Diving Planers

[Yak Fish]

You see any dipsy divers in store by chance?

I looked for those as well. They did not have those, nor the jet divers. Their planar boards were very limited which was surprising. I even asked a couple of associates but nope, they didn't have them.

They didn't have them at Dicks either.

[MetroMan]

Thanks for looking. Online order it is!

[DOGFISH]

How deep are you guys fishing. Putting a Stretch 25 or 30 on a planer? Unless you are fishing in 50 or 60 feet of water, that seems like overkill. Remember, in the spring those larger fish tend to be nearer to the warmer surface water.

I agree with surfdog. You may get away with trolling multiple lines, while going straight, but when you hook a fish it is a different story. A single fish can go side to side and tangle several lines, without mention of multiple hookups. It is a kayak after all. I troll two rods all the time, and fish tend to find that other line almost instinctively. Add any size to a fish and they are going to do some side to side motion. The smaller ones may just hang straight behind the kayak. Multiple hookups make it real interesting. Hey, forget stopping to fight a fish, it gets real messy. If you get a real big fish on, wind in the other rod(s).

Another thing is the tracking of the diver in a turn. When trolling, there are times when you are going to want to make a turn to return to a school of fish. Now a days, when kayak fishing, I wind in the rod on the opposite side of the boat and make a hard turn in the direction of the rod that is still in the water. In that fashion, I can get back onto the fish much quicker. That type of thing is going to be more difficult with multiple lines in the water, much less to consider planers. I find it much easier to use the depth finder to set the depth of the lures to the depth of the fish. This also is in consideration of the depth of the water you are fishing.

These are just my thoughts. Not to start any arguments.

[Yak Fish]

Hey Dogfish, We're actually talking about a couple of different things.
1. Diving Planers
2. Side Planers

The diving planers would be nice on the kayak because we could get lures deeper without a lot of weight. It just seems to make more sense. I'd use these for hitting channel edges to ensure my presentation is where I want it.

If I troll, it'll be at least 2 lines. I have 2 7' rods sticking straight out to the side giving me about a 15' spread. If I get side planers that don't dive, just go sideways, I can use the front Hobie rod holders and get outboard another 30' to each side, so I could really run a 60' spread and my worry of tangles goes way down. The inboard lures will be deeper and the outboard ones, shallow...or whatever the situation drives.

Also, I'm thinking the side planers will allow me to troll shallow waters since I could run a shallow crankbait way off to one side of the kayak with it trailing 20' behind the planer. I wouldn't scare the fish in shallow water by running right atop them. This is what I plan to do on the Flats this year. In theory it seems to make sense. If I can cast for them, I should be able to troll more effectively for them because the lure stays in the water all the time and I have the luxury of constantly checking the FF for clues as I pass over areas....and my arms wont get as tired

I can troll 3 lures now without much trouble...that is until I double up sometimes. Then I don't know what to do which is a good problem to have. Trolling 4 gets hairy because they are close together, but a side planar should fix this up...until a boat cuts me off

[DOGFISH]

I troll two like outriggers also. Good luck.

[ronaultmtd]

Planers cannot troll big heavy crank baits like Mann's Stretch 25/30's...they put too much pull that will trip the planer just like a strike from a fish- they are great for swim shads, buck tails and small minnow like lures that don't produce a lot excess backward pressure on the planers.

[MetroMan]

Plan on using mine with shads and spoons