Seen a guy this weekend using a side planer with a plug behind it trying for a steelhead on the Sky. I was fishing the same hole with no luck; he also did not catch anything. Have never used a side planer but was wondering from someone who does, is this more effective then drift fishing a corky and yarn. I do not have a boat yet so my main tactics are drift fishing, jig & bobber, spoons, and occasionally plunking. The side planer looked like a interesting idea, so I was wondering if it is worth keeping one in the old vest or not. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Hey Lead,

I have tried a side-planer on many occassions and never yet hooked a fish with one. They are a blast to use though and just another dimension of this addiction we all have. I have experimented with the distance of line behind the planer and often wondered how much one should use. Of course the answer to this involves consideration of line diameter, plug type, depth of hole, etc. I did meet an old fella last year using one with a flatfish behind it, he swore that the combination was very effective. Good luck.

RM

poor mans boat.I have used one Quite a few times but have never caught any thing with it.I do have a friend who catches quite alot with one.I think it has to do with what you are confident with.I am more confident with hardware so i think hardware is more efficiant.My buddy is confident with a side planer so he thinks th same.If you don,t think what you are using is going to work it won't.There is also a local over on the west end who catches limits of kings with one.

When they first came out I used 1 occasionally for a couple years, had fun with it and caught a couple steelhead and a silver using #35 blue or green pirate hotshots but it tended to be somewhat boring and reminded me of plunking, still have it but haven't used it in probably 12-14 yrs. Just prefer drift fishing.

I have caught and seen caught Summers on the Deschutes with the planer. There is some technique that can be learned to move the plug around by raising and lowering the rod tip. The distanct from the planer to the plug = 30 ft. Throw the plug out and let it drift until the slack is out and then feed the planer into the stream. The planer should release when the fish hits and slide to a swivel placed a few feet above the plug.

I saw a guy do well with one on the Puyallup this year for coho.

I have caught several fish using the sideplaner, but on much smaller rivers than the Sky (Pilchuck,Raging). I did try it several times on the Sky, but by the time I had the thing out to where I wanted to fish it down comes a sled and I would need to get the planer out of the way. A lot of effort to get to were the fish should be. The other problem is my normal steelhead rod never really worked well with it as you need a stiffer rod to get the planer to release.

Dec/Jan 02 STS talks about it very briefly. (Bob Ball's article - The Boss himself)

[ 11-27-2001: Message edited by: UltimateFeashKacher ]

Side-planers aka mexidriftboats can be very effective under the right conditions and fishing hole. It still boils down to fishing water with fish in it. Once you find fish start way above them and work down into em'. When I have used them I normally run the plug about 20 feet behind the planer. Be sure to still tune your plug! Pretend your in the driftboat and work a run top to bottom. I do especially good in holes or runs where the fish get trapped, such as a hard quick tailout, downed tree, or simply a nice pocket, basicly anyplace the steelhead is forced into a corner. Steelie hate to be cornered or threatened. If presented properly the plug or "threat" will be slammed by mr steelie. When fish tend to spook from plugs normally thats a sign to switch methods and go for something less flashy.........bait.

[ 11-28-2001: Message edited by: BK ]

BK
Pretend like I am in a drift boat, easy, never been in a drift boat so it will be easy for me to act like I do not know what I am doing.

Never tried the sideplaning thing before, but now I might have to. So can you just put your rod in a holder after you've cast, like with plunkin' and just sit back and wait for the hit?