Marine, Hunting,
Fishing, Tackle and Truck Supplies
In
chartering, you try to have all your equipment working perfectly
to help make your client' s day an enjoyable one. One of our main
"tools" is our planer boards. For walleye fishing,
board fishing is half our arsenal along with dipsey divers.
If the boards don' t pull right, it' s hard to get the proper spread behind the boat. The boards must pull hard as well as ride up fairly even with the boat. If they don' t pull hard, the tow line will drag in the water, you can' t get the releases to slide down easily, and it is difficult to make tight turns. With a soft pulling board, you commit the mortal sin when turning; having both boards on the same side of the boat. If the boards lag back behind the boat, you can' t get a good wide spread of lures. You end up covering a 100' swath instead of a 300' swath. The whole purpose of fishing boards is to cover a wide area of water.
After trying all the plastic boards, doubles as well as triples, I found that they were all lacking in pulling power. Wooden boards seemed to be the answer, but what type of wood? After a lot of experimentation, redwood worked the best.
With our boards, we found that they are the most effective if you don' t paint, varnish, or polyurethane them. It sounds wrong, but the more water these boards soak up, the harder they pull. By the end of the day I call them my stealth boards because they ride so low in the water. They will eventually get really ugly, weathering out and cracking, but keep running them. I have actually had to retire a set I have used for six years because they pull too hard.
I recommend that you use 200# test planer board line.
These boards collapse for easy storage, but be careful not to step on them, they will break.
Hard, harder, and hardest pulling boards
You wanted harder pulling boards, now you have got them.
The redwood boards pull hard, now try the new cypress planer boards. They are the same size as the redwoods, but more dense. More dense translates out to heavier. They run deeper in the water so they pull harder. Better beef up your mast system including your planer board line. I had some pros try the cypress boards and they were blown away by the pull. So I went to the next level.
While I was picking up a shipment of cypress, I had the owner of the mill suggest that I try some plastic. I asked if it floated. We cut off a piece and threw it in the sink and it floated, barely. He gave me some of the boards to try. I cut them up and made a set and gave them to a buddy to run the next day.
The boards run with about 1" of board above the water and will pull a smaller boat to one side with only one out. Putting both boards out will definitely slow a boat down. The boat must be in neutral to retrieve the boards. 200# test planer board line won't hold them in a chop. They didn't dive or jump. They just pulled, even on turns. I am putting a pinwheel in with them so they can be seen. Just stick it in the hole on the back of the outside board.
So now I have three styles of planer boards, hard, harder, and hardest.
Prices are as follows:
The redwoods (32") will still be made and will be $159.95 plus $18.95
shipping.
The cypress will be a little cheaper at $139.95 plus $19.95 shipping.
The plastic will be a little more because the price of the material is horrific
- $169.95 plus $19.95 shipping.
You can buy these in the catalog section.
For more information on any of our accessories, contact us at captainfrank@yknotcharters.com or call 1-800-473-1748.