For all you planer board experts

[fish N ski]

Going to start running planer boards this year at a few select lakes. I will have my mast pole completed soon and would need to purchase the most expensive item - Boards.
I found on ebay, cabelas etc. heavy plastic boards. I fished with a guy that had wooden boards as his set-up and would prefer the same. Any suggestions on where to purchase a good set of wooden boards?
The releases I found are OR-19 Heavy tension. Would this be sufficient to pull medium size (6" to 8") musky lures around without tripping the release?

[Anzomcik]

You can make pretty good boards on the cheap with planns on the internet. I fish erie alot for walleye and runs boards and mast all the time, every time. Out there i run 10 rods sometimes, so i need my board to pull super hard and run good (and not flip over, thats a mess...) in 3-5footers.

As far as my releases, this might sound silly but i have went to shower curtain hooks, and rubber bands for the cost. It only takes one time for a board line to snap and see 75$ worth of releases go in the drink to say i am going cheaper route next time. (i have snapped 5 board lines before) They are a little bit of a pain sometimes to release but they cost almost nothings and fish will break the bands.

[Ralph]

Aurora Lites are the best boards you can run. Plastic boards are a waste of time!

As far as releases ... rubber bands are the best with hard pulling baits and heavy lines. You can use multiple bands if you need. Better stick with Mono though.

Braid will slip and cut the bands. With Braid I use Scotty planer power grip releases. The yellow ones. I have pulled 400 feet of Copper and a spin doctor with these releases for salmon at 3 mph. Got to believe they would pull large baits ... speed is the question though. Not sure if they would hold pulling 4-6 mph.

[Ivan]

Matt,

I can share my dad's planer board plans with you if you want to make your own set. Otherwise, Kevin Laroche from the Akron Canton Chapter makes a nice set of boards. Very similar to the last set my Dad made for us.

Let me know.

Adam

[lowbidder]

I made a set of triple boards from a plan on the internet. Pine boards, all thread, nuts & bolts, orange and white paint. Very cheap. Just make sure if you're using wood to seal it first so they don't become waterlogged with time.

I was very happy with the way they ran. I ran three musky crankbaits from each line and they pulled just fine. I never had them in anything but a slight chop though, so cannot comment on how they run through whitecaps.

Be careful with the triple boards if you go that way. You need a strong mast, but more importantly, you need a strong connection between your mast and the boat itself! Think through-bolts and big washers.

[Anzomcik]

I made a set of triple boards from a plan on the internet. Pine boards, all thread, nuts & bolts, orange and white paint. Very cheap. Just make sure if you're using wood to seal it first so they don't become waterlogged with time.

Haveing waterlogged boards is something to be desired. Reasons are the water in the wood changes the density of the wood. They will now ride lower in the water and pull so much harder. The hard pulling will keep you from dragging the board, and 180 turns will be much more easly done in much less room.

I have added steel weight to my boards (my boards came with the mast i bought used. they were sealed and pulled only OK at best) and it has made such a difference in how they run. Sounds like a .22 going off when i blew both of my 250lbs rated snubbers. Like mentioned before have a good connection to your boat, it could kill a man it the mast comes loose.

[lowbidder]

The directions I followed instructed to keep them dry, but I can see your point about pulling harder and keeping the line tight.

[fish N ski]

Thanks for the input guys. I will let you know about the plans Adam. Does Kevin Laroche make, then sell boards to order?

[Ivan]

I think he does Matt. At least I know he was. You can get him on Muskie Guy's site or I can try to get his number for you if you are not making your own. Let me know.

[whytail3912]

Do any of you use any shock springs or rubber snubbers between the mast and the pulleys to absorb the bounce from the waves? I read someplace where a guy made his own from a pair of 12" black rubber bungee cords. Any ideas on this or what and where to buy? Thanks, Doug

[Ralph]

http://www.amishoutfitters.com/descriptions.htm.old

Nice shock cords here! On my boat and work great!

[Anzomcik]

Last year i weighted my boards to pull harder, and not drag behind the boat in turns.

It worked great, they pull so much better, only problem is i had to increase my main line to 300# because i kept snapping the 200# line. Once i upgraded my main line with in a few hours both of my amish outfitter snubbers blew as well.

My review of those snubbers were they worked great, until they broke... cant blame the product on that one

[ShutUpNFish]

If you plan on making your own, I have some redwood planks I got from a school gym renovation. I'd give them to you at no charge if you wanted to come pick them up. I can also show you the boards I have made up....they pull real hard and never failed....great boards...probably the same plans as Adams.

PM me