Trolling crankbaits is a popular way to target walleye throughout all of the open water months. Regardless what time of year you’re trolling crankbaits, an important component of your trolling program is a planar board. Planar boards serve a variety of purposes and when deployed properly, will help you crank more fish into the boat.
Planar boards are exactly what they sound like. These are a plastic board that have a lead weight positioned in the rear to keep their front pointed up, are padded with foam for buoyancy purposes, and feature one or two clips (depending on the brand) to attach the board to your line. Boards are specifically designed to be “port” or “starboard” so they can get your bait away from the boat properly depending on the side of the boat they are deployed from.
Essentially, planar boards are designed to get your baits away from the boat. This is beneficial to anglers for a variety of reasons. These reasons include covering more water, targeting boat shy fish, and preventing multiple lines from tangling.
Trolling crankbaits is a versatile presentation. Crankbaits are an excellent way to cover large flats, but also work well fishing contour breaklines as well. When fishing large flats, planar boards allow you to spread out your baits and cover as much of the flat as possible. Fish are often congregated in pods in these situations and spreading your baits out increases your probability of one of your baits going through these pods.
Beyond simply covering more of a flat, planar boards also allow you to set baits at multiple depths. When fishing contour lines, planar boards allow you to set baits at different depths and put them over that specific contour. For example, when fishing a sharp breakline an angler may be able to position the boat on a 10 foot break, but planar boards would allow the outside rods to be as shallow as 5 feet or 15 feet respectively. The ability to put your bait somewhere beyond where your boat is actively running allows you to maximize your trolling passes and locate fish quicker.
Beyond simply covering water, in fisheries that feature extremely clear water or when fishing shallow water walleyes may be boat shy and less likely to take a bait presented directly below the boat. In this situation, planar boards allow you to present your baits without the concern of spooking fish. In fact, some anglers believe that when a boat goes over fish will slide out to the sides and ultimately where the bait is being presented.
This situation also applies to situations where fish may be shallow. On large lakes and reservoirs, walleye may be suspended at various depths in the water column. Planar boards allow anglers to create a stair-step style spread, placing baits are various depths, keeping the shallower baits away from the boat.
For example, on Lake Oahe anglers may be fishing submerged trees that are sitting in 80-90 feet of water, but top out between 35-45 feet. Walleye may be suspended above the trees, 15-25 feet down, or sitting down in the trees themselves. Planar boards allow anglers to place their “high” baits at say 15 and 20 feet respectively, leaving the inside rods to set down in the trees at say 30 and 35 feet respectively. In this situation, planar boards will keep these baits away from eachother and allow the angler to target four different depths simultaneously.
Whether you’re using a planar board to slide your bait into a different depth, prevent spooking boat shy fish, or stair-step your baits among the water column one of the biggest advantages they always present is minimizing tangles with your baits. Without a planar board, anglers may use short 5 foot “stub rods” out the back and long, 12-14 foot rods, out the sides to create a spread between these baits. When utilizing a planar board, this is not necessary as the board will create as much or as little separation as you fish.
Whether you’re fishing small baits on leadcore slowly in the spring, targeting suspended fish over deep water in the summer, or covering flats in the fall adding planar boards to your trolling program will ultimately increase your effectiveness. Planar boards will reduce tangles, help you cover more water, prevent spooking fish, and plain and simple just help you put more fish in the boat!
Photography Credit: Allie Ellingson Photography + Design
Photos for this article were provided by Allie Ellingson Photography + Design, the official photographer of Lip Ripper Fishing. Whether you are looking to capture your fishing trips, need a photographer for a special event, or just want family photos be sure to check out Allie!
