Page 6 - Crappie NOW - August 2018

PLANER BOARD CRAPPIE

Grenada championship in the fall of 2016,
and we were still in summer-time patterns,” Dan’s setup includes a larger model planer
Dannenmueller said. “Summer-time fishing board with a flag on the outside of the spread
is a great time to use the planer boards. I with smaller mini boards on the inside.
was pulling crankbaits and Road Runners
with Bobby Garland plastics.
“The fish set up perfectly for pulling a few basic concepts allows just about
planer boards. They were on ledges 12-14 anyone to effectively apply the technique.
feet deep, and they were just off of a 12- “There is an intimidation factor,
foot drop, hanging out there suspended off without a doubt, any time you have steps
that edge. The bait was also out there. to something. People want it easy, just
“When I zeroed in on that depth, I put the way we started with cane poles and a
planer boards where I could pull them wide cork.”
so that the trolling motor wouldn’t spook A situation with an eager-to-learn
them. The planer boards allowed me to go young angler, however, reveals how
150 feet out from the boat on each side, quickly planer boards can become a go-to
300 feet total. They also allowed me to get approach to crappie fishing.
to the exact right depth to most efficiently “It may seem like this is a very complex
catch all those big fish on Grenada.” process, but we taught a 13-year-old how
To the uninitiated, the use of planer to do it in one hour,” Dannenmueller said,
boards to pull lures looks like a complicated “and he won the Crappie Masters kid’s
maze. Dannenmueller acknowledges championship two years ago. It’s just a
the complexity of the technique and the matter of being dedicated to learning how
hesitancy of inexperienced fishermen to to rig and to learning something new.”
use planer boards. However, mastering

6 Crappie NOW August 2018