Church Walleye Boards

[GLF]

In the chat room on Wednesday night, we got talking about church walleye boards. We were talking about ways of preventing the board from sliding down to the bait if the front clip releases. Some people use speed beads above the spoon, I use a swivel and bead above the spoon, and others use a rubber band, attached to the pin and line to prevent it from sliding down.

One thing I thought about was putting a loop in the line(I am not talking about tying a knot) where the pin holds the line on. Once the loop is through the pin, the line would be pulled tight around the pin. I am thinking this "may" prevent the board from sliding down.

I am going to test this the next time I get out. Has anyone ever tried this?

[Priority1]

I have never tried what you are suggesting, but If you allow the board to slide down to a speed bead or swivel bead you don't have to mess with a board until the fish is in the boat. Sometimes getting a board off mid fight is difficult, and can cost you a fish. This is especially true when you are short handed on the boat.

I use the tattle flag system on my walleye boards, so I have to take them off mid fight. I do however rig the same boards for salmon, without the tattle flag system in play. I use a snap around the line near the rear of the board. By releasing the front release with the snap of the rod the board slides down to a stop bead. Even running with tattle flags in play, If one of the outer boards gets a fish, I snap the rod to release the front release. The outside board is then allowed to go to the back of the boat before cranking the fish in.

[GLF]

I have never tried what you are suggesting, but If you allow the board to slide down to a speed bead or swivel bead you don't have to mess with a board until the fish is in the boat. Sometimes getting a board off mid fight is difficult, and can cost you a fish. This is especially true when you are short handed on the boat.

Good point Frank!

[Capt Craig]

Personally we try not to let the board release and accomplish this by looping the line through the release on the board twice. Once you put the line in the picher wrap it around the release and back through the pincher again. We run it this way with mono and superbraids and it has not caused any problems breaking line and will not slip. I hate fighting the board all the way to the boat but I also understand this is not as big a problem with Walleyes.

[Live2fishdjs]

Personally we try not to let the board release and accomplish this by looping the line through the release on the board twice. Once you put the line in the picher wrap it around the release and back through the pincher again. We run it this way with mono and superbraids and it has not caused any problems breaking line and will not slip. I hate fighting the board all the way to the boat but I also understand this is not as big a problem with Walleyes.

Yeah, I would say letting the board slide is easily prevented if fighting it to the boat properly, and if slippage is an issue (shouldn't be with a properly adjusted board) use the technique described above.

[Nailer]

I think it's a good idea Mike. If you do a couple twist like you do when putting it into a Blacks style release, it should work fine.

[joelsanders]

you could use a rubber band on your line also.

[GLF]

you could use a rubber band on your line also.

I try to run a rubber bandless boat. One less thing to mess around with when setting lines.

The only time I use a rubber band is when I am fishing rough water and they are releasing from the clips while trolling. I will wrap a rubber band around the line and clip to keep it from coming off.

[silver one]

Just one question. How often has anyone had one release after a fish has hit?

I am only asking this about the church boards because I have only ever had this happen approx twice in the last 5 years as I set the clips on the releases as tight as i can get them and seems to work pretty well. and on smaller fish wouldnt your want the board to realease? such as with yellow birds which I like in the spring being that they are lite. I like the speed balls as they seem to be effective.

[Paulywood]

I don't like the boards to slide down the line when they release. If one releases falsely you have to reel the whole thing in to reset. Unlike Mike I use rubber bands all over my boat. I use one on the rear of the board to keep it from sliding and if it's rough I use one on the front to keep it from releasing. I have problems with the braided backing wearing out the front clips. Last year I tried using and Offshore snap weight release and had better luck. I am going to try the plunger style releases this year. I like to tinker. I also started splicing mono into my leadcore setups in between the backing and core. Holds the clips better. I was thinking of putting an offshore clip on the back this year also.

[boomerang]

what is the best position for the rods when running boards?? with the tip up twards the sky or down parallel to the water??? THX

[Rayman96]

I set the releases hard and run the line through the release twice. I don't want a release, I prefer to take the board off before landing the fish. As previously mentioned, this eliminates a false release.

As to rod tip, I set the rod height according to distance away from the boat. The farthest board, running shallowest is set the highest. This allows a fired rod to clear the rest of the spread and be retrieved straight out the back of the boat.

To reset the rod, let out the lure, clip on the board and let out required amount line straight out the back and then engage the reel. The board will track to it's position in the spread.

HIH:)

[Treblemaker]

When we are fishing tournaments in 4-8' waves we use rubber bands to hold the board on, but other than that we have had no issues. A speed bead above the lure would be good insurance. If the release is set right and you keep getting releases then I would replace the release. We use 30-50# superlines with no issues. Also with the older boards with the open cell foam insert I would replace the foam insert as well.

On the keel setting issue most of ours are set to -0- or mid scale. If we are running 12+ cores or copper we will adjust the keel forward to keep the boards running even. If a board is running too far back, adjust the keel forward and the board will move ahead in the spread. Move it back and the board will drop back too. It is much easier to read the boards when you have multiple boards per side and they are in a nice line.