After my major meltdown yesterday, I thought about the puzzle of handling heavy current and rocky/snaggy bottoms all day (I've never fished salmon/steelhead/whitefish in rivers, and have no idea how you folks are able to detect bites while avoiding the dubious pleasure of 98% of the fishing time being taken up by retying lost rigs on the shore), and decided to put on my fishing training wheels, and use a Sidewinder planar board to keep my gear way clear of the bottom completely. I also steered clear of the torrent down below Horn Rapids Dam, and tried in the Twin Bridges Road area.

Well, it didn't work. I don't know how to troll, never used planar boards, and neglected to bring my instructions. Also, the current in that area is probably still around 5.89 mph rather than the 6 mph below HR Dam. So I fiddled around for 30-45 minutes, and all I accomplished was the board doing nothing useful, and my downstream rig floating on top of the surface. I left before my temper and frustration started to flare.

Tomorrow I need to head over to Leslie Groves Park with my planar board rig (during the *day*), and figure out how this whole thing works. It seems like it really ought to work once properly configured.

I figure I've got about two or three more tries before I throw up my hands and give up, and just suffer the one-hour one-way drive to Ayers Boat Basin to catch channel cats. Fishing is supposed to be fun, and going through all this reminds me strongly of work....

downriggeral

6/6/2014 9:08:00 AM

teluedekw - I understand your frustration! Seems like every time I try something new there is a learning curve. You can run various "plugs behind the Sidewinder to get depth. Each plug has a depth it will dive to based on the size of the lip. The depth is marked on the packages when you buy them. Put out 20 to 40 ' behind the planer. Watch the video where Seth shows how to use the Sidewinder they really do work great after you get the hang of it. Lastly if using bait you will need to add some weight to get it down behind the plainer.

Also you can fish current seams around points for good results. Hope this helps.......Alan

The experiment must continue! - Alan

BentRod

6/6/2014 10:27:00 AM

Well, I've never used a side planer or sucker fish for bait, but have caught a lot of catfish out of the Yak, Columbia, and Snake. Although I have caught them in the middle of the day they're a predator and will gravitate towards heavier cover (logs, large rocks, debris) for cover and will often be more active at night under the cover of darkness or in water that's got limited clarity as that's were they can put their whiskers to work, so usually will target them at dusk and after dark. In my opinion they also seem to prefer back eddies and deeper pools where the current isn't quite as strong or maybe up under a deep cut bank such as where you'd find bass. I've caught them on night crawlers, chicken livers, crawdads, and grasshoppers. I think the best rig is about a 2'-3' leader with a slip-rigged weight (variable depending on current and bottom conditions. If you ad a dropper line to your weight of lower test line (i.e. 4-6 lb), then you'll be more likely to only lose your weight if it gets hung up instead of breaking off the whole rig and you can just clip on a new weight and you're ready to go. Good luck. Hope you find some success soon. One can only take so many fruitless fishing trips before it becomes aggravating. I think most of us can relate.

schu7498

6/6/2014 11:08:00 AM

Good honest reports!

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save