Big Jon Planer Rigger

[Kingfisher06]

A couple of questions regarding Big Jon Planer Riggers.

I am setting up my Lund Baron and would like to hear preferences on how to set up the planer riggers. Should I have two singles mounted on the sides above the windshield or a dual mast mounted in the middle of the bow?

I read that the Big Jon Planer riggers come with 150ft of 135lb line. How much line will they actually hold though?

Any help is much appreciated!

[Trolling Keuka]

I have my Big Jon mast mounted in front of the bow seat. I have a dual reel and if I was to do it again, I would go with a single reel. Now I only run one board @ a time. If I do two boards I am just asking for a mess. I normally fish by myself so I will run one board and a dipsy or a downrigger to mix things up.

[waterlogged]

Hi Eugene!!!

[Kingfisher06]

Hey Clarke/Team Lucky Enuff!

In the process of setting up the new boat. Boy am I bleeding green doing it! The boat is just great. I cant beleive how well these Lund Barons handle the water. We got her up to 55 mph without a bump. They really slice through the water. I picked up two Capt Pack big Jon riggers, two fishlander dual rod holders, two fishlander planer board vertical rod holders, lowarnce gps/sonar, depth raider, couple of otter boards, and a few other must haves.

Clarke (or anyone) do you know how much line those big jon planer reels will hold? For walleye fishing in my neck of the woods we like to have the option to send out the boards 400' when there is no traffic. Ive always used in-line boards in the past. Any opinion on a dual mast vs single mast ?

I caught the salmon bug big time out with Team Lucky Enuff and now Im in the poor house living off salmon filets

Thanks for any help

[Tank]

I mounted the mast on my crestliner ahead of the bow seat also. It is very important on a smaller boat (20 feet or less) to mount as far forward as your boat allows. This allows your rods to be free of contact with the tow line on the board. If you mount too far back you can have issues. Several boat models have mounts for the bow seat that allow for an adapter to attach to your mast and it goes right in your seat mount. Easily removed with the push of a button(My crestlibner did not- :evil: ) I just put a flush mount with removable feature in. I use the two reel mast. Very enjoyable setup! Good Luck! Tank

[Fishtails]

Welcome to the poor house Eugene. There's a lot of salmon fisherman living in the poor house with you, so you'll never be lonely.

I don't have the answer for you, but just thought I'd say hi. Like I said to you before, I think you made the perfect choice with your Lund....I loved mine and it will keep you safe as long as you use your head (like I know you will).

Have you gotten out salmon fishing with it yet??

BTW....we we're in Cape Vincent house hunting a few weeks ago. I think we're going to move our summer cottage and I was thinking about your area in Cape Vincent, but have since gotten pretty hot on a log cabin in Henderson Harbor. Only time will tell.....

Enjoy rigging that Lund!!

Rod

Team Lucky Enuff

[Kingfisher06]

Hey Rod!

Havent taken her fishing just cruising...Having a friend help me who is very busy at the moment with setting the Lund up.

I think you will be a very happy guy out in our neck of the woods. You can fish for everything in this area. I plan to get a slip for next year at Hidden Harbor which is located on the point of Pt Penisula. Great location...can swing over to the charity shoals or over to Galoo in no time. Right in the middle of all the action!

The boats name is "BIG LOTS" silly I know, but it makes me laugh. I am ordering 5$ hats from the stores website. Laughing right now actually.

How much line (feet) fits on your planer board reels?

Will keep you posted!

[HeavyA]

Hey Clarke/Team Lucky Enuff!

Clarke (or anyone) do you know how much line those big jon planer reels will hold? For walleye fishing in my neck of the woods we like to have the option to send out the boards 400' when there is no traffic. Ive always used in-line boards in the past. Any opinion on a dual mast vs single mast ?

I have the big jon planer mast with dual reels set up on my boat. It is a great set-up, although I also probably would have gone with single reels if I had it to do over. I seriously doubt that you will be able to send out 400 feet of planer line with this system (or probably any other). At that distance from the boat the line is almost surely going to drag on the water and the boards will end up getting pulled behind the boat instead of out to the sides.

[Kingfisher06]

What do you think is the max an otter board can go out?

[HeavyA]

It all depends how high off the water your planer reels are mounted. Obviously, the higher they are mounted the more planer line you can get out without drag. I have a small boat (17 feet), so my reels are only about 6 feet above the water. With my otter boats, I can get about 125 feet of planer line out before it drags very much. On a windy day with bigger waves you'll have more line drag and won't be able to put out as much. Honestly though, 125 feet is plenty of distance from the boat for your boards. You can't always get away with even that much if there is heavy boat traffic.

[Kingfisher06]

Very interesting...thank you HeavyA for your response. That is bad news for walleye fishing (like a big spread) but I guess it doesnt really matter a whole lot for salmon. Guess I will just run inline boards for walleye when I have enough folks in the boat to run multiple rods.

Thanks!!!

[HeavyA]

I don't know how much line you fish off of your rods, but in my experience the otter boats get out plenty far for walleye. We fish a lot around Black River Bay and Chaumont Bay for walleye, and the otter boats have always caught fish. I normally put about 75-115 feet of line from the rod to the planer release, then vary the distance from the release to lure from anywhere from 150 to 200 feet. You might not run the otter boats as far as in-line boards, but big boards like otter boats do a much better job at getting away from the boat. At trolling speeds, my planer lines are pretty much perpendicular to the boat. When I used to use in-lines more, I found that they often went more behind the boat than they did out to the side. I guess it is all a matter of preference really, but most of the charters around Henderson Harbor use planer masts and big boards for walleye, so they must work pretty well.

[waterlogged]

HeavyA,

No idea on the capacity of the big jon reels. I run the Mastercraft reels with one oneach side of the boat with home made masts. Sorry I can't be of help there. Maybe the big Jon website can tell you if you ask the tech boys??

[GAMBLER]

For plainer board line, trash the line that comes on them and go with 250lb. Power Pro. Put 150 yards on each reel. Your releases will slide down the line a lot easier. For you boat, I would go with the single tower with dual reels. The Otter boat boards are awesome too. Just make sure they are adjusted correctly or they will dive like my one does.

[Kingfisher06]

Thanks gambler,

I would like to know who fishes with 250lb power pro to begin with...must be those marlin chasin boys....thanks for all the input from everyone!!