Planer System

[antney1]

I have come to the conclusion that I do not like in-line planer boards, and after having fished with someone that uses the big boards I have decided that is the direction I would like to head. I have a 21.5' Trophy Pro Walk Around Cuddy. My questions are :

mast or no mast, if mast where to mount. home made vs retail. Mounting locations of reels and pulleys if no mast. Any and all input is appreciated.

[Fish Hunter]

On the little boat we have a Big Jon mast, but on the Islander, I mounted Big Jon reels, on the rocket launcher system I made.

Both work well, but do favor the set-up on the Starcraft.

[kingslamon22]

tournament fishermen like the single inline planers. i dont prefer them, but for specific fishing types they are neccecary. now if the only fishing your going to do is on lake ontario's clear waters then the larger mast style planers and a bucket full of releases will serve you well. if you fish like me, from kings to brookies muskies to perch, i think youll need bolth. the mast style planer setup will cause your lines to pick up floating debris and they will collect on the lure, fishing lake ontario this is not an issue. also you dont want to run a whole mast system for putting one or two lines off in a very small strike zone only to pull it all back in to make a turn or what not. also big boards are not good for river fishing. the little inlines are convenient for certain things, they are not convenient for pulling six planer lines all day long fish after fish on a large body of water.

[kingslamon22]

also i might ad that for the big boards, if you mount reels or a mast, about 5 feet off the water works good for me. if you get em up too high they pull really really hard and only go out the same distance from the boat. too low and your releases will dip into the water and could cause the release to twist over the planer line. otherwise the big boards seldom have release problems and as soon as a screamer yanks the release your fighting the fish of the day on a free line. the inlines as convenient as they are, having the planer on the line while fighting fish stinks and if the fish pulls drag in the opposite direction with enough velocity it will certainly break your line with the planer pulling backward like a trashcan lid. the releases on inlines can be played with, but never 100 percent foolproof.

[antney1]

Only interested in fishing Lake O for trout and salmon....I need to find someone with the same boat and see how they're rigged for boards

[FSNmachine]

I have my reels mounted on the bow rail by the front windshield. It is just high enough that I don't need a mast. That puts the reel about 4 1/2 to 5 feet off the water. You could try it there and then see if you wanted to add a mast. If I was to add a mast to my Trophy 2002 WA it would be where the front seat is.

[antney1]

I just happened to see this video and it looks like the easy to use boards w/o having to install a mast. does anyone know where to get these mini masts & reels ??

[FSNmachine]

Interesting. I have not seen those before. That would work great on a Trophy.

[Tim Bromund]

that actually just looks like a Scotty extendable downrigger boom with a mooching reel attached to it somehow to hold the tow line.

[Big Dave]

that actually just looks like a Scotty extendable downrigger boom with a mooching reel attached to it somehow to hold the tow line.

Like Tim said they are homemade out of a downrigger boom and a fishing reel. Traxtech makes a nice one that mounts to a hardtop rail , big jon does too.

[antney1]

OK, not to sound stupid....if these are homemade how would you go about making them ?