MINI planer boards

[teamlund]

What are your thoughts on these? I have regular mr walleye boards and on winnebago sometimes its hard to tell if you are draggin a small whitebass or sheephead.... I dont like tattle flags so dont go there, I have seen them not go down with a 19" walleye on the line.... I am guessing I wont be able to use the "minis" with large deep diving baits but what about #7 shad raps and small hot n tots and wally divers? Thanks in advance

[Sportdog]

I use these boards more than my full size Off Shores. They work very well in the river that I fish pulling 3/8 and 1/2 ounce Hot n Tots and Kwickfish. You won't get a lot of spread without the board going back a long ways but if that is not a major concern then by all means get some!

[wunderbread]

I've used them for my bottom bouncer rods I run behind the boat while pulling spinners. They give you just a little spread (without letting out a bunch of line) enough to get just outside of the boats path anyway. I've only gone as heavy as a 2 oz. bouncer with them so far. If you are looking to get 100' away from your boat with them I wouldn't bother. You will have to let out a mile of line. Biggest cranks tried so far are little ripper reef runners and berkly flicker shad 7s. They pull them just fine.

[teamlund]

Is it easier to pull fish in when there is a MINI planer board on the line instead of a regular planer board? Also, do they havfe a tendency to fall further behind the boat when fighting a fish or does it still want to "pull forward" like the normal boards? Are they easier to read than than a reg board when you a draggin a small sheep, whitebass, or weeds?

[thump55]

There is a reason 95% of us people trolling Winnebago use Offshore boards and tattle flags...just sayin'.

As far as the mini boards go, they are worthless in my opinion. They can't handle anything bigger then a #5 shadrap, but more importantly, they are worthless in the waves. They are so light that they pop off the top of the waves, and then because they are not in the water "pulling" to the outside, they shoot to the back, also making them extremely difficult to read. Mine sit on the shelf and are never used.

[teamlund]

Looks like my only choice is tattle flags. I bought the tattle flag kits for my walleye boards. I dont like the off shore clips on their boards. I never had a problem but some of the guys that I now fish with are new to the trolling gig and cant "read" boards like some of us. So I think that this will help them out. I hope....I suppose they wont hurt

[Guest]

I use Offshore's with Church clips & lite (stock) & heavy springs on erie. A couple of tricks for draggers is they usually move the flag when they 1st hit but you have to be watching & change up the boat speed or do a quick turn to get the small fish to fight for a moment. Finally, you can occasionaly speed up a bunch for a moment & plane the dragger up to the top.

I've had limited exposure to Church Boards but with the warts and tots at summer speeds you can see the rod tip vibrate when the bait is running right if you use Fireline or Powerpro. If it doesn't do it with raps, it might if you speed up for a moment.

Good Luck

[perchjerker]

try rubber bands instead of springs on your tattle flags. The springs that come with the tattle flags can be too heavy. easy to tune using small rubber bands.

I use them all the time. they are blast to fish with when rigged correctly

[teamlund]

Is it me or are boards with tattle flags on them twice as hard to reel in?