Anyone used SidePlaner for springers

omnivore · 02-08-2002, 02:38 PM

I have a Luhr Jensen's Side Planer that I would like to use to fish for springers. I've used it only a few times with very limited success (translation: skunked). I am thinking about putting tadpollys, kwikfish, flatfish, or Mag Wart at the end of the line. Has anyone tried this setup on Willamette or Clack? In the past, I struggled with finding the right current and depth, but I hear that it can produce under right situations. Any comments, please!

omnivore · 02-08-2002, 08:20 PM

Well, omnivore...it looks like no one has used the Side Planer before. What is it anyway? Is it like an airplane for the fish?

omnivore · 02-08-2002, 08:31 PM

Thanks for asking Omnivore!
Actually it's a device used by bank anglers to fish diving plugs such as Hot Shots and Wee Warts. It's made by Luhr Jensen and it uses the current to take the plug out into the stream. This sounds pretty good in theory, but it's a little tricky to get it working in actuality. So I was wondering if anyone was using it successfully for springers.

omnivore · 02-08-2002, 08:32 PM

Wow, you sound like an expert, omnivore. Where did you get so much knowledge. Are you like a fishing guide or something?

omnivore · 02-08-2002, 08:35 PM

No, omnivore. I'm just an avid fisherman. But I did acquire a considerable amount of fishing expertise right here on this message board. Believe it or not there are some here that actually eat, sleep and fish only. Nothing else. Well, actually, I think they occassionally have the time to tie some leaders and cure roe.

[ 02-08-2002, 10:12 PM: Message edited by: omnivore ]

omnivore · 02-08-2002, 08:37 PM

Nice chattin' with ya, omnivore. May be I'll see ya 'side planing' on the river someday. Good Luck! (Cause I think you gonna need it) :grin:

02-08-2002, 08:56 PM

Omnivore, you need help!!! :shocked:

BlueWater · 02-08-2002, 09:01 PM

Omnivore-
Have you taken your medications today? I am now really worried about you now man. :shocked:
Jen asked about the planer tech a while back and there was an answer in that thread that explaned it better than I could ever. Try search on that. It was a couple months back I think. Also lure jensens (sp) web sight has a great overview on there use as well. I have thought about playing with them in open water from the boat a time or two but just have never gotten around to it yet. Anyway Take those meds man.

BlueWater.

David Johnson · 02-08-2002, 09:48 PM

You might have trouble finding the right current and/or depth to fish your sideplaner without a lot of people.

It will work if you find the right conditions. I've caught plenty of steelhead in the Deschutes and chinook in Alaska using them.

David Johnson · 02-08-2002, 09:49 PM

If you find the right place try a mag or regular wiggle wart behind it, those are what I've used behind them.

rob allen · 02-08-2002, 10:19 PM

it would be adding confusion to an already complicated system but how about running a bait diver off a sideplaner??

FM2 · 02-08-2002, 10:27 PM

Omnivore, you haven't been hanging around this guy have you! :shocked: :grin:

Check out the Luhr Jensen website, good info on the jet planer there.

wiser · 02-08-2002, 10:47 PM

Omnivore, for the fishers over here it's eat, sleep, fish and post only.

Uncle Bob · 02-08-2002, 11:36 PM

omni,
If you're having a hard time hooking that very first Steelhead, why are you trying to make it even harder.
I own 2 of those funky side planers, and I think they're more trouble then they're worth.
I've been hooking Clackamas Steelhead for almost 20 years.
Oh, probably 200-300 of them, give or take ???
Point being none of them were hooked using the side planer.
Why? because it's so so so so much easier to use a corky and yarn set up - and it's very deadly!
And the cost:
Side planer is $7-10 plus the actual lure $3-5
Corky and Yarn set up is about .40-.50 cents
You figure it out.

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree :depressed:

UB

happybrew · 02-09-2002, 09:39 AM

I've used a side planer a few times for steelhead, and they work. The trouble I ran into was when you actually hooked the fish. It's a lot harder to control it with a sideplaner. It provides resistance in the water, and thus acts like a hinge on your line. The side planer may only move a foot or so in either direction while the fish goes 5 or ten feet. So it becomes really hard to keep the fish from wrapping your line around something or diving around rocks, branches, etc. It mostly becomes a problem when you get the fish closer to the bank, and it starts going berserk. With 8 or 10feet of line hanging off the side planer to get the lure working properly, you end up lifting your rod high, and losing control of the fish when you want to land it, especially in a tight area.

happybrew

gottawayagain · 02-09-2002, 11:10 PM

I've used those side planers before. My take is that they are way more work and a hassle than thay are worth. Other methods are my choice. I spent way to much time setting them up and getting them out in the water only to have them "trip" and do it over again. I thought they were the miracle way to fish plugs from the bank, only to discover I caught more fish drifting or plunking. My two bits worth.

omnivore · 02-10-2002, 01:09 PM

happybrew, gottawayagain:
I completely agree with your assessments on the Side Planer. It can be effective under right circumstances, but it also comes with some obstacles. It appears that the planer would be a little easier to use for steelhead than for salmon due to the line length and depth issues.

rob allen:
Interesting idea, but it does sound too complex. I posed the original question because I felt that the actual application of deploying the Side Planer is more complicated than what the Luhr Jensen's Tech Report on using the Side Planer suggests. Feedback from all the posters confirm my skepticism on the Side Planer's viability and flexibility for catching salmon.

Thanks to all the concerned members for their tips and suggestions. I'm feeling much better now. :grin:

[ 02-10-2002, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: omnivore ]

David Johnson · 02-11-2002, 05:37 PM

I just thought of something else, if you're going to try the side planer be sure to use hearvy line as the planer sliking up and down the line will wear on it. 20# for steelhead mayber 30 for salmon.

omnivore · 02-11-2002, 08:52 PM

Thanks for the input David, but I'm a little reluctant to use the planer after receiving mostly 'negative' feedbacks. The thought of being able to use a plug from the bank is very appealing, but there are some issues as mentioned above. And as I've stated, find the right spot with right current flow and direction isn't always easy.

GoFish · 02-12-2002, 08:19 AM

Sideplanner. The definitive love/hate relationship. I think the fundamental concept is great, Plug a slot from the bank. Cool! Now comes the real world. Lhur Jensen quit too early in the design stage!!!! The sideplanner reminds me of some software companies that get an idea, ship it, and let the users de-bug it. The side planner flips over too easily if the wind catches the fin, the release mechanism NEVER works well, and like others have said, when you do hook a fish your left wondering if the planner didn't trip or you have a really large fish on. This is one design that could use a lot of additional work to make it right. (And it is possible to run a properly sized diver and bait combo behind it.) Hello Hood River?

RiverMan · 02-12-2002, 08:35 AM

You guys are exactly right, side-planers don't really work and are way too much of a hassle, cough, cough, yea that's right, they don't work at all. :grin:

RM

Navigator · 02-12-2002, 10:02 PM

I saw a guy cast a hot shot in the river with some weight (no side planner) and catch a steelhead - bang third cast! Guess he didn't know better .... (no license or tag required at the time).