Please Educate Me on Using Big Boards...

[VanderLaan]

New to fishing the big water for salmon/trout (I grew up a trib rat in MI).  Will primarily be fishing Lake Michigan.  Most guys on lake MI use the walleye boards, stating that they fish three or four lines per side and resetting lines with big boards is a PIA or "a tangle waiting to happen".  The ability to fight a fish with a clean line appeals to me.  Since most fisherman on Lake O seem to favor big boards, I figured this is the place to get an education on the topic.  That said, I have a few questions about deploying and running a big board rig.  If these questions are answered in a sticky, video or website tutorial, let me know. 

 

(1) How many lines do you typically run on a side?  I will most likely run two lines to a side.  Are walleye boards a better solution, given the relatively small number of lines?  

 

(2) How do you reset your lines without pulling them all in?  Do you reel the clips in and then attach the new line and then reset them all down the line?  How do you avoid tangling your deployed lines? 

 

(3) With walleye boards, the line and board are typically run down the chute and then the board pulls the line into place.  Do you drop the line down the chute with a big board and then clip it to the planer line?  Can you run the lines down the side of the boat first and then set them off the side?  If so, is clearing the diver rods a problem? 

 

(4) Can you use rod trees with big boards or is it better to have individual holders?  I assume that you would you load the trees with the outside rod/line on the top and work your way down.  Is this correct?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

      

[BAITNH]

Im not a pro  by any means but  I run  3-4 lines per side and the release  slides down  your planer line  to the desired spread when you get a fish just slide  the others down in   to take  its place . I try  to have  the  longer leads   closer to the board and taper in.  I do use  rod trees  myself but its what you prefer  I would guess.  I am sure  that  there will  be some info posted by some guys who  live on the lake  they are a wealth of information.

[Adk1]

check out this video..its a good one

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=spring+brown+trout+trolling&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=76DD8966794640D1397B76DD8966794640D1397B

[Last One]

That was a great video, He showed you not only how to use the boards but also lures and set ups.

[VanderLaan]

That was a good video. Thanks.

 

I assume that big boards are used all year long (for copper and LC) and not just for spring browns.  I guess my confusion is in how you would reset a 150' copper line (outside) when you have both 300' (middle) and 400' (inside) copper lines on the same board?  Are the other lines deep enough that it does not matter pulling them in close to reset the 150'?  I cannot see that you would just run the other lines out farther on the board and then run the 150' inside the 300' and 400'.  That seems like a mess waiting to happen.  I also cannot see having to reel in the 300' and 400' to reset the 150'.  That seems to be incredibly inefficient.

Edited February 25, 2014 by VanderLaan

[Adk1]

its not ideal, always start longest on outside.your middle then would become your outside, even if it isnt as long as the original outside.

[VanderLaan]

So the sinking depth of the line is not an issue? 

[lineman49]

   I run all my lines (mono & braided I don't run copper) the same length behind the boat/boards.    No matter which one releases I just move the others out when needed.  Also I run the deepest line/lure closest to the boat.  When a line releases hold the rod tip high & let it drift in behind & across the other lines until it is behind the boat & reel it in.  I run 3-4 lines per board. Boards are 150-200 ft out from boat./mast.   When reeling the boards in at the end of the day drive towards the board you want to bring in & reel in the tow line (ez) instead of fighting the pull of the board.  Just my way of doing things.  good luck.

[Adk1]

I run all my lines (mono & braided I don't run copper) the same length behind the boat/boards.    No matter which one releases I just move the others out when needed.  Also I run the deepest line/lure closest to the boat.  When a line releases hold the rod tip high & let it drift in behind & across the other lines until it is behind the boat & reel it in.  I run 3-4 lines per board. Boards are 150-200 ft out from boat./mast.   When reeling the boards in at the end of the day drive towards the board you want to bring in & reel in the tow line (ez) instead of fighting the pull of the board.  Just my way of doing things.  good luck.

Good idea there, they can b a bear to wind in!

