How to Use a Planer for Trolling: Rigging, Depths, and the Spreads That Work

Your trolling spread is running perfectly at 8 knots - four lines out, baits tracking clean, everything at the surface. But the fish are 40 feet down, stacked on a temperature break you can see on the sounder. Surface baits are getting ignored. This is where a planer earns its spot on the boat. It takes your bait or lure to a specific depth without downrigger hardware, and when a fish hits, the planer trips and comes up flat so you fight the fish clean.

What a Planer Does

A planer is a weighted metal or plastic diving device that clips onto your trolling line and drives your bait to depth using water pressure. When a fish strikes, the planer trips from its diving angle to a flat position, eliminating drag so you can fight the fish directly. Think of it as a downrigger without the boom, reel, or ball - simpler hardware, same goal.

The standard planer sits inline on your mainline above the leader. Water pressure against the angled plate forces the rig down. The deeper you want to fish, the more line you let out. Speed also matters - faster trolling creates more diving pressure, but the planer's angle relative to the surface stays roughly constant, so depth is primarily a function of line length behind the boat.

Planer Sizes and Depths

Planers come in three standard sizes, numbered #1 through #3. The number tells you the approximate depth in multiples of 10 feet per 100 feet of line out:

• #1 Planer - the smallest. Gets baits down 10 to 15 feet on a short drop. Best for king mackerel rigs where you want baits just below the surface chop. Light enough to run on a 20 lb class outfit
• #2 Planer - the workhorse. Runs 25 to 35 feet deep with 200 to 300 feet of line out. This is the size most offshore boats carry. Handles lures, rigged baits, and spoons equally well
• #3 Planer - the heavy. Pushes baits to 40 to 60 feet at trolling speed. Requires heavier tackle (30 to 50 lb class) because retrieving a #3 against water resistance is like cranking a bucket through the ocean. Run a two-speed reel and use the low gear

The rough depth formula: a #2 planer with 200 feet of line back runs about 25 feet deep at 7 knots. Add line, add depth. Pull it in, it comes up. Simple relationship, but it shifts with speed and current - if you're bucking a 2-knot current at 8 knots over ground, you're effectively trolling at 10 knots of water speed and the planer will run shallower than the chart suggests.

How to Rig a Planer

The Standard Inline Setup

This is the most common rigging method. The planer sits on your mainline, and the leader runs from the planer's back clip to the bait or lure.

1. Spool your reel with 60 to 80 lb braided line. Braid has zero stretch, which means you feel the planer trip instantly when a fish hits
2. Tie a 20-foot top shot of 60 lb Momoi Hi-Catch mono to the braid with a double uni or FG knot. The mono top shot absorbs shock and prevents the planer's hardware from chafing the braid
3. Attach the mainline to the planer's front snap using a ball bearing snap swivel rated to 150 lb. The swivel handles the torque from the planer's angle without binding
4. From the planer's rear clip, run 15 to 25 feet of 80 to 130 lb Diamond Illusion fluorocarbon to your lure. For toothy species like wahoo and king mackerel, add a 12-inch section of #7 or #9 wire at the terminal end
5. Terminate with a Mustad Demon circle hook for rigged baits or tie directly to a skirted trolling lure

The Release Clip Method

Some captains prefer running the planer on a separate breakaway line so the fish never feels planer resistance. Clip your mainline to the planer with a rubber band or release clip. When a fish strikes, the clip pops free, the planer falls back on its tether, and you fight the fish on clean line with zero hardware between you and the hook. This is the preferred method for billfish where a clean fight matters for release survival.

Connect the release clip to the planer using Epic Fishing Co. crane swivels to prevent twist on the tether line. The tether itself should be 200 lb dacron or heavy mono - strong enough that the planer can't break free when it trips.

