Tattle tail flags, do you like them?

[SLIPKNOT]

[SLIPKNOT]

I am curious to see how you guys and gals like them. I personally don't care for them at all. I feel I loose to many fish with them, and they don't give me any advantage over the regular off-shore board. A lot of my friends swear by them, but not me. Just a note, I am not bashing off-shore, they make the greatest planer board ever, just curious to see how you guys like them. Good luck!

[Reels]

Just curious, why do you feel that they cause you to lose fish?

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[Sunshine]

I like them for detecting weeds and very small fish. I was fishing with Tom Keenan during The RCL Championship and noticed that he did not use them and I asked why. I'll never forget his answer. He said that they were the training wheels of planer boards. I still get a chuckle out of his response just thinking about it. For the record, he was very serious and after fishing with him I do believe that he doesn't need them. His name should be keen eye not keenan.

I'll keep using them

[SLIPKNOT]

I feel I loose fish because of the slack in the line you get from the flag going back, especially with harnesses. With cranks, I don't know why people even bother with them.

[Bad Finger]

Have not tried them, can't justify the cost to add them.

[Reels]

Understand the part about training wheels. It takes a while to learn how to read the board. Maybe this year will try without. Good info.

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[targa2]

The tattle flag is good for spinner rigs or small cranks.It helps you identify perch bites so you don't drag one for too long. They also help identify weeds on your line. The reason you are probably losing more fish is that you are noticing the bite earlier and reacting too quickly. Without the flag it takes a while after the fish hits for you to really notice it. By that time you have given the fish a chance to hook itself up well. With the tattle flag you have to give them a little more time. It's like fishing a buzzbait for bass. It seems like the longest 10 seconds in the world waiting to make sure they really have it.

[Atomic Eye]

We like them. For our type of WE trolling - Shad Rap SR5s and 1/4 Oz Wally Divers, they work really well. And keeps us from dragging small walleye, e.g., 19 - 20", without knowing it for a few miles on our reservoirs.

They're pretty inexpensive compared to reels, rods, and high tech fishing lines.

Atomic Eye -- "Gone Fission!"

[Bad Finger]

I don't consider 19-20 inch fish small! I certainly don't need a tattle tale flag to tell me that a 20 inch fish is being dragged behind an Off Shore board....

[Gary B]

Lets just say that you've searched the world over and didn't find a fishin partner for today. You decide to go it alone. you live in a state that limits the number of lines per person to 1 or 2. You put out a board, and (depending on regulations) a second long line behind the boat for the occasional fish on your graph. What reference point do you use to compare the planer board to in order to determine a small fish or a weed? For those of us that don't fish every day, it can definitely help.

[eyeman]

I've had them for a few years now and hadn't used them much. I fished with Tony Puccio a few years back on Lake Okoboji in IA and it was a small fish bite with lots of white bass and perch in the system. They were a big help when trying to keep baits clean of weeds or little or other fish.

I used them last year with Pa's lures on Erie and found them to be a real asset when we ran into the white bass or perch.

I don't make a habit out of using them because I generally can read the boards pretty well but when you have inexperienced anglers in the boat or your trying to work lots of rods with others in the boat it helps them to realize there is either a fish or something wrong with the bait.

I also tried them last year on LBDN at night - bending the flag such that it would whack the top of the board when the fish hit or the bait hung up on weeds - when I found my light sticks that I'd bought were duds. Worked great - since I was trolling on the electric and you could hear the whack whack of a fish hit. Kind of cool!

[Rick Zachowski]

Off shore tattle flags are the greatest when used properly for the size of bait that you are using!!!!!!!!!!!! Especially on lakes where you have smaller junk fish. That way you don't drag them around all day without knowing it so you can catch walleyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rick

[Atomic Eye]

Bad Finger,

Please tell me what kind of line you're trolling your planers with? I'm curious if it's one of the low stretch ones? Thanks.

Atomic Eye -- "Gone Fission!"

[Bad Finger]

10# Trilene XT - Green.

[iamwalleye1]

This is going to be my 3rd year trolling! I used them for the first two and might try this year without! I have learned how to read the boards.(board boy for short!) I do like them for trolling weeds lines they let you know you have something dragging!

[Reels]

Hey board boy, hand me a blue!

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