[Willy-C]

Nice Vid Adk......it's getting me psyched for my Apr trip back to Lake-O

[Legacy]

That was a good video. Thanks.

 

I assume that big boards are used all year long (for copper and LC) and not just for spring browns.  I guess my confusion is in how you would reset a 150' copper line (outside) when you have both 300' (middle) and 400' (inside) copper lines on the same board?  Are the other lines deep enough that it does not matter pulling them in close to reset the 150'?  I cannot see that you would just run the other lines out farther on the board and then run the 150' inside the 300' and 400'.  That seems like a mess waiting to happen.  I also cannot see having to reel in the 300' and 400' to reset the 150'.  That seems to be incredibly inefficient.

 

My big boards are in the water from flatlining Spring Browns in shallow water to summer copper fishing KIngs to plug fishing Kings in the fall off the pier heads. Big boards are the way to go when pulling multiple mono flatlines When one of those lines releases you can simply slide the others down in its place. Assuming all the lines are the same you will have minimal tangles. The idea of doing the same thing with multiple coppers or leadcores just isnt a good idea. You would have to reel in lines to reset a side and this is the dilemma with using big boards with this setup. If your plan is to run multiple coppers per side then Ideally small boards are the way to go. Church TX22 for short coppers and TX44 for long coppers are great choices for that.

[bloodrun]

My big boards are in the water from flatlining Spring Browns in shallow water to summer copper fishing KIngs to plug fishing Kings in the fall off the pier heads. Big boards are the way to go when pulling multiple mono flatlines When one of those lines releases you can simply slide the others down in its place. Assuming all the lines are the same you will have minimal tangles. The idea of doing the same thing with multiple coppers or leadcores just isnt a good idea. You would have to reel in lines to reset a side and this is the dilemma with using big boards with this setup. If your plan is to run multiple coppers per side then Ideally small boards are the way to go. Church TX22 for short coppers and TX44 for long coppers are great choices for that.

Capt Rob is correct.   You will find in general that Lake O guys usually pull one to three copper max around the entire boat during the summer.   One down the chute and maybe one per side.   A few guys pull more.   It was until fairly recently they got 3 rods per man, but I think their limits are only 3 salmon per angler, below 5 per man like in Michigan.   So, Michigan guys pull more rods, which is why you see 3-4 boards per side as a norm.    It is not efficient at all to pull all the same length of copper on one side of the boat off a big board, you will just completely miss fish higher and lower in the water column throughout the bite periods.   One of the advantages of pulling so many different lengths of copper is quickly identifying hot segments in the water column during a given outing, and not having to just rely on riggers or divers to tell you that.   There is no way to mix different length coppers off big boards and not get tangles.   Short always goes out the furthest, longer closer to the boat.    Frequently on Lake MI we will have multiple segments on fire throughout different periods of a given morning, and only inline boards give us the flexibility to do that.   It is not uncommon to have 150's firing early only to have the 350's and 450's explode later in the morning.   Taking advantage of a versatile spread with multiple segment lengths will almost always result in more activity.

[Gill-T]

A lot of Charter guys with big arsenals will have multiple copper set-ups of the same lengths so once a key depth is figured out, multiple similar-length coppers are deployed to get more baits in the hot zone.  When done this way redeployment is easy.  Most weekend warriors do not have the funds to or the storage space to have multiples of the same set-up as described.  I think for most weekend guys learning to run multiple coppers is more realistic on in-line "walleye" boards.  I do run as many as 6 leadcore line off my Otter boards.  Using line counter reels with the exact distance from the end of the backing/leadcore splice to the end of the leader written on each reel, I know exactly how much backing to release to keep things from fouling.  The higher cores are on the outside and set further back to match the length of the deeper cores on the inside.  The easiest set-up that I run is two leadcores of each side (easy to reset) and a 2 color down the chute.  If I need to reset a line to the outside or if a fish is being netted, I move the 2 color to the opposite planer line.