Mini 'Boards AKA Mini Trollers equal Big Fun!
Carry your Off Shore Mini Planers with your trolling gear all year long! There are situations all season where they shine. Crawler harness rigs slowly give way to crankbaits as summer melts into fall, and August and September really are prime for trolling them. Where I fish, there's a lot of 15-25' rock structure, and almost always lots of cabbage weeds rimming the edges of it. Walleye use both.
Anytime I'm working tight to structure, I like a Mini Planer's willingness to track tight to the boat and sensitivity for telegraphing weeds, perch and ticking the rocks. On these spots, running high with larger blades, more floater beads and a bit more bulk to your crawler rig in general will pull walleye off those prime spots, even under bright skies at high noon, in clear water.
Here's a nice one the family stuck the other day on Georgian Bay, pulling a harness behind an Off Shore snap weight and Mini Board combo at around 0.9mph. Look at the weights we use for rubbing the structure: that's just a plain old 3/8oz Lindy Rig boot sinker I clipped onto the OR16 release. The 1/2oz Guppie weight was just a little too much for tickling the shoal. Dropping the weight a hair made all the difference, and this walleye nipped at it like a panfish.
Whats nice about the OR16 is that you can bump weeds or structure and they stay fixed to your line! Think our sons look excited?
Silver blades over purple and chartreuse beads with a giant 'crawler has always been great for me in clear-blue water under bright skies. Those Mini Boards are super sensitive, and there's nobody in the trolling game that gives you more fine-tuning options than Off Shore Tackle.
If your lake has fish that hug structure in late summer, I'll guarantee you they'll blast a worm harness, and the Mini Board is ideal for this type of trolling.
See you on the water!
Submitted by JP Bushey
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