Anyone use Sea Striker SS planers to get deeper?

[NattyBoh74]

I was wondering if anyone uses sea striker planers to get the jigs deeper... Or do you just use a heavier jig to get your depths? Seems that they're being caught deeper now around 20' +/- some feet... Any recommendations other wise?

[J.A. Veil]

Alan Battista's book on light tackle trolling gives plenty of tips of how to fish at different depths. That is a good place to start.

[NattyBoh74]

whats a forum worth if I have to buy a book? I bought one book but havent read it all yet.

[Steve6902]

Some people use the Scotty Downrigger to get the jigs down in the strike zone. It is a manual type. You can also build a poor man Downrigger. Basically a rope of a certain length and a weight. You can also add an inline weight to help get the bait down in the zone. Or just use heavier jigs, like a 2oz with a 1/2-1oz chaser.

[NattyBoh74]

Some people use the Scotty Downrigger to get the jigs down in the strike zone. It is a manual type. You can also build a poor man Downrigger. Basically a rope of a certain length and a weight. You can also add an inline weight to help get the bait down in the zone. Or just use heavier jigs, like a 2oz with a 1/2-1oz chaser.

Thanks. It'll give be more to check out.

[yakscientist]

Not sure if you have a pedal or paddle yak, but rapala, mann's, and a few other companies also make deep diving plugs that are designed to go from 10' all the way down to 40', depending on the model. I have a rapala xrap magnum 20 and although it's only caught a couple fish, they've both been sizeable (makes sense since it's a huge lure). They do create a lot of drag though, so I would only run them in my paddle yak on rare occasions, but it's much easier in my outback. Don't get too caught up on only pursuing fish that deep by trolling though, there's another book on jigging which is an effective way to target deeper fish. Trolling is a good search method to find feeding or even aggregating fish. Oh and don't discount smaller lures in the top of the water column either, I often catch fish on my 1/4oz jig/paddletail when I'm only marking deep fish, I think since there's so much sunlight in the top 2-6', the lures catch a lot of it and really entice deeper fish to come up and strike.

[MetroMan]

I was wondering if anyone uses sea striker planers to get the jigs deeper... Or do you just use a heavier jig to get your depths? Seems that they're being caught deeper now around 20' +/- some feet... Any recommendations other wise?

I have used them on occasion. They're easy to deploy when using the motor (same would be for pedal driven yaks)...I could see it being a challenge if you have to paddle though. That being said, I haven't had much luck using them. In fact, never caught a fish from the yak using one. If I need to get deep, I opt for diving lures like the "stretch" brand, or anything comparable with a lip. More times that not, if I'm targeting fish that deep, I'm not trolling.

Lately, most of the stripers I've caught have been in the upper part of the water column.

[rugbyfish]

Oh and don't discount smaller lures in the top of the water column either, I often catch fish on my 1/4oz jig/paddletail when I'm only marking deep fish, I think since there's so much sunlight in the top 2-6', the lures catch a lot of it and really entice deeper fish to come up and strike.

This has been my experience many many times, the 1/4 oz jig is the only one that gets hit sometimes, even when fish are deep.

[mchottie]

additional in-line weights may be of use.

[willf650]

I've used them on my boat and you'll need a heavier rod to use them in standard form. You will also need to "leader" the fish.

I'm not really fond of them but have taken to rigging them using them tethered to the boat cleat and attach the line to them with a quik release. This allows you to use a lighter rod and simply deploy the lure by clipping the quick release around the line on the planer and letting it slide down to the planer.

This style fishing it easy in a boat but will be problematic in a kayak.

[rob-kayak]

I think the basic bottom line is planners create a lot of drag.

What I do to go deep... is I make a section of leaders... what ever length you feel comfortable with... 1ft, 2ft, 3ft.... 30lb test line.. or whatever... a snap link on one end to attach your bait or lure, and on the other end a three way swivel.

The three way swivel attaches to your rod-line... the third "open loop" of the swivel hangs your weight.
I pre-set my weights with a generic snap. Thusly.. you just snap the weight on that "open" loop.
And swap out different weights to get the depth you are trying to achieve.

Boats use some crazy heavy weights to get down deep... one beautiful Thanksgiving morning near the bridge.. a fellow had his line cut (not by me)... and I trolling happened to catch it. He had a six ounce weight to the gear and felt no less than a cannon ball. He was happy I was able to return it to him.

A three once weight on the rig I described feels pretty darn heavy... even with my mid strength rods... and the drag behind the kayak.

But certainly give it a try... and work out what you feel comfortable.

[willf650]

There are two styles of planers. One is to create a spread away from the boat.

The ones the original poster was talking about are to make a lure dive. They are a weighted blade that travels down on a 45 degree angle. When a fish strikes it they trip and flatten out and come to the surface.

They create drag but a number one planer has a 1oz weight and will dive a lot deeper then a 1oz sinker.

I have pairs of sizes 1 through 4 and a single size 8hs. They are good for getting your lure beneath the prop wash and I use them at 6knts. It takes a special plug to dive and work consistently at speeds greater the 4 knots.

This is not something you really have to worry about with a yak.


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