Three-Dimensional Trolling Systems for Working Open Water

In addition, most boards geared to walleyes feature two pinch clips—one on an arm extending from the side of the board, the other at the tail end. Inserting the line into two such locations makes the board stay on the line better. (When using superlines, consider double-wrapping line through the pinch clips, similar to using snap weights.)

As a side benefit, a two-clip system makes reading subtle strikes easier. When a fish hits, the board tilts up as well as dropping back. Even with small fish, some surface area rises out of the water. Some anglers prefer rigging both pinch clips on the side arm to accentuate this tilting feature, although boards rigged in this fashion don’t perform as well in rough water.

Yellow Bird—A small lightweight board made from expandable polystyrene, with a weighted bottom to right itself in choppy water. A large snap at the rear allows the board to slide down the line when the release pops.

Wille Products Side-Liner—Available with either a twist-style wing nut and plastic pad release, or a clamp style pinch pad. Filled with about 21⁄2 ounces of BBs to provide ballast and produce noise. Rotating the arm 180 degrees switches boards from port to starboard.

Cannon Rover—The original wooden planer features pinch-pad releases for walleyes. Heavy and stable in rough water.

Off Shore Tackle OR-12 Side Planer—Foam-filled board with a sturdy pop-up flag. Available with black (medium tension) or red (heavy tension) snap releases. Optional Tattle Flag kit helps detect the presence of small fish or weeds on the line. Clip-on Night Light provides visibility at night.

Big Jon Otter—Available in 5-inch and 8-inch models; adjustable to run left or right. V-pin line attachment, tension adjustable.

Church Tackle Gary Roach Mister Walleye Board—Large board with an adjustable keel weight designed to run in rough water. Single stainless steel release clip with pinch pad. Sliding pin attachment at rear allows board to slide down the line if release pops.

Starport Mini-Ski—Small wooden board with pinch-pad releases.

Luhr-Jensen Hot Shot Side Planer—Small, lightweight planer designed for steelhead fishing in rivers, with light-line walleye applications. Adjustable to run left or right. No ballast.

Tru-Trac Tru-Tracker—Lightweight plastic board, no ballast, performs best at faster speeds, with lures having little water resistance.

Divers and Planers

Diving planers are devices tied in-line a short distance ahead of a lure, to take trolled lures deeper. They come in different sizes, weighted and unweighted, sharing the common characteristic of an angled planing or diving surface. Tow ‘em through the water and they dive, dive, dive. The more line out, the deeper they run, getting lures down into perhaps the 70-foot range.

When you get a bite, a trip lever releases, generally popping a large barrel swivel out of a clip, to untangle the planer. Now, instead of having to reel against the resistance of the angled contraption, the straightened planer surface limply glides through the water, letting you focus on fighting the fish.

While diving planers chiefly were developed for salmon and trout fishing, they also work well for deep-water suspended walleyes. Use them to troll spoons, spinner harnesses, or shallow-diving crankbaits to extreme levels.

Some divers, termed directional, can be set to run both down and out. An adjustable-position keel weight along the lower face of the diver can be angled to either side, tipping it off center, which causes it to run either right or left. Tilt left, run right, and vice versa. The more angled the weighted keel, the more it runs to either side. As a consequence, depth is sacrificed. Thus directional divers set to run to the side run shallower than those that dive directly below.