Quick releases and big boards?

[hornets nest]

This winter I re-rigged the Hornets Nest so the reels for the big boards were accessible from the side of the boat and didn't have to go around to the bow to deploy the big boards off of a 6' mast in the middle . So far I love it.(not having to battle the inlined and a fish is great.) The larvick releases I have work well so far i have run up 8 colors this spring and had the fish pop the release . My question is what about a release for flat lines with less aggressive fish(walleye in particular ) I bought the smaller size 30 larvicks and last weekend had the same issues of fish not popping the release . I run the walker triple boards with one board off previous owner removed one board, I have the other boards I can put back on if it will. We do get some slack in the tow string from waves moving the boat around, especially down at 1.5 dog. Would the otter boats pull any better? What releases work the best? Thanks for any input ..

[mattmishler]

Big boards are great to fight fish on. We run the Dual Planer Board Clip from church tackle, they work great, if your having troubles seeing bites, use a rubber band and hook the rubber band to the clip

[ALLEYES]

Yup, rubberband is the answer.

[Line Dancin]

For walleye you need to learn the sweet spot in the releases. I have 75 lauvricks and 80 of the yellow offshores. You'll find where to place it how far forward to just hold the line till a fish hits while trolling. For walleye on the lauvericks i put the line about quarter to half way also make sure when you put your line in it is not looped around the release. the way i make sure is to clip the release to my planer line first then clip the line in so that you dont accidently twist the relaese. The offshores i just catch the line in the pads any more and a walleye or silver bass wont release it. If you do happen to set it to tight pay attention to the way your planer lines look where the release is attached. You will notice a difference in the way it looks when you get a small fish on and it doesnt release. There will be a more pronounced V in the planer line at the release that is holding the fish. Also depending on the rods you are using i like med light rod, when you get a small fish on you can look at the rod tips and see which rod has the fish as it will be pulled out of synche of the other rods toward the planer board.

[sherman51]

the best release i have seen for flatlining and small fish is curtain hooks and the light fishing rubberbands. not the 16,s or 32,s that you get at wall mart but the red ones thats made for fishing. you can order them from fishusa.com but there is alot of bait shops that carry them. if you get a fish that dont brake the rubberband it will atleast stretch it out so you know something is on it. then when you brake the rubberband with the rod reel it up snug and jerk the rod towards the back of the boat. this will brake the band better than jerking it from the band. does this make sence??

another one i liked was home made, we got a bunch of alligator clips and paper clips and vacume hose from the auto parts store. clamp the back of the alligator clips down on the end of the paper clip that you straughten out. then just slide the hose over the teeth on the alligaror clip and cut it at the end of the clip. then you can just put either one of these on your board line. and as you use them they will just stack up at the board. hope one of these will work for you.

sherman

[hornets nest]

I am aware of the rubber band and curtain hook set up, but good info on the red bands Sherman thanks. I've tried lots of different ways of setting the line in the larvick clips but I do appreciate your explanation line dancing, thanks. And I am very tuned in to the v in the tow line so I do know when we are dragging a fish. My problem is lets say I have 3 lines out pulling reef runners at a 80' lead and the middle rod gets a fish but not released we just kept trying to tighten the slack until it popped without pulling the fish into the inside line but i hated jerking it loose, I feel we lost a few fish because of that. These were not dinks either we had several 6-9lbs fish just swim with the lure. We have always used the larvick releases and had this issue I was just wandering what you guys were using. Anybody that has been trolling in the Western basin of Erie lately can justify on how big the trolling bite has been this spring so far. We have caught several fish this past weekend and two weeks ago in the 8 -11 lb class. And one that was just shy of 12 lb. 4 trips out of Ohio side we have boated 39 fish with great size compared to what I see the jiggin guys catch. Would the 3 rd board help with keeping the tow line any tighter? Thought I would ask never hurts to get other guys thoughts. Thanks.

[hornets nest]

Amother thought i just had was about line. Right know I have 15 lb test that is in the clip, I have a 20' leader of floracarbon 15LG bloodknotted to the mono. Should I scale hack on the line, to say 10lb ?. Smaller diameter should help I would think.

[Line Dancin]

I use 12 lb for walleye.

What i do if a fish hits that middle line and doesnt release drop the rid tip let the release work down till tight again give it a quick wrist snap to release it then lift the rod back up and over your head. lift your arm straight up and it removes most of the slack. let the fish fall back behind the other lines and lower your rod to reeling position and start working it in.

Edit

Personally i like the offshore yellow release better.