Mast type board Q & A.

[Walleye Express]

As I sat trolling last weekend with three rods out on each side I had the bright idea of going with more lines on each side. Michigan just went to the three rods per man (was always two) and was wondering if any of you guys have ever run four or five rods with the mast and planer board rigging per side. I usually run Flickers or Hot N Tot's or just spinner rig live bait. I do have my boards weighted so they do pull pretty even with the boat going 1.7 - 2.2 mph. I contemplated dipsy divers but then you always have the mess with letting out the lure in the back of the boat. Any suggestions would be awesome..

Thanks a bunch,

Dan Houdek

Dan.

I've ran as many as 5 lines per side with the big boards successfully. I run double ski rivieras and let them out rougly 110 feet per side. You can get away with 5 on each side and keeping them 15 to 20 feet apart as long as your running at faster crankbait speeds. But if your running rigs and have to slow down below 2 mph it's not a very pleasant experience. Reason being the released lines out towards the end of the boards takes to long to clear the others before you can safely start reeling in the fish. Especially since the closer to the boat your lines are using the mast type boards, the shallower they are running in the water cloumn.

So you have to wait that much longer (because of the clearing speed of the boat) for the line with the fish on it to clear well away from the other lines and not get dragged across the inside ones. With the keels and harnesses being the most productive technique this summer on the bay for me, and the slower speeds 1.4 to 1.6 I have to run them at, I think I have lost most of the fish I have this summer because of this wait and hold time for the lines to clear. But when the fish want it slow you have to conform or go fishless. Capt. Dan.

[shu9265]

Dan,

Most of the time, I run 4-5 lines per side on the big boards. Mostly jet divers with stinger style spoons or meat rigs. Then once the fish start to gather deeper, I switch to 4 dipsey divers per side off the boards, with rubber bands. ( With dipsey's, I run them all on the same setting keeps them from tangling that way.)

I also run my stick baits behind the riggers, most of the time, stacking 2 per side.

But, as you know it all depends on the situation and the conditions.