Has anyone heard of a technique called "The Board"

[Guest astralmackerel]

Hi,

 

I'm hoping someone out there will know what I'm talking about.

 

When I was in my mid teens (about 40 years ago) I was lucky enough to spend my school summer holidays with one of my uncles and his family on the Isle of Jura.

 

I became very close to an older cousin who worked the dairy herd and sheep for the local estate (my uncle was the gardener) etc.

 

Anyway, one week-end, my cousin and I set off with the intention of bagging a few of the lairds trout out of one of the hill lochs nearby. Tony (my cousin) brought out this thing and I thought he was jesting. It consisted of one of those sort of H frame devices we all got at the seaside as children (but this one was a lot bigger) and a board. The best I can do is try to describe the board as I remember it.

 

It was a piece of plywood, approx 1 foot long and about 10 inches high, probably around an inch thick. The ends had been cut, planed or sand papered into a bevel so they tapered off to a thin edge on one side. A short distance down from the top was a wire (I think brass) the position of this wire from the top of the board I can only guesstimate as being about 2 to 3 inches, but it ran almost the full length of the board. It's ends had been bent to 90 degrees and a small loop formed at each end which was attached by a screw to the board on the same side as the bevels. A ring (I suspect a keyring or possibly even a brass curtain ring or similar) had been threaded onto the wire before it was fixed to the board and it could run freely from end to end along this wire. The line on the H frame was tied to this ring. On hindsight (and I am only guessing here) I suspect the board was probably weighted at the bottom but I cannot recall having noticed anything like that at the time. The line was very very long and had flies attached to it about every 12 inches or so.

 

Tony explained the principle of how it worked as something like this.

 

"You put the board in the water and play out a little line. Then all you do is walk slowly along the bank of the loch and the pull of the line moves the ring to the front of the wire which, because of the shape of the ends of the wood, tends to pull the board out into the water so you slowly unwind the line as you walk and eventually you have a lot of flies out on the water. Then, simply reverse direction and walk back along the bank and this causes the ring to slide to the other end so the board simply carries on getting further and further out into the water until you stop letting out line."

 

As I remember it, there was something like as many as a hundred flies on the line and you could cover one hell of a big area of water with this technique. Then when the time came, you just wound it all back up again, removing the fish as you go.

 

Over the years, I have always yearned to give it a try sometime and see if I could re-create a device like it. Having found this superb forum and bunch of guys and gals has inspired me to pull my finger out and get experimenting with it. Hence the shout out if anyone else has ever come across this particular technique. I'd love any help or information you might have to get this one off the ground - I wonder if it would work pulling some spoons or lures for perch or even mackerel feathers - oh and on the subject of feathers.

 

I work in a chicken factory (live haulage driver) and if anyone fancies making their own feather rigs for mackerel or whatever, let me know if you want some feathers - any colour of your choice as long as they are white and from any part of the bird. Just let me know - though I'll be on holiday from 29/06/07 until two weeks later.

 

That's it, lemme know please if you've heard of this so I know it wasnt' just a dream.

 

Ahh, I hear you all yelling, how did we do that night ?

 

The truth is, we didn't catch one single bloody fish that night, a mist came in over the hills and we damn near got lost, in the end we just had to walk until we found the road then turn right until we got home which we did eventually, frozen cold, miserably wet and bloody starving !!!!!!

 

Tight lines.

 

Ron

Edited June 26, 2007 by astralmackerel

[Guest foxtrack]

Hi,

 

I'm hoping someone out there will know what I'm talking about.

 

When I was in my mid teens (about 40 years ago) I was lucky enough to spend my school summer holidays with one of my uncles and his family on the Isle of Jura.

 

I became very close to an older cousin who worked the dairy herd and sheep for the local estate (my uncle was the gardener) etc.

 

Anyway, one week-end, my cousin and I set off with the intention of bagging a few of the lairds trout out of one of the hill lochs nearby. Tony (my cousin) brought out this thing and I thought he was jesting. It consisted of one of those sort of H frame devices we all got at the seaside as children (but this one was a lot bigger) and a board. The best I can do is try to describe the board as I remember it.

 

It was a piece of plywood, approx 1 foot long and about 10 inches high, probably around an inch thick. The ends had been cut, planed or sand papered into a bevel so they tapered off to a thin edge on one side. A short distance down from the top was a wire (I think brass) the position of this wire from the top of the board I can only guesstimate as being about 2 to 3 inches, but it ran almost the full length of the board. It's ends had been bent to 90 degrees and a small loop formed at each end which was attached by a screw to the board on the same side as the bevels. A ring (I suspect a keyring or possibly even a brass curtain ring or similar) had been threaded onto the wire before it was fixed to the board and it could run freely from end to end along this wire. The line on the H frame was tied to this ring. On hindsight (and I am only guessing here) I suspect the board was probably weighted at the bottom but I cannot recall having noticed anything like that at the time. The line was very very long and had flies attached to it about every 12 inches or so.

 

Tony explained the principle of how it worked as something like this.

 

"You put the board in the water and play out a little line. Then all you do is walk slowly along the bank of the loch and the pull of the line moves the ring to the front of the wire which, because of the shape of the ends of the wood, tends to pull the board out into the water so you slowly unwind the line as you walk and eventually you have a lot of flies out on the water. Then, simply reverse direction and walk back along the bank and this causes the ring to slide to the other end so the board simply carries on getting further and further out into the water until you stop letting out line."

