An in-depth look at Church Tackles Stern Planer

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1 An in-depth look at Church Tackles Stern Planer By: Steve Becker The pressure was on to catch some fish, I was fishing with people that had high expectations. They had heard stories of me recently catching large amounts of fish and they wanted in on the action. I was fishing with my Brother in-law, Jim Boots who loves to fish and Gary Ebben who was looking to learn more about fishing. It was mid-april, the walleyes had just finished spawning and they were feeding as they headed out to the Bay. We were fishing a specific contour depth on a Green Bay river tributary and it was important that we used Church Tackle TX-007 Stern Planers. They are different than the traditional inline boards because the stern planers are designed to stay directly behind the boat. As I followed the contour with the boat, stern planers 150 and 200 straight behind the boat, I knew with confidence the exact dive depth of the crankbait versus the total water depth as shown by my sonar. For the inline boards running out to the sides of the boat, with the sloping contour, I could only guess how deep to run the lure because the exact water depth away from the boat was unknown. Thus, I m sure with the inline planer boards I had some shallow side lures digging up bottom/ getting fouled and lures on the deep side running too high in the water column to catch walleyes that tend to stay near Gary Ebben with a nice walleye bottom because of the river current. As expected, the TX-007 Stern Planers caught their share of fish. Every 30 minutes, after coming to the end of the 1 mile trolling pass, I turned the boat around 180 degrees and fished the contour heading the other direction. The lures on the stern planers were still at the right depth so they never came in unless they had a fish. All of my lures on my inline boards had to be reset for different depths since they switched from the deep side to the shallow side and vice versa. We ended up having a very successful outing with Gary getting his first walleye and several walleyes in the range. 1

2 Introducing the new Church Tackle TX-005 Stern Planer In 2016, Church Tackle will be introducing its newest Stern Planer, the TX-005. The TX-005 is 7 long and weighs approximately 1.5 ounces. Both are made from the near indestructible plastic which has never let me down, even after dropping them and stepping on them. The TX-005 is half the weight and approximately half the diameter of the TX-007. Thus, the TX-005 has even less water drag resistance. The lure action of even the smallest lure attached to a TX-005 is telegraphed in the rod tip. This helps indicate that the lure is running true, isn t fouled or dragging a small fish. One minor difference between the TX-005 and the TX-007 is that the TX-005 does not have a hole with a rubber stopper. The TX-007 has a hole with a rubber stopper to add water if someone wanted to add ballast to the stern planer. For those that are concerned about the TX-005 being pulled under by a fish, it doesn t really matter because the TX-005 would create very little leverage for a fish trying to release itself. To date, I have caught 25 walleyes and they were unable to pull the TX-005 under water. I have found that the TX-005 works well with a medium weight Spinning Rod or a trolling rod, while I recommend using the TX-007 with trolling rods. As shown in the picture below, I modified my TX-007 by using reflective tape and the use of two clips to attach the stern planer to the fishing line. The tape helps in spotting the stern planers at night. When using them at night, make sure to watch for other boats since they will not see the unlit stern planers and you may need to reel them in closer when a boat approaches. I put a clip on the back of the TX-007 stern planer since I find it a little faster to unclip the stern planer, especially in cold weather, and I can remove them with one hand. TX-007 TX-007: 10 long, weighs 3 ounces. TX-005: 7 long, weighs 1.5 ounces TX-005 Fishing with kids I am fortunate to be able to take young kids fishing since they rekindle my excitement in catching fish. Nothing makes them smile more (including me) than when they can reel in their own fish. The TX-005 and TX-007 Stern Planers create such little water resistance when trolling that the kids can reel the fish in the entire way. When fish are caught on inline boards, they pull hard to the side and are heavier so the kids normally hand me the pole after reeling the fish in half way because they are tired out. This definitely reduces the excitement for the kids because they couldn t do it all on their own and they don t consider the fish to be their own. 2

3 Isaac, age 10, using a TX-007 to catch his first ever fish Luke, age 5, catching a fish with a TX-005 and a Snoopy Pole Stern Planer Tactics In Wisconsin, 3 lines are allowed per angler, so when fishing with 3 people I normally troll with 8 lines (3 inlines on the starboard side, 3 inlines on the port side and 2 stern planers). As I indicated earlier, I like to run the stern planers straight behind the boat 150 and 200 back after attaching the stern planer. If the port and starboard stern planers are staggered 50, it is rare that they get tangled up, even when making aggressive turns with the boat. I prefer to run the stern planers in the rod holders furthest back in the boat in either a horizontal or vertical position. When the rods are in the horizontal position the stern planer will follow the exact route the boat took because the fishing line is 100% in the water and creates line drag. If you have the rod in the vertical position, the line is out of the water and the stern planer will cut the corner when you make a turn with the boat because the line is lifted off the water and isn t creating any drag. Another advantage of having them far back in the boat is that they don t interfere with your inline boards. For example, if I catch a fish on a Starboard side inline planer board, I place the Starboard Stern planer s trolling rod vertically into a spare Port side rod holder. The Starboard inline board with the fish on it can now be retrieved in like normal. Once the fish is in the boat, I place the Starboard stern planer trolling rod horizontally back into the Starboard rod holder. Here s a trick for those fisherman who are always trying to catch a few more fish. When trolling and you catch a fish on an inline board, wouldn t it be nice to run another lure right through the same area without needing to turn around? This can be done the easiest with the inside inline planer board / stern planer. For example, when there is a bite on the port side inline planer board, as the person is reeling in the fish, turn the boat hard to port. Instead of moving the port side stern planer s rod to the other side of the boat, take it out of the rod 3

4 holder; lift it up and over the person fighting the fish and then place the rod vertically back into the port side rod holder. If the stern planer is back it will now pass through close to where the fish was caught on the inline board. I call this the Stern Planer dance, it has often resulted in doubling up on fish (see figure 1). As a point of reference, if you re trolling at 2 mph and the stern planer is 150 behind the inline, theoretically there is 51 seconds to move the boat over the distance between the inline and stern planer. Realistically, there probably is only 30 seconds since it takes time to react and see that you have a fish on the inline board (this is still plenty of time). So what s next with the Stern Planer Board? I m currently experimenting with placing steel shot in the TX-007 to see if the rattling noise attracts or deters fish. We all know that lures with rattle at times can outperform lures without rattles. I m actually placing ten (10) size #1 steel shot through the rubber plugged hole in the back of the TX-007. The theory is the steel shot will move back and forth in the stern planer as it passes over waves. By demonstrating this action with a stern planer in the boat, it s loud and sort of sounds like a baby s rattle. Thus far, I have had a few times that the rattling stern planer certainly out produced the plain stern planer. It seems that the best is when there are approximately 1 foot waves which create a gentler rattling noise. It is important to note, I haven t had it yet where it was obvious that the silent stern planer out produced the rattling stern planer. Of course to do this, one needs to run the same lures on both stern planers and preferably at the same depth. I hope to experiment more with this in the upcoming fishing season to determine if there is a favorable pattern. 4

5 Next time you re in your favorite fishing store, look for Church Tackles Stern Planers. They are easy to use and will definitely put more fish in your boat. Steve Becker is part of Mark Martin s prostaff. He resides in De Pere, WI and is an avid walleye fisherman that fishes almost exclusively Green Bay and its tributaries. He participates in some local tournaments and is sponsored by Shimano/G. Loomis. He can be reached at skbecker6@yahoo.com Author with a walleye caught with a TX-005 5