Best planner boards

[stillfishing]

Also what is a good planner board mast? I have a fish master 196

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[Legacy]

6 minutes ago, stillfishing said:

Legacy do you run double keels

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Yes but i find that they arent necessary. The only real advantage I gain from double keels is the additional weight keeps the boards tracking better in rough seas. 

[Rookie Fisherman]

I ran single keels for a while. If you want to make the single keel pull a little better just drill new rear hole for the keel. Give the keel a little more angle.

Don't have my Otterboats accessible at the moment but I think I moved it over a little less than an inch. Eventually went to double keels for the reason Legacy stated above.

 

[stillfishing]

Planner Board mast?

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[chowder]

I fish Erie too and most of the Walleye charter guys I know use some kind of poly big boards- you don't see too many Otters. IMHO they aren't really built for day in/ day out service. The foam material allows the hardware to wallow out the holes and then the keels start to shuck around, etc. I have one that was a spare if anybody needs it.

[Rookie Fisherman]

2 minutes ago, stillfishing said:

Planner Board mast?

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There are many good choices out there. Big Jon, Cisco, Traxstech, Great Lakes Planers, Berts etc.

Just have to find the style you want.

Had Big Jon mast on the last boat and it worked fine. New boat has the reels mounted direct to the hard top.

[MINNOWNITE]

I plan on launching my planer boards this spring/summer. They will pull just as hard as aurora lites and Amish for a fraction of the price. I will have large for planer mast. Also by Fall 2020 i plan on having Good inline boards. 

 

Minnownite Fishing Products

[stillfishing]

Thanks guys for all the help

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[horsehunter]

I have homemade wooden boards that pull like mules but If I stumbled across a set of the Cannon orange folding boards at the right price I would scoop them up. Really only use the boards in the fall muskie trolling. My salmon spread normally 2 riggers and 2 dipseys

[fishinfreak]

Why are the Aurora light planer boards so darn expensive

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[pukingdog]

I use the orange Cannon folding boards. I have pulled them under water a couple times in big waves but that is over 10 to 12 years. Just slow way down and they surface. I hate otter boats. They take up huge amounts of room in your boat and you have to dick around forever with keel location and knots and extra keels etc to get them to pull correctly. My cannons worked great first time in the water and fold up to about 2 inches thick to store in boat when running in and off shore. I pull them with a big jon mast and recently switched to Amish Outfitters spectra tow line, 300 pound test. That tow line comes in 300 ft  spools and I like having the extra length on my mast. Kind of pricey for tow line bought 2 spools anyway. The dacron tends to get weak from sun exposure and breaks off at the board every few years which is a huge pain when your pulling 8 or 9 lures.

[mcattac]

I posted this question elsewhere on LOU.

Only got one response so I thought I would stick it here too.

 

Has anyone out there used Great Lakes Planers planer board reels for Amish Outfitter Boards?

Do you know if they can handle the harder pull of the Amish boards?

I'm considering the Charter Captain's Special setup with the planer reels on it for my boat.

I already have the Amish boards and don't want to buy the setup and then have the reel clutches not hold up and fail on me.

Thoughts?

 

Here's a link to their site -

 

https://store.greatlakesplaners.com/

[chowder]

37 minutes ago, mcattac said:

I posted this question elsewhere on LOU.

Only got one response so I thought I would stick it here too.

 

Has anyone out there used Great Lakes Planers planer board reels for Amish Outfitter Boards?

Do you know if they can handle the harder pull of the Amish boards?

I'm considering the Charter Captain's Special setup with the planer reels on it for my boat.

I already have the Amish boards and don't want to buy the setup and then have the reel clutches not hold up and fail on me.

Thoughts?

 

Here's a link to their site -

 

https://store.greatlakesplaners.com/

Cisco makes the heaviest duty planer reels I've seen but to be honest with you I haven't had any real problems with my Amish or Aurora boards on any of my planer reels. I've run these boards on Cisco, Canon, and Big jon manuals and electrics, biggest thing as I mentioned elsewhere is that you need to turn into the board you are retrieving when using the electrics or the breakers are going to trip on you. Also - I do run shockers on the boards when it's rough.

Edited February 9, 2020 by chowder
added info

[Reel Doc]

Great Lakes Planers are great to work with.  I needed help putting together a mount for an older mast where the company was out of business and they worked with me through pictures, measurememts, and sent a trial piece to make sure it would work.  They will treat you right!!

[mcattac]

16 minutes ago, chowder said:

Cisco makes the heaviest duty planer reels I've seen but to be honest with you I haven't had any real problems with my Amish or Aurora boards on any of my planer reels. I've run these boards on Cisco, Canon, and Big jon manuals and electrics, biggest thing as I mentioned elsewhere is that you need to turn into the board you are retrieving when using the electrics or the breakers are going to trip on you. Also - I do run shockers on the boards when it's rough.

 

 

I know the Cisco's will do the job.

But putting them on a Great Lakes Planers rig will up the cost considerably.

 

I have shock cords and will certainly stop the boat when cranking them in at the end of the day.

But I'm concerned the clutch in the Great Lakes Planers reels not being up to the task while trolling.

Last thing I need is for the clutch to start slipping because the boards pull so darn hard.

[mcattac]

13 minutes ago, Reel Doc said:

Great Lakes Planers are great to work with.  I needed help putting together a mount for an older mast where the company was out of business and they worked with me through pictures, measurememts, and sent a trial piece to make sure it would work.  They will treat you right!!

 

 

I have an email into them asking what they think.

Thanks

[chowder]

51 minutes ago, mcattac said:

 

 

I know the Cisco's will do the job.

But putting them on a Great Lakes Planers rig will up the cost considerably.

 

I have shock cords and will certainly stop the boat when cranking them in at the end of the day.

But I'm concerned the clutch in the Great Lakes Planers reels not being up to the task while trolling.

Last thing I need is for the clutch to start slipping because the boards pull so darn hard.

I really don't think you are going to have an issue with a manual planer reel clutch , especially with shockers. Like I said I have run the Aurora's (which are bigger than Frank's boards) on some old Canon manual reels with no significant problems at all- but suit yourself.

[mcattac]

10 minutes ago, chowder said:

I really don't think you are going to have an issue with a manual planer reel clutch , especially with shockers. Like I said I have run the Aurora's (which are bigger than Frank's boards) on some old Canon manual reels with no significant problems at all- but suit yourself.

 

 

You are probably right.

I have Cannon single masts with reels.

I was warned by Frank that the clutch on them may not hold his boards.

The only reels he recommends are the ones from Cisco.

Of course they both hawk each other's gear, so...………...

 

I have time before the boat comes out of storage and I buy the tower.

So figured some questions asked would be time well spent.

As I mentioned, I sent an email to Great Lakes Planers yesterday.

I'm sure he will answer me tomorrow or Tuesday.

I am up in Watertown frequently on business.

They are not far from there.

I might even stop by to discuss this all with them in person and also to get a close up look at things.

 

Thanks for your answers and help.