 

As I remember it, there was something like as many as a hundred flies on the line and you could cover one hell of a big area of water with this technique. Then when the time came, you just wound it all back up again, removing the fish as you go.

 

Over the years, I have always yearned to give it a try sometime and see if I could re-create a device like it. Having found this superb forum and bunch of guys and gals has inspired me to pull my finger out and get experimenting with it. Hence the shout out if anyone else has ever come across this particular technique. I'd love any help or information you might have to get this one off the ground - I wonder if it would work pulling some spoons or lures for perch or even mackerel feathers - oh and on the subject of feathers.

 

I work in a chicken factory (live haulage driver) and if anyone fancies making their own feather rigs for mackerel or whatever, let me know if you want some feathers - any colour of your choice as long as they are white and from any part of the bird. Just let me know - though I'll be on holiday from 29/06/07 until two weeks later.

 

That's it, lemme know please if you've heard of this so I know it wasnt' just a dream.

 

Ahh, I hear you all yelling, how did we do that night ?

 

The truth is, we didn't catch one single bloody fish that night, a mist came in over the hills and we damn near got lost, in the end we just had to walk until we found the road then turn right until we got home which we did eventually, frozen cold, miserably wet and bloody starving !!!!!!

 

Tight lines.

 

Ron

oh yes mate i know whay your on about

my farther used to take me boarding for bass on the shore he used to send upto 200 hooks

out at a time mind you his heart was in long lineing but he showed me how to do it

mind you you've got me thinking back mate

[Guest foxtrack]

can i also say that the lines would only go out when the tide was coming in

work that one out

[Guest astralmackerel]

Thank you foxtrack.

 

I'm glad someone else has heard of it. I'm hoping to try it out for mackerel this summer, and will even give it a try with spoons for perch at some stage - if I can work out how it was made. I don't fancy catching my fingers on the hooks so I think I'll try to improvise by putting swivels on the main line and clipping on a short rig with feathers/lures as I pay it out, then it would be easy to remove them as you reel it back in, i think.

 

I have been googling for info on this and some boards are only beveled on one edge so maybe that is why it only went out against the tide. I think the proper name for it is an Otter Board and they come in two versions, port or starboard (left or right handed) for use on boats. Though I think I've found one called a mini planer which is double ended like the thing I saw when I was a kid.

 

you can see the thing I mean here - http://www.trollingshop.co.uk/divers&planers.htm

 

Ron.

Edited June 27, 2007 by astralmackerel

[Guest foxtrack]

can i also say that the lines would only go out when the tide was coming in

work that one out

otter board is the right name mate but my farther called it a slap board

after the sound the waves made against it.

the only way i could descibe it action would be like a lock on the old type fox snare

but the other way round.

as a wave lifted the board it would lock to the line, and as the wave droped it would relax and let line out

of maybe two foot at a time and wouldent take long before you had maybe four ,or five hundred yards

of line out and maybe 100 hooks and as a kid we always had fish to eat

 

tracks

[midnight walker 8]

can i also say that the lines would only go out when the tide was coming in

work that one out

otter board is the right name mate but my farther called it a slap board

after the sound the waves made against it.

the only way i could descibe it action would be like a lock on the old type fox snare

but the other way round.

as a wave lifted the board it would lock to the line, and as the wave droped it would relax and let line out

of maybe two foot at a time and wouldent take long before you had maybe four ,or five hundred yards

of line out and maybe 100 hooks and as a kid we always had fish to eat

 

tracks

I MIND WALKING UP AND DOWN THE LOCHS WITH THE OTTER BOARD [DEADLY ]ALSO KNOWN AS THE MONKEY UP HERE

[Dubai expat 0]

Aye,

 

The old otter board, used them for trout fishing in the evening, shaped in the front like a boom-a-rang, had a metal goal post on the top which you attacheg the main line, mine had a bid of lead built into the front to keep it low in the water, it had 6 traces at the back, with about 12 flies on each, I used a pool cue as a rod as you could take it apart to hide it! You walk around the loch with it, the shape of the board ment that as you feed out line and walked, it went out into the loch & if you wanted it to come back in, you yanked on the line to move it to the other side of the goal post and the board came back in towards shore, bit of a bugger when you had a couple troot on at same time as it got into a right tangle.

 

Fond memories! Fly rod only now!

 

B

[HESKO 0]

My old man used to use them on the lochs, he called it a tiller board. The tiller is angled so when you walk along and pay out line the board pulls its self out in to the water, with a few hooks think he used maggots for the trout. Never seen it used though.

[polecat 1]

monkey???????????????we take them from the streams down here good for burn trout

[thurso jack 3]

otter board i have one in my garage havent used it for a bit, ill dig it out and take a pic of it for you, it works on the same priniples as a trawl door on a fishing trawler.

 

TJ

[thurso jack 3]

Here you go, mine is a flolding one so you can put it in your bag

 

ive only used it a few times but when you hit the trout its like your throwing pellets in the water fish hitting all over the place, im talking wild brownies here not rainbows.

 

 

 

[Guest foxtrack]

you fecking poacher you