I need to tune in my trolling rigs so I might just give it shot when and if the ice melts
I have not myself Roy, but the boys down south do a considerable sum. Take a look at this: http://www.crappie.com/crappie/showt...t=planer+board.
I did an advanced search (upper right hand corner of any forum page) and got several pages of posts on the subject. Go take a look and good luck.
I saw that article and was intrigued by it, especially since last summer I played around with a mini-planer board along a few weed lines & closer to shore. Caught a surprising amount of panfish, but nothing more than usual. Didn't really think it was much different from long-lining other than you were off to the side, but after the walleye run is over, I might try it with the bigger boards as described in the article and in deeper water. Won that little board in a raffle, didn't even know they make 'em that small, :) .Quote:
Originally Posted by royboy78
I have not used the mini boards yet. I have 8 off shore tackle boards and 6 of them have the tattle flags. So I'm going to give it a shot. I like the fact that you cover so many depths with the boards and be able to put a program together a little quicker
Kent,
You might be on to something here. I am familiar with the Mini-boards both "off shore" and "Gary Roach" and own about 20. I never thought of using them for Crappies. I recall a conversation that Don and I had about spider rigging. One of the big drawbacks here in Michigan (on most lakes) is the relatively clear water we have. Fish tend to get spooked by the boat "pushing" the spider rig rods.
We use planers to get the baits away from the boat on Walleyes for that exact reason. Might be a better program for us with the clear water. Also, I suspect more hook-ups than long lining as you are clearing out the fish with the boat long before the bait gets there.
I am not intrigued as you are. Besides, I love to troll. I know ready2fish (Jim) pulls cranks for Crappies. I wonder if he has done it on the boards yet?
I meant "I AM as intrigued as you are"
Last fall the Grenada tournament was won by 2 walleye guys from Iowa. Using boards and Flicker Shads
wilbur is a guber
I think that you need to bring, oh say about four of those to spring camp. Just leave them layin' around in your boat for a few hours if you could.
never used em before, I had Kevin show me last year how they worked, I could see them being handy if you were pulling more then 4 lines and you needed to spread things out
Yeah, the only real reason I even used one (mini) was because it was free (raffle) & if I have a piece of equipment, I like to at least try it out. One thing that was nice about the mini PB was it's adjustable to either the right or left side, so you don't necessarily need to bring out a bunch of boards. I just ran one off the side, adjusted it & came back along the same path with it on the opposite side of the boat ... doesn't compare to the original mini-planar size boards with the tattle flags, though. I'm glad In-Fisherman came out with that article, because I would not have thought to use the original/standard mini planar board like that and/or for crappie.Quote:
Originally Posted by royboy78
It's definitely worth looking into, especially if you already have the equipment (which most walleye-guys do). I also got some of those 'Tadpole' weights to use in conjunction with the boards (raffle), but so far haven't used those because the standard in-line stuff works fine. I use the chart that came with them in regards to line-out/depth as a general reference for any generic in-line weight & it seems to work.Quote:
Originally Posted by wicklundrh
:lol, I did kinda' scratch my head for a minute.Quote:
Originally Posted by wicklundrh
That's what I kinda' thought as well ... run one board, maybe two ... probably only one side ... but when would I need to run that wide a spread on both sides fishing for Crappie? (at least in Michigan). And I'm pretty sure you're gonna' wind up with quite a few collateral species, depending on where you're trolling.Quote:
Originally Posted by ready2fish
I gotta' find that magazine & reread the article, :scratchhead.
:Rofl Floating Wal-Mart! Just remember to return them if they don't work!Quote:
Originally Posted by yankee doodler
Oh man, the article I was referring to was an In-Fisherman article from a few months ago that did mention a few guys winning a tourney using boards (as previously noted), but was in no way as in-depth as the article in the current issue. I'm looking at the list of tackle & the spreads on pg 52/53 and see what I was doing differently, ie single board pulling crawler harness. On page #20 there are a couple crappie trolling rigs. If you guys are familiar with handlining, the one on the left looks like a lightweight handline rig, :). More food for thought.
One thing that keeps crossing my mind is that we use boards to cover large areas for walleye populations that are generally on the move. If Crappie tend to suspend in one area & don't move around much, you basically have to find them & run over them with these board methods, eh? I'm also wondering how much of the North vs South techniques as Rich & Don discussed will come in to play, ie it might work down south, but not as well in the Great Lakes.
It does kinda' make me think more across the board in maybe applying some techniques to species I've never thought of before, that's for sure.
I think this will work great for finding fish. And yes you will get all sorts of species. Heck I have caught 20lbs cats out on Saginaw bay trolling crawler harnesses.
Just a little different way to do things. I learned crappie fishing with a minnow and bobber from my grandpa. I know I'll never get him to try this way of fishing and that's fine I'm always looking for new ways to go after fish.
let us know if you try it out,for me its to much work
We used a lot of the bigger ones on Sag. Bay for Walleye and had a ball with them. Had tattle flags and even lights on them. I would like to have a couple of them down here right now.