4th of July Weekend

[Bob D]

Celebrated Independence Day by fishing Canadian waters for Walleye. On the fourth, we kept four nice ones up to 23" in 15-17 fow off the North shore. Beautiful day with a light breeze and no bugs. We were running two inlines (DCT) on inline boards and two 2 oz bb. Got two on the chartruese/orange bead and blade on the inlines. We got one each on bouncers fishing red with silver blade and green/black with gold blade. Trolling speed was 1.1 - 1.4 mph. We found the fish between 11:00 and 1:00. It seemed to slow down after that. I believe we missed many fish on the board rods. I have the yellow offshore boards with the tattle flag, but the I could not get the flag to work properly. The fish we caught I thought the boards were running funny. Many times I checked lines and the crawler was missing. This rookie captain needs help with these boards. The sonar showed mostly suspended fish about 12 feet down. Guys running crank baits off big boards were doing well.

On the fifth we went back to the same area. The fish did not cooperate. This day was warmer with little to no wind and bugs were hatching. Only caught rock bass. The Wife had a huge smallmouth break off at the boat. I didn't see much success out there except from some of the bass fishermen.

[Bob D]

It was more like the 17-19 fow. Not the 15-17 as stated above.

[tailgunner]

have not fished that area for a few years. were you guys getting the walleyes off the san bar over near Walpole? thanks, bob

[mokis]

Bouncers make it tough with tattle flags but you should be able to move the end of the spring to the other little holes on the front of the board to adjust the spring tension. It also helps to run two boards off each side so you see the board lagging back in comparison to the other board next to it. Hope this helps a little.

[Bob D]

I guess that would be in the deeper water of the sand bar.

I was running inline weights off the boards. I saw the holes and it appeared that I had only one more option to release some tension on the spring. Or perhaps I need to tighten? Anyway, that looks like where I need to make adjustments. Could it be more difficult to use the tattle flags at slower speeds with harnesses? The thing is that not even the smallmouth moved the flag. It just pulled the board underwater for a moment. I would think the flag would bounce or be pegged down the whole way in.

Maybe if I can scrounge some more cash together I can get a couple more boards. I really want to go to big boards eventually, but I thought these would be more inexpensive to start with.

[Slimshady]

I guess that would be in the deeper water of the sand bar.

I was running inline weights off the boards. I saw the holes and it appeared that I had only one more option to release some tension on the spring. Or perhaps I need to tighten? Anyway, that looks like where I need to make adjustments. Could it be more difficult to use the tattle flags at slower speeds with harnesses? The thing is that not even the smallmouth moved the flag. It just pulled the board underwater for a moment. I would think the flag would bounce or be pegged down the whole way in.

Maybe if I can scrounge some more cash together I can get a couple more boards. I really want to go to big boards eventually, but I thought these would be more inexpensive to start with.

The key to the tattle flags is to leave some slack (2-4 inches) in your line between the two clips. Otherwise, the fish can't pull the line enough to make the flag go down. Another tip: if you want to use the tattle flags with something that pulls harder, like a 3-4 oz BB or in-line sinker, mini-disc, etc, you can add a rubber band for more tension. You just put the loop of the rubber band around the flag or around the end of the existing spring, wrap it around the front of the board and loop it around the front clip. You would only do this if the flags are currently being pulled down before you even get a fish. Good luck!

[Slimshady]

I guess that would be in the deeper water of the sand bar.

I was running inline weights off the boards. I saw the holes and it appeared that I had only one more option to release some tension on the spring. Or perhaps I need to tighten? Anyway, that looks like where I need to make adjustments. Could it be more difficult to use the tattle flags at slower speeds with harnesses? The thing is that not even the smallmouth moved the flag. It just pulled the board underwater for a moment. I would think the flag would bounce or be pegged down the whole way in.

Maybe if I can scrounge some more cash together I can get a couple more boards. I really want to go to big boards eventually, but I thought these would be more inexpensive to start with.

Big boards don't have to be expensive. I made the pair that I have (in fact this is the third set that I have made) and they work perfect. You can find the plans on this site, or by searching google for "planer board plans" or something like that. You can buy all of the parts for about $25, which is less than one off-shore board. I also made my own mast from parts you can find at any Home Depot, which I mounted at the front of my boat using a a 6" Traxstech bracket, and a heavy-duty Traxstech net holder. The most expensive parts are the bracket ($30) and the net holder ($35). For releases, I use rubber bands and metal shower curtain clips. You just wrap the rubber-band around the line, put it in the shower-curtain clip, attach the clip to the planer board line and let it slide down. When a fish hits, the rubber band breaks and you are set. If it doesn't break you can at least see the rubber band stretching. The whole thing costs about $100.

[Bob D]

Thanks for the input shady. I decided to look up the instructions and saw the remark about the slack. I thought I tried that, but perhaps not.

I saw the plans for the big boards and intend on trying that. Just not sure where I want to go with a mast system yet.