Long time fan of this site but first time poster ... here goes !!
I've got a question to Adrien's 12/26 11:12 am post. Do the Otter Boats have to be fully retrieved after each fish (or release). If so then they must be operated differently than the traditional board set-up being discuused in this dialog, correct?

I am moving toward Boards or the Otter Boats and this comment caught me by surprise. Further details would be appreciated.

Joe,

Welcome aboard. speaking for myself only, I use the otter boats and after each fish or release i just leave them out and just re rig with another release.

ilucas

I have been away for a week. Sorry for the slow reply.

If you only have 1 release you would have to retrieve your board every time.

If you have a few releases you just let the tripped release slide away down the rope and put a new one on. When all your releases are used up you have to pull in the board and get them back.

I hope that makes sense?

Adrien... That makes perfect sense and is consistent with my understanding of the process. I misunderstood your initial description. Thanks for clarifying.

Joe.

i use the yellows also, make sure to slide the spring for a softer release. buy a bag or two so you have several ready to go

Eric, I have brand new Big Jon dual reel mast still in the box. I bought it from Paugus Bay this fall for $ 200.00. I have since found out from this site that I can mount the reels on my hardtop rails. You can have it for the same $ 200.00. Doc

Doc - sorry but I already ordered a Fishlander planer mast.

Adrien / Fishless -- where did you pick up your "offshore" releases and what brand are they again? From all your reports you guys really seem to know what you're doing with planer fishing so I just assume to go with your suggestions.

YoAdrien -- as for the lanyard, on the Big Jon web site they recomend the use of a single lanyard for the convenience of pulling in the main planer line in towards the middle of the boat when you add releases and lines. Do you do this or do you think it would help a beginner?

From all of you I see the logic of having and using many releases for simplicity (no multiple lanyards) and minimizing retrievals. Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the input...

Eric

That lanyard is a 5 foot or so piece of line that is used to pull the tow line in so that you can attach the shower curtain clip to the tow line. If you have an open boat you may not need one, since the tow line is more accessible, with a boat that is enclose, access is limited, so the lanyard is used. A lot of times I use one of guide on the pole to catch the tow line and bring it in, other times I will hook up a lanyard system.



OR-10

Thanks again Gus, particularly for the link to the OR-10 releases....Eric

I can reach my tow line from the fishing deck. My reels are mounted on each side over my head.

A lanyard just to pull the tow line a couple feet so you can reach it and attatch a release is a good idea.

Putting a lanyard on each release is a bad idea.

Lots of places have the releases. AJ's, Paugus bay, Martels probably all of them.

Adrien - thanks for the additional points. I was a little unclear on what type of releases, but Gus cleared that up (yellow = OR-10 = "light" planer release). I'll probably need the single retrieval lanyard given my rods will be 2/3 or so back from the bow-mounted planer mast. Looking forward to testing this all out in April...

Most planer reels come with the heavy yellow nylon line, getting the releases to slide down the line can be a pain sometimes.

When fishing with Popeye once I noticed he uses heavy mono line and the releases seemed to slide down easier. Has anyone else tried this or have any suggestions to help get the releases sliding out
towards the boards ??

I have one reel that needs the nylon line replaced so I wil try one anyhow, not sure what pound test to use, any suggestions to keep it plyable??? I have spare reel with new nylon should I have problems with the new set up, but it seemed to work great on Popeye's.

By the way, Popeye and Throbbin Rod's (John and Bill Finn) mother slipped and fell over the weekend, broke her hip, 80 years old, this is always a tough one on older folks, hope she mends fast.

John S.

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Replying to:

First, Merry Christmas everyone...

