Planer rod leader

[cayman al]

Hi guys

I'm happy with the design and set up for the famous box planer rod having read more posts on the matter than i care to mention. However i did have a few specific questions that haven't really been answered as far as i can tell. If primarily fishing for wahoo, what would the minimum leader length be, after the bridal and before the actual rig, i see box uses 100ft + leaders but he has shots at large tuna whereas we are only really going for wahoo down here which are no where near as skittish around terminal tackle. we use 20ft 200lb shock cords after cigar weights on our wireline outfits which seem to work out well but would love to know what you guys think?

Secondly i'd probably be using a no. 12 salty when i finally get it set up properly, i see on the salty web site that they can track at 175ft but do we really get that depth on a planer outfit? 75ft seems more realistic from my limited use of planers of cleats so far but i guess the angle of the pull would be somewhat different?

thanks.

Al

[WAHOONBOX]

OKAY AL.....JUST MY 3 CENTS WORTH ON THIS...

SO YOU ARE TARGETTING WAHOO ONLY...COOL....HERE IS MY THOUGHT ON THIS:

YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH A SHORTER LEADER BEHIND THE PLANER WHEN THIS IS THE CASE IMO...A SHORTER LEADER (60-80 FT) WILL ALLOW YOU TO "PIVOT" THE BAIT/LURE ON A MARKED BALL OF BAIT WHILE CIRCLING WITH THE BOAT (TIGHTER CIRCLE) MUCH EASIER THAN YOU CAN WITH A LEADER 130 FT LONG....


ON THE TOPIC OF THE DEPTH OF THE OLD SALTY OR ANY OTHER PLANER FOR THAT MATTER.....I WOULD JUST ABOUT BET THE HOUSE THAT NO PLANER WILL REACH 175 FT AT 6 KNOTS OR OVER.......OF COURSE ....I GUESS IF YOU LET OUT ABOUT A MILE OF LINE YOU COULD BUT....

I PREFER MY BAIT/LURE TO HAVE SOME "BODY" TO IT...SOME GIRTH...YIELDING A LARGER HI-VIS SILOHETTE OF SORTS THAT CAN BE SEEN AT A GREAT DISTANCE BY PREDATORS ....ESPECIALLY WHEN TARGETTING WAHOO ONLY.....I ALSO PREFER TO START MY PLANER BAIT RATHER SHALLOW...30 FT OR SO AND LET IT CREEP DOWN TO DEEPER DEPTHS.....I FEEL 75-100 IS ABOUT AS DEEP AS MINE CAN GO AT 6 KNOTS AND STILL BE "UNDER " MY SPREAD....

I WISH TO RESTATE THE FACT THAT I VERY SELDOM "TARGET" WAHOO ONLY HERE IN MHC AREA.....THE REASON: THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY OTHER SPECIES YEAR ROUND FOR US IN THE CAROLINAS AND I TRY TO "TARGET " THEM ALL

[cayman al]

Thanks Box, you're a legend. pretty much what i was expecting to here. 60ft it is then, much more manageable and manoverable for when we are fishing along the wall. We do get Yellowfin down here but no one catches them on the troll, it seems they just run too deep. daytime chunking appears to be the only way to get them here.

Our wahoo go to rig is the good old black and red ilander with horse bally - good body and silhouette as you say. if only we can keep the bloody barracudas of it long enough for the wahoo to have a chance! nothing more annoying than having to re rig every 20 mins becuase of a damn cuda mauling.

[WAHOONBOX]

SEEMS WHEN I PAINT MY PLANER BLACK IT CUTS DOWN ON THE CUDA ATTACK BY A SMALL MARGIN


BACK IN THE LATE 80'S I WAS DOING THE NAHAMA THING ABOARD THE JUNE BUG....WE WERE TARGETTING WAHOO AROUND WALKERS, WEST END AREAS.....I DEPLOYED THE PLANER SET UP AS SUGGESTED ABOVE FOR THE WAHOOS.....AND ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PIT I PUT DOWN A SILVER SPOON WITH A SPINNER BAIT BLADE ATTACHED TO THE HOOK ITSELF.....I USED A #3 OR #5 PLANER RIGHT OFF THE ROD TIP OF A 130 AND THE DRONE SPOON ATTRACTED THE CUDA BITE.....WE EVEN CUT THE BARB DOWN A BIT ON THE DRONE FOR EASY RELEASE OF STINKY

THIS WAS SOLELY USED TO DISTRACT THE STINKY ONES FROM MY WAHOO BAIT.....IT WORKED .....MY GUESS IS IT CUT DOWN ON 50% OF THE CUDA ATTACKS ON THE DOWN DEEP BAIT

[cayman al]

Ha, brilliant, who would have thought. Great idea Box, bit limited with space on my boat (23 cc) but still a great idea. we fish an almost verticle wall which starts at 100ft or so, real thin line between cuda territory and wahoo territory in this neck of the woods.

I know your set up and with a bit more cash and space on my boat i would have gone with that (Tiagra 80, #16 etc) but i will have to settle on a Tiagra 30 WLRSA loaded with 100lb braid on a sniper'esque' rod and a no. 12 planer with 60ft 200LB leader.

Thanks for all the help.

Al