Trolling Spreads with Planers

A typical four-line planer spread runs two depths to cover the water column:

• Short planer (inside): #3 planer with 200 feet of line back. Runs approximately 50 feet deep. Position off the stern quarter, inside the prop wash. This is your deep bait targeting fish on the thermocline or holding on structure
• Long planer (outside): #2 planer with 300 feet of line back. Runs approximately 25 feet deep. Position wide, outside the wake. This covers the mid-column where tuna and wahoo cruise between the surface and the deep marks
• Flat lines: Two surface baits running 50 to 100 feet back on the flat lines, no planer. These catch the fish that come up to investigate the surface disturbance

The spread works because it covers three depth zones simultaneously. When wahoo are running 45 feet down on a color change in November, your short planer is the only line that gets bit. When kings are slashing through bait at 20 feet over a wreck, the long planer produces. The flat lines clean up the surface-feeding fish that the deep baits miss.

Lures and Baits That Work Behind Planers

Not everything tracks well at depth behind a planer. The water pressure and angle change the action of lures designed for surface trolling. Here's what works:

• Drone spoons - the classic planer lure. The wobbling flash at depth is deadly for king mackerel and wahoo. Silver or gold in 4 to 6 inch sizes
• Skirted trolling lures - smaller heads (1 to 3 oz) run true behind a planer. A Blue Water Candy Roscoe Meat Jig in pink or purple gets hammered at depth
• Rigged ballyhoo - pin-rig a medium ballyhoo with an Epic Ballyhoo Pin Rig and run it naked or behind a small skirt. The natural bait at depth is a wahoo magnet
• Strip baits - belly strips from bonito or little tunny, rigged on a Gamakatsu Octopus hook with a chin weight. The strip flutters at depth in a way that plastic can't replicate
• Swimming plugs - a Halco Roosta in the smaller 105 size dives and wobbles behind a planer. Not a popper at depth - it becomes a diving plug with tight side-to-side action

Speed, Depth, and Species

Match your trolling speed to the target species and the planer will do the depth work:

• Wahoo: 7 to 11 knots. The fastest planer trolling you'll do. Wahoo want speed and flash at depth - a drone spoon behind a #2 planer at 9 knots is the standard play on the color change. When the thermocline is at 120 feet off Southeast Florida, a #3 planer with 400 feet of line reaches the zone where the big ones live
• King mackerel: 5 to 7 knots. Slow trolling live baits behind a #1 planer puts them just below the surface chop where trophy kings cruise. Dead baits and spoons can handle faster speeds on #2 planers over deep wrecks
• Tuna: 6 to 8 knots. Yellowfin and blackfin respond to skirted lures at depth. Run a #2 planer with a cedar plug or small jet head on the leader. The planer gets the bait into the school that's showing on the sounder but won't come up
• Billfish: 7 to 9 knots. Use the release clip method so the fish gets a clean fight. A rigged ballyhoo behind a #2 planer at 25 feet catches white marlin that are sitting below the surface spread

Common Mistakes

• Running braid straight to the planer. Braid has no stretch and no abrasion resistance at the planer clip. Always run a 15 to 20 foot mono top shot between the braid and the planer hardware. Sufix Superior mono in 60 lb is the right call
• Using a single-speed reel. Retrieving a #3 planer through the water is brutal on a high-speed reel. Run a two-speed conventional so you can drop into low gear for the retrieve. Your arms will thank you after the fifth reset of the day
• Setting the planer too close to the lure. Anything under 15 feet of leader spooks fish - they see the planer and flare. Run 20 to 25 feet of leader for clear water, 15 feet minimum in dirty water
• Ignoring current. A 2-knot current adds to (or subtracts from) your trolling speed. If you're running downcurrent at 8 knots, your effective speed through the water is only 6 - and the planer runs deeper than expected. Upcurrent, the opposite. Adjust line length accordingly
• Not checking the planer after a miss. A short strike can trip the planer without hooking up. If your line suddenly goes light, reel in and check - you might be dragging a tripped planer at the surface while your bait runs useless in the prop wash

Planers are one of the simplest depth tools in offshore trolling. No electronics, no cables, no downrigger maintenance. Clip one on, let out line, and your bait is fishing where the fish actually are instead of where you hope they'll come up to. Master the three sizes, dial in your spreads, and you'll wonder why you ever trolled everything on the surface. Tight lines.

Questions about planer rigging or building a trolling spread? Call us at 888.453.3742 or email help@thetackleroom.com.