If anything has turned nearly every head in the world of open-water fishing in the last couple of decades, it’s been the development and use of in-line planer boards for trolling.
Indeed, boat-bound anglers have found the art of putting lures in front of hungry game fish a much easier and more doable technique with what are now called small or in-line planer boards.
Planer boards
These “small boards” are simply miniature versions of the more familiar big planer boards that are still employed by charter captains who want to spread and pull a dozen or more lures though large, open waters like those of the Great Lakes.
No one seems to know for sure who came up with the idea to shrink planer boards down to a size that even the smallest boats could handle, but it happened and when it did it spawned a whole new method of lure presentation for avid trollers.
The best part of fishing small boards is the fact that the system doesn’t require costly and troublesome hardware such as a high mast, spools of specialized tether cord, countless releases, and the boards themselves which can consume a large amount of floor space.
But conversely, a pair of in-line planer boards, one each for port and starboard sides, is no larger than a tin lunch box. In-line planer boards attach to the actual fishing line with releasable clips.
Once attached, the board is set in the water where its tapered angle drives the board and its attached fishing line away from the boat. The advantage is obvious.
One line is now well away from the boat while a second line can be fished closer or even directly behind the boat. When a fish is hooked the lone is retrieved, the planer board removed, and the fish and fisherman can duke it out.
In-line planer boards are not just for Great Lakes fishing. Not at all.
The small boards are becoming increasingly popular on inland lakes where anglers target not only walleyes but muskies, crappies and more. But that’s not the end of the story.
Brandt
Now comes the “what’s new” part about how one in-line planer board angler took it on himself to make a good thing even better. Meet Jerry Brandt of Brunswick, Ohio, who operates Hook Charters which is based anywhere the fish are biting.
And that range, Brandt said, stretches from Erie’s western basin to Lake Ontario.
Several years ago, Brandt saw the advantage of in-line planer boards, especially when boat traffic is heavy and fish are in tight. And too, Brandt, who has more than 30 years of serious walleye fishing under his belt, has also watched and participated in the huge upswing of near-shore night fishing, another place the small boards shine.
The interest in night walleye fishing is nothing short of an epidemic, Brandt said. Not happy with the molded plastic and dense foam products, Brandt identified a few problems that he felt could be improved on.
It became apparent to him that he was often one hand short when he needed to unclip his fishing line from the board, and he also found that for night fishing, there was no designed way to attach a light.
So Brandt tried building his own in-line boards using a variety of materials and gadgets. His experiments and prototypes led him to several different woods, most of which tested less than perfect. In time and after lots of on the water testing, Brandt’s in-line boards are, in his words, as good as any and better than most.
He may have created a top-shelf planer board for his own use but in the doing, Brandt has found a demand for his in-line planer boards due to the features they offer like one handed operation, cleverly mounted marker lights, and their tendency to track perfectly.
He claims that his boards will easily pull a trolled lure 150 feet or more away from the boat and he’s willing to prove it. Brandt likes to talk about in-line planer board techniques, and well, about anything having to do with walleye fishing.
He will be holding court and offering guided tours of his fully-appointed fishing boat at Ravenna Marine’s annual spring open house March 24.
