Rods For Planer Boards

[hondo]

Looking for some opinions on rods for planer boards.

For starters, I fish with boards a lot and have for years. I do not like long "mushy" rods with slow actions and foam handles. I've used them and I know they're good rods for dragging boards around, I just don't like landing fish on them. Too mushy.

Also, I don't really want 2 piece rods. Got some buddies that have them but it seems like a hassle taking them apart to get them in the rod locker, and putting them together when you want to use them.

So I've been looking at some IM6 graphite rods, 7'6" telescoping rods, medium heavy action, fast tips, cork handles, not expensive. I've been thinking of getting a couple of these to try for boards - I know graphite and fast action isn't "ideal" but I think they would work fine for pulling boards and would be more fun to land the fish on. And I'm not worried about what my rod holders will do to the cork handles.

So, does anyone having anything good or bad to say about rods like these for boards? Thanks.

[chamookman]

hondo - I have four Gander Mountain planerboard rods. Retractable/great action/cork handle. Check 'Em out - Bob

[REELMAN]

P&K rods from Bass Pro have worked pretty well for me over the years

[Ryan B]

7' Okuma rods work great

[Toolman]

Hondo,

Sounds like they the rods you describe will work fine. Make sure they aren't too stiff, though. EVen if they are on the stiff side they would probably work great for mono.

Tim

[hondo]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Toolman, good point on the mono. I would probably only use these rods for mono, I have a couple softer rods for no-stretch lines.

Reelman, help me out. P&K rods?? I looked at Bass Pro's website but didn't find anything like this??

[chamookman]

I believe He was refering to the rods designed by Gary Parsons & Kieth Kavajecz. Bob

[Hogslammer]

hondo, the rods you're looking for are called Walleye Angler Series Trolling Rods. They are currently $20 off on Bass Pro's website.

[Toolman]

Hog,

Thanks for the tip. I really like those rods! Merry Christmas to me! ;-)

Hondo,

For $40 the Walleye Angler rods (P&K) are hard to beat.

Tim

[REELMAN]

yes the walleye angler rods are the ones i am talking about
buy them and you will be happy

[hondo]

OK, I looked again on Bass Pro and found the rods you were talking about. I've seen them before, just didn't put the P&K part together. One of my buddies has the 7-6" telescoping rod and REALLY likes it. I like the $20 off price too. Still not sold on the foam grips though, was really hoping for cork....... What to do, what to do???? :)

[JerryA]

I have Diawa Heartland 7', one piece, IM6, medium action rods with cork handles. I have 6501 Ambassaduer reels on them. These rods work well for me. They are heavy enough to handle the boards and bottom bouncers but light enough to make landing an eye interesting. I do use 14 lb mono to handle the wear and tear of the boards, bouncers, snags, zebras, mates hitting the line with the landing net, etc. You don't need that heavy of line to handle the fish but I sure hate having all that equipment break off.

[ERIE REBEL]

I've used the p&k rods for 6 years.Love them! Since they spend most of the time in holders the foam is not an issue with me. And I believe they will hold up better than cork since they do spend the majority of the time in rod holders.

[REELMAN]

$20 off makes them the hands down rod to buy

[mrbreeze]

I've used a lot of different rods, but for the money, I've found it pretty hard to beat the Ugly Stick 7-footer. Yes, I wish they made them a little longer, but in terms of durability...they are hard to match.

Keep in mind that for planer trolling you'll want a rod that won't break after hours of sitting bent in a rod holder with the sun beating on them. For that reason I think that fiberglass or a composit/fiberglass are the way to go.

I've never had one fail, butif you break one while you are on the road and don't have a spare...you can pick them up at just about any fishing store.

[hondo]

Has anyone ever had a graphite rod break from the stress of pulling boards (or dipsys)? I've never had that problem in years of trolling boards. I was more concerned about a graphite rod being kind of stiff and "jerking" the board vs. a slower-action rod keeping a more even pull on the board.

[mrbreeze]

Yes, I've had them break. That's the reason that I went to the Ugly Sticks.

[Toolman]

hondo,

I've broken plenty of rods, but never broken one while it was pulling either a planer board or a dipsey. Not saying it couldn't happen-maybe if the rod was already damaged or otherwise defective and/or the drag was cranked down. If your drag is set correctly and the rod is in good shape this probably will never happen. I wouldn't recommend the Walleye Angler trolling rods for pulling dipseys (IM6 graphite-the action isn't right for dipseys) but they would probably handle it.

If you want a good rod for double duty-the best one I've found is the St Croix 8' t-scopic, but it will cost you more than twice the price of getting a rod for each.

Tim

[Papascott]

I had a buddy that bought a pair of the P/K rods for dipseys. He told me they were the worst rods he ever bought and traded me even up for a pair of 20 dollar TDR's that were well used. He was in heaven with those awesome shimano rods and I have 2 board rods that are just ok, as far as he knows;0

Scott

[UNLOGGED JMW]

I bought a couple P&K rods last spring at their sale for half off. They are a nice rods, but do have foam handles.

[Stacker1]

I like the Gary roach 7'6" telescoping rods. They are thin diameter rod, not all that bulk, they have cork handles, they call them casting rods. if you are interested i will give you the model. They are light and easy to handle. They have plenty of backbone that builds with a fish well.

[hondo]

Thanks for all the replies.

I ended up buying a couple Cabelas IM6 rods - 7'6" telescoping, MH power, cork handles, for $20 each. I wish they were Medium instead of Medium Heavy but they're not much stiffer than the rods I have been using for boards. When I was checking them out they felt 'OK' so for $20 I decided to give them a try. If I decide I don't like them I think my next choice will be the P&K rods which I know are nice sticks. Now I can't wait to get to Erie to try them out ....

[Fishful Thinker]

I have been using Bass Pro's Walleye Angler series rods for several years now in the 8'6" model. Telescopic handle, plenty of backbone for pulling boards, in my opinion a very good rod for this application. They are Christmas sale priced on the Bass Pro website for $39.99 so I now have 4 more of them.

[WestMIEyes]

Bought a couple of 7'9" Daiwa Firewolf, cork handle, telescoping rods last winter and used them all year with boards. Very pleased with them for the price (less than $30) and they seemed to work fine with superlines or 12# Ande mono. I like them better than the 7'6" foam handled Heartland planer rods. They are quite similar to the cork handled Heartland Walleye series but a 1/3 of the price.