One of the many advantages of the Off Shore Tackle in-line planer board system, is having the ability to rig them to release. When fishing a multiple board setup, rigging so the line releases from the bracket allows a board and hooked fish to swing to the middle of the spread. The beauty of this set up is the fish can be landed without moving other boards out of the way.
Fishing 411’s Mark and Jake Romanack have written and demonstrated how this is done using the OR12 planer boards by using the “loop trick” to attach the line into the OR19 (orange) line release mounted on the bracket. The line is then attached to an OR16 Pro Clip (red) on the tail of the board. This allows the line to come free of the OR19 release with a sharp snap of the rod letting the fish and board swing in behind the boat so fish and board can be retrieved in the middle of the spread. Most of the time this system is foolproof and extremely effective, especially for big water trolling. However, there are times when a slight modification to this setup will save aggravation, productivity, loss of gear, and ultimately put more fish in the boat.
FREE RANGING BOARDS
I am a fulltime guide on Lake Erie and when I troll for walleye in early spring and fall, I typically run up to twelve OR12 boards (6 per side) pulling deep diving crankbaits like the Bill Lewis Precise Walleye Cranks, often with in-line Off Shore Tackle OR20 Pro Weights. Tournament and derby anglers run the same setup as do most “mom and pop” anglers as a matter of routine. Most of the time the lake conditions make this presentation highly effective, but there are times when rough seas can throw a monkey wrench into the program.
put the board on the line properly or the line could break. By simply putting your name and telephone number on
the board, there is a chance another honest angler will find the board and notify you.
A board occasionally will come completely free from the main line leaving it free floating behind while you slowly troll away from it. More times than not the cause for a board to separate from the line is self inflicted from not getting the line placed behind the OR16’s pin properly, said pin getting worn to the point where it won’t hold the main line or after heavy use the pin wears off.
When this happens, the board can be retrieved by executing a U-turn with the full spread out, locating the board visually, then navigate to it if calm seas and boat traffic allow. If the lake is too rough to troll back into the wind or there is heavy boat traffic, the entire spread must be pulled in quickly and navigate back to the floating board to retrieve it. Even though the boards are bright yellow, it is amazingly difficult to locate a free-floating board in rough water which often results in loss of the board. At best, the board is found but the time spent finding it is unproductive and aggravating.
ENTER OR18 SNAPPER RELEASE
Off Shore Tackle has the OR18 Snapper Release with a cam operated over-the-center positive locking mechanism to firmly hold the line behind a pin. I mounted it to the bracket on OR12 and OR37 SST Pro Mag (the OR18 comes standard on the bracket of this model) boards along with an OR16 off the tail or on a Tattle Flag® wire on the back of my OR12. I’ve run boards rigged that way and never had the Snapper Release fail in any condition. For an extra amount of safety, I have found that the solution was to replace the OR16 clip on the tail of the boards with an OR18 and deploy the board the same way. Now I am confident the boards will stay attached to my main line in the roughest conditions with the biggest fish hooked up!
LOSS PREVENTION
Even though I have 100% confidence that a properly deployed OR12 board will do its job every time, I still get the occasional “free ranger” on trips. Customers like to get involved setting lines and they sometimes fail to get line in the tail release/clip properly which results in boards coming loose. For this reason, I recommend saving a waypoint the second it comes loose to help you navigate downwind or down current to help locate it. Also put your name and number on every board so a finder has the option of returning it.
Editor’s Note: Captain Eric Hirzel of Erie Gold Sportfishing has been chasing walleye on Lake Erie for most of his life. His “hands on” charter fishing style has his customers coming back year after year to enjoy the bounty of Lake Erie.
