fishing with boards

do you guys use dipseys on big boards if you are running lures or do you just let out enough line to get down. i am new being the one to call the shots on a boat. usually i just reel them in, but since i got my own boat i am trying to figure all of this out. i sure wish i would have paid more attention

I don't use boards (during the day) on the pa side. At night I use them but i always use lures like reefrunners and hot-n-tots. During the day I just use 3 dispeys per side and use the settings on the dipsey to seperate the lines. I just traded up to a 23 foot (pick it up saturday) and I am going dock at the copper kettle in Beaver Creek now. The drive from wexford is about the same and i can fish walleye/steelhead from the islands to avon and up to canada. Plus docking is half the price. shoot me a pm if you want I can tell you what i figured out in 3 years.

If ya have to use a Dipsy to get deep enough, then you probably don't need boards.w_w.

ORIGINAL: Brad1

I've run the smaller dipseys and jet divers off the boards, but not the larger dipseys. I would think that would be to much for the releases to handle (the larger dipsies that is). If you were to look at my presentation from behind the boat, looking foward, you'd see the deeper lines closer to boat, and the shallower lines further away from the boat. Like a V.

Brad,
I hear a lot of guys that run them like this and it makes sense from the standpoint of when a fish is on an outside line it will easily clear the deeper inside lines. However, I never understood how guys doing it this way, after getting bit on an outside line, slide their inner lines out without resetting all lines on that side.

For example: If you have 4 lines out on each side and number one is the closest to the boat and number 4 is the farthest away...and #1 is set at 40' down, #2 is 30' down, #3 is 25' down, and #4 is 15' down. #4 fires and needs reset. The old #4 has to be the new #1 unless you reset all the lines. Now your shallowest line is 25' down (the new #4) and your deepest should be deeper than 40' (the new #1). How do you rectify this? Am I missing something?

I run all lines on each side the same (or at least close). I may be targeting 25 feet on one side and 40 on the other. When any rod fires, I simply slide the inside ones out and replace that rod on the inside. The downside to this method is that obviously you only get to target two depth ranges at a time, whereas with your method, you can try as many different depths as lines you have in the water.

ORIGINAL: chauncy

BJ, seems to me that #4 at 15 would clear all the deeper lines by at least 10ft as it's moving into position again. 1, 2, and 3 are all below the 15ft mark so why wouldn't it just swing out above them?

Chauncy,
It's not a matter of whether the lines would clear...they would easily. My question was once #4 had been netted and it was time to set it back out, that line would now be the inside line (or the new #1) in which case it would have to be set at below 40' because #2 (the old #1) is set at 40'.

Pretty simple... move your front rod to the back and let more line out. Then put the rod out to the same setting as the one you just got the fish on.

Lets say you put all 4 lines 100 ft. back on outside and 90 ft. inside...then you put the outside planer 140 ft. out and your inside at 100.
Out side hits and goes 50 ft. farther away from the inside....no tangle.
Then move inside 40ft. farther out...now 140 ft.  Put line back to 80ft. for the inside and out 100.
 

Bogey...

99.99% of the charters run board lines like you illustrate. For big boards, to prevent tangles, you want to run the same style/running depth baits on the same side. IE, run all jet 30's on one side and all the same deep diver sticks with 3 oz snap weights on the other side. Set them all back the same distance behind the boat before you clip them to the release then shoot them out the planer line. Leave lots of space b/w them and try to keep the outside line from dragging in the water. All the planer rods should be the same style, length, action and have the same poundage line and should be vertical in the rod holders. This way, when you get a small eye or a junk fish that won't release from the main board line, you can easily see the extra weight on the rod tip and trip it yourself and get that line back out producing.

Not really a more efficient way to run board lines that I have seen.

Throw in 2-3 dipsy lines on each side plus a rigger or two and you now have the porcupine in full effect! Gonna be GREAT for you guys next year running 3 rods per person!

Mika,
The only problem I see with you diagram above is when those outside lines with longer leads fire first, you still need to slide the inside line to the outside and using your method, eventually, you'll only be putting your baits 25' behind the boat before you send them out.

You can run them all 100-125' (or whatever you choose) back when you set them out on the same side; the extra line that you need to send them out on the planer line will give you the extra clearance you need when a fish hits and the line releases. It will swing back and over the inside lines behind the boat as the boat moves forward. "Typically," when an eye is on the line, as long as you keep the boat moving, the eye will plane up near the surface during the fight and will aid in clearing the other lines. The key is to not start cranking full bore right away and just make sure you get the slack out and keep tension on the line until the fish/line swings in behind your boat into the slot you have illustrated. Occassionally, you'll get that ornary 8# plus one that digs deep and you will get some tangles.

ORIGINAL: Bogeyjoker

+1