Planer fishing and your ability to fish various water columns efficiently is damn near a requirement for any fisherman endeavoring to catch fish on reefs and structure along the east coast of Florida and well past Virginia. In the heat of the summer and even the winter, wahoo, kingfish, tuna, dolphin and even sailfish will suspend at depth, with the only way to reach them being a boat trolled where these pelagics are holding. Why are they holding down deeper? Because, that is where they find the food. Planers allow you to troll baits and lures at a variety of water depths, depending on the size of the planer, so you can get your presentation down where the bait is holding. There are a couple of well established ways to troll planers. You can either run your fishing planers in-line or bridled. Both ways are super effective. In this In The Spread fishing video, Capt. Chad Raney shares basic "old skool" Planer Fishing techniques. Capt. Chad is a lifelong fisherman of the south Florida waters around Miami and owner of Old Hat Sport Fishing. With a lifetime of experience trolling nearshore reefs and other structure, Capt. Chad Raney exudes a subtle confidence in the way he transfers his knowledge to you on how to fish with planers. Chad is well versed in running in-line and bridled planers. Bridling your planers allows you to reel the fish all the way to the boat, where the in-line system requires reeling the planer to the rod tip and hand leadering the fish to the boat. The planer fishing system Chad shares is simple and if followed, will fine tune another skill set for your quiver. His ability to make it look so easy rises from a source of knowledge grounded in the confidence of having spent countless hours catching fish in south Florida's nearshore waters and doing so with lots of success. Chad dives right in talking about the absolute need to get bait and lure presentations down deep where the bait is, at specific times during the year. His mantra is as distilled as it gets. Find the bait, find the fish. He starts trolling on the reef and works his way down the coast, as he demonstrates every aspect of running in-line fishing planers.
Fishing Planers - Trolling Nearshore
(00:37:33)Fishing planers are the single greatest way to fish various depths, cover different water columns and reach fish like wahoo, tuna, kingfish, dolphin and sailfish where they are feeding. If the bait is down low, the fish you are after will be down low and if you are trolling baits on the surface, well, you will have a long day. Get your bait presentations down and run them there with fishing planers. See how to to do it with the simple techniques Capt. Chad Raney shares in this fishing video from In The Spread. A couple key aspect of fishing nearshore reefs and structure are knowing how to find fish on the reefs, how to determine the right depth to fish and search patterns to locate fish. Understanding atmospheric conditions and they effect fish is smart for any fisherman. Times of day that fish are biting, the barometer, wind, cloud cover, seas, you need to have a sense for when to fish. Chad has a few tips for you on how to get a handle on all these variables. At different times throughout the year, fish are willing to expend more energy chasing a meal, so your trolling speeds to compliment those patterns. Watch and learn about summer vs. winter trolling speeds. Capt. Chad Raney is a lifer. He has been carving up the nearshore reefs of South Florida for many years. With his level of experience, where to fish and with what are second nature. You will get a look at his bait rigs, the sea witches, what colors he uses and why. One key component of his planer fishing spread is a spoon. Trolling spoons are lethal and Chad always has one out. Learn why. The planer fishing rig confounds some, but it shouldn't. It is really very simple. You need an assortment of planers in different sizes. The size of the planer determines how deep it will run. Always use good quality planers and hooks. Junk tackle will cost you. Get good stuff. As for the type of baits to use with your planer, think not further than the trusty strip bait. Bonito, make great strip baits. Be sure you have plenty with trolling fishing planers. We will show you how to hook strip baits to get good swimming action, why this matters (bites). Sea witches are widely used with strip baits. Chad is going to show you what he uses. You need to understand how big of a fishing planer you can or want to run relative to your tackle size, and the depth you want to present baits. When running planers, you will need a long and a short planer, staggered at distance to prevent tangles. We not only cover these basics, we also discuss how far back to run each. Drag settings for planer fishing can be an issue. If your reels are not robust enough to keep the line from creeping off your reel under pressure from trolling planers, you are going to have a problem. There is some very useful information about appropriate tackle in this video. Smart planer fishing tips like marking your line, so you can quickly drop planers back await you. Boat driving while putting planers out and why it is important is critical to keep from getting all fouled up. You have to understand this. Another key aspect of planer fishing is being able to engage and trip your planers. There are some salient points shares by Chad on how to do this. You will also see tips for resetting planer right after a bite, if the fish doesn't make purchase. Simple things like checking your line after each bite for chaffing are often overlooked. Lean about checking your baits and rigs frequently to keep your sanity. If you want to catch more fish, planer fishing is a must know skill. Take the knowledge being offered up in this fishing video and incorporate it into your program. Be a smarter fisherman. Learn from those that have long proven track records for catching fish and you will find yourself with more fish in your ice box. Added bonuses of watching this video include: zero in on where you are getting bites, staying with the school, trolling birds and jigs on the reef, jig colors to use for various water temps and using outriggers to spread baits out. Learn more about Planer [Fishing Techniques](https://inthespread.com/saltwater-fishing-techniques)
