To planer board or not

Well guys I have spent the last week learning to use planer boards. I can say they are easy to use and a lot of fun. I recently got some crappie reaper boards to use along with off shore boards mini's and or 12's. After using all of them I am sold on the crappie reapers. These little boards float high on the water and are extremely easy to use. The price is right at $30 for two of them. These boards are built by a member of crappie.com and are being built on the crappie shark design by Mr. Bishop. Jeff who makes the crappie reaper has been to MR. bishops shop and learned some of the ins and outs of building them as Mr. Bishop is no longer going to build them commercially.

Hopefully Jeff will become a sponsor of the site also.

These little boards worked flawlessly in rough water and calm water. They enabled me to turn a whole lot quicker than without using them for sure. As long as they are spaced good in between them you can turn sharp and they will form a train formation and when you straighten back up they will reform the Vee formation. Enjoy the pix from our week of vacation.

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Hope this helps other people in there decision to use them. Just another tool in the arsenal for chasing them crappies.

I've wondered about them myself...that turning more quickly would sure get you back on the fish quicker... Thx for sharing JW

Thanks arkansasbowhunter and your kind remarks glad you liked the boards. Looks like they worked great for you guys.

Do they have tattle tell flags?

Looks like you got it figured out. Too complicated for me, I think.

No creek they don't. I used them from .4-2.2 mph and with jigs and cranks and worked great. Bites are no problem to detect. Using jigs at the slower speeds sets them apart from other boards as they float and will ride high and not try to sink. Very easy to use !!!

JW, would they hold up to push with?? Say 20 foot of line behind the board with a 3oz weight on it?

John I don't know on that. I can try that out this week maybe and let ya know. I know they worked with 1/2 oz wt and 1/8 jig pulling. I didn't try anything bigger wt wise. They held up to the bandit 300's well.

Excellent review/post/info........Thanks for the post and pics!!

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Originally Posted by arkansasbowhunter

Well guys I have spent the last week learning to use planer boards. I can say they are easy to use and a lot of fun. I recently got some crappie reaper boards to use along with off shore boards mini's and or 12's. After using all of them I am sold on the crappie reapers. These little boards float high on the water and are extremely easy to use. The price is right at $30 for two of them. These boards are built by a member of crappie.com and are being built on the crappie shark design by Mr. Bishop. Jeff who makes the crappie reaper has been to MR. bishops shop and learned some of the ins and outs of building them as Mr. Bishop is no longer going to build them commercially.

Hopefully Jeff will become a sponsor of the site also.

These little boards worked flawlessly in rough water and calm water. They enabled me to turn a whole lot quicker than without using them for sure. As long as they are spaced good in between them you can turn sharp and they will form a train formation and when you straighten back up they will reform the Vee formation. Enjoy the pix from our week of vacation.

Attachment 166812Attachment 166813Attachment 166814Attachment 166815Attachment 166816

Hope this helps other people in there decision to use them. Just another tool in the arsenal for chasing them crappies.

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It's always good to add a new tactic to your arsenal. Stay versatile. Good post.

We have used these boards for around 7 or 8 yrs now . They are very fun to use and deadly on the crappie in the spring when they are suspended . The turns can be made very easy and they will run in extremely shallow water, we run them in the 12-18 inches of water.

How much line did you have out behind the boards, the normal amount to run the depth you wanted or ?

When I clicked on this thread I really thought I was going to be enlightened with useful information regarding what conditions might warrant a decision to break out the planer boards or just continue to straight-line (which is by the way a major factor at certain times). Didn't realize it was going to be an advertisement for a certain BRAND of board and that you were only informing us that you had just learned how TO use a board, LOL. Just my opinion, but we do have an off-topic page on board for sales-pitch and product review type of information.

DANG J.W., you must have a target on your back!!! I do appreciate you posting the results of your first experience with using planer boards. It really helps shorten the curve for those of us who cant afford to buy every brand on the market to see which one works best. It just might prevent someone from buying junk and getting stuck with it because they cant afford to buy more. That's what this site is all about, thanks for your contribution.

