Planer Boards

[DADAKOTA]

Any of you use planer boards for trolling on Stockton? If so, how big of a pain are they to run?

[LoweSTX175]

This is a good question that I was actually wondering about myself. I'm also curious if anyone has tried "slow death rigs" on Stockton Lake for Walleye? I specifically was wondering what time of the year to use them on the lake? From what I've gathered from reading about them it might be a good way to cover flats trolling at anywhere from 1 - 1.5 mph in anywhere from 10-20 FOW.

[Hunter75]

I primarily use the slow death rig now over the regular bead/blade rigs. I seem to catch more fish and they are alot cheaper and easier to make. I have found the red hooks usually work better than the bronze, but have had a few days where they want the bronze. I start using them in mid may and will use them throughout the summer into erly fall. If they are hitting trolled cranks i can usually get them to hit the slow death rig. 10-20 fow is where i try to stay, but i have had to go to 25-30 fow in the dog days of summer. If using crawlers i only use about 1/3 of the crawler on the hook, you get a better movement out of the rig. Last year i had some good luck using shiners on the rig too.

[farmer 11]

We were using slow death setups on Stockton last week with a bottom bouncer. Were in the State Park area and the bluff north of the 415 brigde. Did well. Were trolling about 1 mph at 25-35 feet. Used 1/2 a crawler and it worked well.

The hooks we had were red and had a spinner,beeds, and a small float on them.

We also used the same setup last year in early Oct. and had good luck.

[unclefish]

I hate to sound stupid but what does a slow death setup look like never herd of it.

[slab slinger]

The slow death rig is just the name of a special hook made by mustad to troll with a piece of a crawler. It's bent to make the crawler spin when trolled. Im with the other 2 gentlemen, i like the slow death on a bottom bouncer over the traditional crawler rigs. Have had good sucess with them on Stockton walleye. Haven't used the red hooks but interrsted. Found the bronze on clearence and loaded up but will try the red now just from curiosity.

[unclefish]

Thanks for the info slab slinger much appreciated

[powerdive]

Planer boards are a pain if you're fishing solo, much less so if you have a partner. Good way to run more lines and cover water. Be aware, it'll take a couple trips to get the hang of handling them, learn to read them in the water, and figure out how to land fish and keep the boat on course without tangling your other lines. You will catch more fish with them, though, once you get all that behind you.

[edgarsanvil.com]

Plainer boards are a bit of a hassle if you run too many and to reel in fish without clearing the ones that are in its way but yes very very effective especially on these fish that is suspended over the flats feeding up after spawning

[kan dave]

Plainer boards are almost a most if you want to troll with more than two rods out of one boat. I have found that some of the Storm lures (hot in tot and wiggle warts) deflect erratically off the bottom. This can make them attractive, but can deflect into your other rod. Plainer boards allow you to run a wider spread. I have found the Offshore brand tends to work easier than the yellow bird brand.