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I've been targeting walleyes using simple plugs and bottom bouncers with some jigging thrown in here and there.

I've thought about adding on to my bag of tricks and try planer boards. before I make the investment of time and a little money to try them out, does anyone have any tips?
do they work, or not? are they worth it?
special rods/reels/line?
do I need a line counter?
what kinds of baits can I use?

any advice is appreciated before I just start buyin schit and trying this or that.


Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.

Calm seas don't make sailors.
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I'm just getting up (2:10 am) to go walleye fishing right now !

We got 17 in 4.5 hours from 2.5 to 7 # last time out. We're using boards, and line counters. I'll get back here later with more info...

How deep will you be fishing ?

Bill


Old Fishermen never die, we just get reel tired.

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and climb on every rung.
May you stay......Forever young
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I'm headed out to fish walleyes now too.

typically depths I fish will be less than 20' and 95% of the time 8-14' will be the max.


Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.

Calm seas don't make sailors.
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Tough fishing yesterday, last Wednesday we went for 4 hours and got 17 walleyes from 2.5 to 7 pounds.
Yesterday went 9 hours for 4 fish, two 7's a 6 and a 4 pounder.

We fish those same depths in spring time. Usually we are at 4 to 9 feet in the month of May, by August we're fishing 95 to 120'.

My favorite setup for those depths is a 7.5 or 8' medium, or Medium/light rod. I like the Okuma Blue Dimond rods, but any trolling rod made by any of the big name companies works well.

The use of a line counter reel helps a lot when trying to repeat a successful depth.

I use either a Daiwa Sealine LC5 Linecounter Reel in 17LC5 size when fishing shallow, (We very seldom let out more than 120' of line, so you won't need a big reel)

Diawa reel

Or a Okuma Coldwater Low Pro Linecounter Reel

Okuma reel

I started using the Okuma this spring, and it's a great reel, I have used the Diawa for MANY years, and have no complaints about them, but I like the Okuma much better.

For those depths you won't need anything like line weights, or leaded line. We use different lures and let out various lengths of line (this is where the line counters shine !!) to get to the depth we want, you'll want to be near the bottom without snagging every 5 minutes.
I like using 20 pound fire line, and a 10 to 20 foot leader of Seaguar fluorocarbon for a leader. I don't use the Seaguar "Leader" line (to expensive), just regular fluorocarbon line.

The walleyes in Lake Erie we're after get pretty big, up to 10 pounds is fairly common, so the lures we use may be different than what you'll want.
We have a lot of success with Rapala #13 original floaters in Black/silver, and Storm Thundersticks in Ghost UV color..

[Linked Image]

Another great one for us this year has been a challenger lure in Nuclear Green..

[Linked Image]

Now for the planner boards, when fishing in daylight we almost always have at least 6 planner boards out.
They are definitely worth the trouble, unless where your fishing where there is a lot of boat traffic.
I use a Church board, but any of them work pretty good. I put a simple flag on mine (not the spring loaded ones that show a bite), because on Erie it can get rough with 4 to 6' waves, and the flags help you see them in bigger waves.

Church Boards

Good luck !!

Here's my 7 year old Grandson with a limit he got on Erie..

[Linked Image]



Old Fishermen never die, we just get reel tired.

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May you stay......Forever young
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Ive never fished lake Erie for walleyes, but when I lived in
PA I did a considerable amount of fishing for trout and
salmon on lake Ontario. There, especially in the spring for trout, we used side planners. They are like 2 planer boards parallel to each other 6 to 8 inches apart. The inner
board would be a few inches back from the outer one, meaning
there were port and starbard setups same as planer boards.
They are attached to the boat by a separate tow line just for the planer boards. They can be placed as far from the boat as you like by letting out more tow line. Then shower curtain rings with a release clip attached can be snapped onto the planer board tow line with the rod/fishing line attached to the release clip.
Depending on the distance from the boat the planner is, dictates the amount of rods via the shower curtain clips you can use. When a fish hits and the rod line is released from the release clip, you only have the fish on the line of whatever rod you choose to use including lite spinners. After the rod line is pulled from the release clip by the fish,the shower ring just slides down the tow line and dosent interrupt the remaining rod lines in use. So you just make adjustments to the remaing rod line locations and install another clip without stopping. I made my own planner boards using 1x8x3/4" cedar, fastened together and spaced with stainless allthread.
I used the teaser reels attached to my outriggers for the
tow line but there would be numerous other options for that.

