Planer Board Tactics Infomation from waterbugz.com Reservoir Tactics This technique works best for live bait and can be modified depending on how fast you troll. I use a Minnkota power drive unit and typically run between speed #3-#5, or for others it is just a slow troll just enough to keep your baits off the bottom. The technique will keep your bait near the bottom of the water column and the stripers that are in less than 30` of water are usually close to that bottom. Hooks are your choice but you will need size #7 split shots for this method. • For every ten feet of water use one #7 split shot about four feet above your hook • For every foot of water put one yard of line out EXAMPLE- Fishing in eleven feet of water you would put one #7 split shot about four foot from the hook and you would let out thirty three foot of line then clip on your planer. EXAMPLE- In eighteen feet of water you would have two #7 split shots about four foot from the hook and you would let out fifty four of line then clip on your planer. EXAMPLE- In twenty eight feet of water you would have three #7 split shots and let out eight four feet of line then clip on your planer. Current, wind and your speed are the factors of concern. Remember if your getting hung up occasionally on the bottom you doing it right. If your getting hung up every time you get in the target area then either speed up or remove a split shot. A great spread is two planers on each side of the boat, one about 50 feet away and the other about 20 feet away. HOW TO SET UP YOUR SIDE PLANER: Place your bait out the proper distance using the above formula. Place the line through the snap swivel and close it, then place the line in the yellow clip (do so by squeezing the center of the clip and it opens) just barely in the pad about 1/3 entrance. Remember a rhyme 'yellow clip is closest to rod tip' and you will have it pointing correctly. Questions? Call Jeff Tomlin at (704) 902-7246 Down & Out, Inc. Statesville, North Carolina
Visibility: One of the other nagging issues regarding FC lines is the general claim of their invisibility under water. This has proven to be a difficult claim to test - that is without scuba certification and equipment. The following are some pictures we took in a swimming pool behind the premise that if the lines are invisible, or at best, hard to see in a swimming pool, results should be even more pronounced in a natural body of water where clarity will be considerably less. We rigged up the lines in a holder and marked a small section of each line with a black marker so we could have an idea of where to look for each product. Our attempt at an underwater visibility test It appears, the more background there is, the more difficult it is to find each line As you can see in the pictures above, visibility depends a great deal on the backdrop. It will also, most certainly, depend upon depth and how close you are to the line. These photos were taken at a depth of only four feet but at a distance from the subject of eighteen inches in a focal length that is slightly wider than what would be considered normal eyesight. The pictures below were taken at a different angle: straight down against the bottom of the pool to check visibility against more background noise and distraction. So we took it to the extreme... And just about every line, including the Trilene XL, is difficult to see Conclusions from our visibility tests? We'd say largely inconclusive. For one, it's difficult to determine if what we see is the same as what a fish can see. From our photographs, it would certainly appear that some of the lines are difficult to find, but then again, so is the Berkley Trilene XL! What's more, how important is line visibility over, say, line diameter? The larger the diameter of your line, the greater disturbance it will create in the water and the easier it will be for a fish to sense this disturbance through its lateral line. In that case, visibility is really a moot point. Once again, too many variables to consider to truly develop a viable conclusion.