Just get tired of clicking on a thread (or website) and having it turn out to be nothing but a sales pitch. He didn't show me one single thing the CR would do that the Offshores boards could not do just as well or better.... It was also a curiosity to me that a so-called moderator on here would promote a particular brand, especially when I see OFFSHORE products as a sponsor at the bottom of every Crappie.com page I open. I am sure Offshore was thrilled to see that! I support the companies that support Crappie fishing per se and not the ones that just want to make money off Crappie fishermen. I definitely had a strong impression from the thread that some gratuity was provided (whether admitted or not) for the plug, JMHO! BTW, cmj you might need to check out the Offshore's for yourself before you make an assumption about what is junk, LOL.

So we should only talk about products that come from a sponsor of this site, give me a break.
Great report JW, still waiting on the info about the 3 oz weight.:biggrin

JW- tell us about how they release? And how you reel them in without getting tangled in other lines? Thanks.

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Originally Posted by luvpt

BTW, cmj you might need to check out the Offshore's for yourself before you make an assumption about what is junk, LOL.

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Fair enough. But just to be clear, I wasnt calling any brand junk. Chances are, I will never get into this style of fishing anyway because it is too complicated, and way too rich for my blood!! If I do decide to check it out, I will probably just hire a guide, or try to con J.W. into taking me out and showing me how it is done! Hint, hint :biggrin

I think if we only promote sponsor products here, we're setting ourselves up to be ripped off. Intelligence comes from comparison. If we only talk about one brand, how are we going to know which one is REALLY the best not only in quality, but also in affordability. I'm a Sponsor Member here, but everybody talks about different brands of boats other than what I sell. I think that's fair!!! I like a well educated, and informed customer. It makes my job easier.

Like I said before, if it's gonna be an obvious sales pitch it shouldn't be on the main board. Put it in off topic or in the classifieds. Just my opinion guys.

i say it was a review if different boards not a sales pitch, he gave some points that the reapers ride higher in the water and are easy to use, never seen you dog someone out so bad for just giving their opinions, rediculious !!!!!

If anyone would like more information please feel free to pm me. Like I said I tried 2 different brands and 3 models. Was going to give more information but at this point just going to decline. Any one wanting to try he off shore mini's, off shore 12's and the reapers just give me a shout. Maybe I can save you some money was a long week and laid down for a nap before getting back to give more information.

Seems like we can't post any pictures cause we are deemed braggers, reviews because we are sales pitching, etc. I have never had anyone come back and say man you recommended a piece of junk!!

Sorry to offend you Steve. When you posted your trip about fishing with a member that has been banned for a reason I don't know I sent you a private txt and pm instead of deleting the thread which went in answered. Sometimes things are better handled through pm's or phone calls IMO.

I see Steve you have forgot that I helped promote the offshore company two years in a row by helping bring there products to our spring camps (guppy weights and planer boards) before they were a sponsor of .com. I have talked with Bruce on several occasions and respect his company. For that reason I didn't put any negative comments on there products! I found that the reapers fit what I wanted them to do more than the offshore mini boards and there 12 inch boards.

I had received a pm also that crappie reaper has become a paid sponsor. Glad to see that products can be introduced and talked about before they become sponsors!!!

I haven't brought that up before now but since you did I will answer. I mentioned in passing that a member had been with us on a fishing trip and that was all that was said about him. That should not have been a violation of any rule that I can see. Lo and behold Mr moderator comes along and edits my post. Several posts lighter one of your buddies mentions the same members name in a derogatory light and talks about him being banned. That would have been a violation of the rules. However, your buddies post was never touched. Now what do you think that tells me? Regarding the planer board post, I happen to be a big fan of Offshore because they not only make a great product they are also a major sponsor both on this site and Crappiemasters. They were the only other company you reviewed in your post and basically insinuated that they were not only overpriced but an inferior product. It seemed to be a self serving post to me and I was just wondering what you got out of it.

I think everyone has had their say so let's close this one.