inline-boards

[Eyemadmna]

I am going to purchase 2 inline-boards to run crawler harnesses off of. The depth of the water is 10 ft, do I need any weight to get down, if so whats the best weight. Also I am marking a lot of fish 3 to 5 ft down, whats the best way to target these fish off the boards? It seems to me the fish are scooting out to the sides of the boat as I make my passes. Thanks for any Info

[Erie_Tournament_Troller]

Speed, line dia., blade size and style, as well as weight effect the depth you wil get. Noone can tell you, you have to figure it out. If your running a std 3 or 4 colorado blade at a average speed of 0.7 - 1 then you might start with a 1 1/2 oz sinker, and 30 feet of line out. Or use a bouncer to help keep it off the bottom. I'd suggest you get a copy of Precision Trolling to shorten your learning curve. It sure helped me.

[Gilligan]

Alot of variables here. Speed, lead lengths, diameter of line will all change amount of weight needed to get your bait at these desired depths. Add enough weight to get bottom contact at your trolling speed and adjust from there. You may want to consider some shallow running cranks like the shallow Jr Thundersticks or Reef Runners Little Ripper. The Off Shore boards with the tattle flags are a great setup, there is a link to their site off the main page.

[Eyemadman]

I have a copy of Precision Trolling ( a few years old )mostly for crankbaits though. Correct me if Im wrong but wouldnt 1 1/2 oz of weight be to much in 10 ft of water. Sat I used a large split shot and was getting down fine with 8 to 10 pound test, we caught a few but we were right behind the boat, I know they are scattering out away from the boat. Thanks

[Nofish]

Hey Eyemadman,

All you need to do is exactly what you did that day.

Only this time, when you let the line out, clip the board on.

If you have a line counter, and you have been letting out say, 30 feet, clip the board on the line at 28 feet on the line counter, then let the boards out.

This will allow for the difference of the line running all the way to the rod when not using the boards.

As for weights and line length, you still need to work on that curve yourself, and the Precision Trolling book will help, a lot.

Hope this helps.......R

[Eyemadman]

Thanks guys for all the input, cant wait till the weekend.