For me, trolling is a means to an end which is locating fish. Once located, id rather catch them by casting or jigging. Which is why I gave up on lake Ontario.

IC B2

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I'm thinking I'll have to give them a try! thanks for the great info guys! I really like the idea of covering water and moving to find the fish, where I fish they can come and go to different areas by the hour, so finding them again quickly is the key. I just need to decide on the styles of them. I'm sure each has it's advantages and disadvantages. what presentations can you run? only plugs? or would bottom bouncers work too?

I just bought a bigger boat so hopefully there will be more room for the kids. downside is it has no motor. if anyone knows where to find a 15-40 hp tiller motor for a reasonable deal let me know!


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Calm seas don't make sailors.
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Originally Posted by Colorado1135
what presentations can you run? only plugs? or would bottom bouncers work too?



OH....

One thing we forgot to mention....

If you listen to us, and increase your arsenal, your going to be divorced !!

Over 100 rods (this is just one wall of them, along with 19 in the boat)..

[Linked Image]


Maybe 200 or so lures...

[Linked Image]

And many hundreds of worm harnesses...

[Linked Image]


I had to buy the wife a new car to keep it kinda level !!

Bottom bouncers work great.
Here's my grandson with one of 2 he got bottom bouncing last week.
Kids seem to really like jigging (bottom bouncing).

[Linked Image]

Here's what he got first time out trolling 2 years ago...

[Linked Image]


Old Fishermen never die, we just get reel tired.

May you build a ladder to the stars
and climb on every rung.
May you stay......Forever young
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my wife likes to fish and I have a separate account just for hunting/fishing so we never have issues like that. it is so handy!

good to know on the bottom bouncers, I like running them. I make my own spinners, jigs and rigs so it helps on the cost so I can buy more. smile

recommendations on rods/reels?

how hard is it to turn with planer boards? there's lots of contour to the reservoir I fish so to stay at depth there's a lot of tuning and zig zagging


Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.

Calm seas don't make sailors.
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Rods and reels for your depth in 4th post.

For the depths we fish I like Diawa Saltist reels, and Okuma Blue Diamond rods.

We turn 180* all the time with 6 planer boards out, but driving a boat with 4 to 12+ lines in the water is a steep learning curve, that can be expensive.

My partners brother let a greenhorn drive just last week while he was busy rigging lines, and the guy ran right over his own lines !

I know it sounds crazy stupid to do, but it happens all the time.

Around here we always say that finding a good fishing-partner is a lot harder than finding a good wife !!!


One thing that helps trolling a lot is using a Minn-Kota Terrova bow mount electric motor.
It will navigate and do the driving for you. Makes it very easy to fish alone.
They also work great bottom bouncing, and as an electric anchor to keep you right over a school of fish.
They also make it easy to make a smooth controlled turn.

You use your gas trolling motor to push the boat forward, and the bow mount just does the steering ( saves battery power that way).
We fish Erie's rough waves for 8 to 10 hours some days, and there's battery power to spare after running the Terrova the full time for steering.
I use the 24 volt model, and my boat is pretty heavy on purpose, to cut threw Erie's waves.


Old Fishermen never die, we just get reel tired.

May you build a ladder to the stars
and climb on every rung.
May you stay......Forever young
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Originally Posted by BGunn
Originally Posted by Colorado1135
what presentations can you run? only plugs? or would bottom bouncers work too?



OH....

One thing we forgot to mention....

If you listen to us, and increase your arsenal, your going to be divorced !!

Over 100 rods (this is just one wall of them, along with 19 in the boat)..

[Linked Image]


Maybe 200 or so lures...

[Linked Image]

And many hundreds of worm harnesses...

[Linked Image]


I had to buy the wife a new car to keep it kinda level !!

Bottom bouncers work great.
Here's my grandson with one of 2 he got bottom bouncing last week.
Kids seem to really like jigging (bottom bouncing).

[Linked Image]

Here's what he got first time out trolling 2 years ago...

[Linked Image]



All are designed for multible use, that being to catch both fish
and above all fishermen. lol

IC B3


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