Planer Fishing - Techniques for Big Boat Driving

Boat driving is crucial when trolling with planers. It's essential to grasp the relationship between your speed, the current, and the behavior of your planers underwater. Combine this knowledge with the location of your bites. It might seem daunting initially, but it doesn't have to be.

This planer fishing video offers some advanced tips on boat driving once you've found a school of fish:

• Approaching the School: How should you approach a school of fish? If you're trolling with the current at a specific speed and get a bite, what's the first step?

1. Firstly, never take the boat out of gear.
2. Secondly, while reeling in the fish, initiate a slow turn back to the bite location to target the school of fish.
3. Direction of Turn: Always consider the long planer. Ensure it remains on the outside of your turn. If you're getting multiple bites, turn away from the long planer and into the current.

Speed and Current Considerations

When you turn into the current, your speed will naturally decrease. Consider this: if your boat runs at a set rpm level with the current, it'll move faster than the same rpm level against the current. This is logical, right?

As you turn into the current, you might need to increase your rpm to maintain the bite speed. Always remember the speed you were at when you got a bite. This speed can vary daily. Sometimes, fish might be enticed by faster-moving bait, while other times they prefer slower speeds. Stay observant. If you're not getting bites despite spotting a school of fish on your sounder, consider adjusting your speed to determine the optimal boat speed for bites.

When trolling with planers, speed over ground is always relative. It boils down to the speed of your bait relative to the fish, the fish's depth, and the required depth for your baits. Adjusting your speed can change your bait's depth in the water column. These nuances come with experience. The key is to be observant and recall the circumstances when you got a bite.