Revisiting a topic from last month or so, I have taken Slipknot's suggestion and have decided to get the Fishlander dual planer mast and Big Jon otter boats separately even though the combination is a little more $$ (thanks in advance to my wife). (What sealed the deal was the Fishlander mounting plate system that will preclude the need for another cut out in my boat cover). The question I have is about setting them up the entire planer system and in particular what line releases to use. I have a bunch of Canon downrigger releases and its seems to me I should be able to use these with an oversized double-locking clasp to let them slide down the planer line. What do other people use and how many "lanyards" do you rig up? Do you put a retrieval lanyard on each release so you don't have to retrieve the otter boats? Any creative approaches out there? Looking forward to any and all posts...Eric

John - not having used planers before I was wondering the same thing. Perhaps a little K-Y would help? (I don't normally keep that on board...but...) I wonder if raising the planer mast to at or near max height would help. I can see if you have the boards way out and mast height a little low that you'd end up with a real shallow angle to the water. With a real light spoon, I can see it not sliding well. Anyone have any ideas on this?

Eric,

As high as you can go is good, that's when the short rope (laynard) to bring the line in to clip on your releases would be a big help. The guys with the hard top boats get the reels up pretty high and the releases slide out along the nylon line pretty good.

It's worse when yu try to get lead core that is attached to the release to slide down the line, so it's a good idea to use in-line lead core off the boards..Have seveal set ups, with 1, 2, 3 or more colors ready to go, depending how deep ya want to have your lines. May have to re-rig when the fish go deeper.

I plan to use my boards and lead core all seson next year when ever I'm fishing 4 lines or more, normally we take the boars off late June or in July.

John S.

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Replying to:

John - not having used planers before I was wondering the same thing. Perhaps a little K-Y would help? (I don't normally keep that on board...but...) I wonder if raising the planer mast to at or near max height would help. I can see if you have the boards way out and mast height a little low that you'd end up with a real shallow angle to the water. With a real light spoon, I can see it not sliding well. Anyone have any ideas on this?

I can buy all the fancy releases there are out, but why should I when I beleive the following pics will show how you can make over thirty-six of these for under ten bucks. why waste money????????

shower curtain rings 32 for $3.21
clothespin with the holes the curtain ring goes in bag of 50 for $2.44
rubber latex optional to cusion the grip of the line
1 5.5 oz. tube for $1.97
total of complete releases with many extra parts (just buy more shower rings--------$7.62







any thoughts?

you forgot to mention: satisfaction of doing it yourself, Priceless!!

John
my best fish came in august off the planer board, a little more than three colors of lead. as soon as you start seeing the smelt up on top early in the morning feeding its good to send a board out. or maybe i was just real lucky. two years in a row now the best fish on my boat came in at noon in august up near the surface

I like the boards and lead core, but when you are limited to 2 or 4 lines in mid-July August, it's hard to keep the riggers in.

Maybe early in the morning boards wou;ld be a good choice if your limited, but again like you say, you got the nice ones at noon ????????

John S.

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Replying to:

John
my best fish came in august off the planer board, a little more than three colors of lead. as soon as you start seeing the smelt up on top early in the morning feeding its good to send a board out. or maybe i was just real lucky. two years in a row now the best fish on my boat came in at noon in august up near the surface

Fishless -- I'm curious too. I would have thought they'd perhaps make forays up top in the early am and at dusk, but noon? Did that include your famous 7-lber? Could you elaborate on the whole scenario?

this was the scenario. this year and last, about the second week of august, i started seeing ths smelt on the surface in the morning, big schools of smelt jumping out of the water. the 7 pounder was caught at about a little more than 3 colors on an edge that went from 13 feet down to about 70-90 feet and i was fishing along that wall. the year before the scenario was similar, fishing over a long underwater point about 20-30 feet deep with a dropoff on both sides. over the point we were fishing live bait and #72 big gold and silver suttons and just kept the bait about 10-15 feet down over the shallower point.(no more than 3 colors) only thing i can figure is that the salmon were still holding on the top edges looking for the smelt that were there earlier. the strikes were viscous, maybe coming up fast from the deeper water for the bait and moving fast to get back down in the warm top water. sebago is a slow lake to fish, so when there is action you remember it, as soon as the smelt come to the surface next august i will have something up near the top, one other thing i noticed this year was that july into the beginning of august i could point the lure 6 feet back from the ball on the riggers, but later in the year it had to go way back from the ball to get a hit.

Great observations fishless. Thanks for the report.
-Eric