Using the Hot Shot Side Planers for Steelhead
Luhr Jensen developed the Luhr Jensen Hot Shot Side Planer several years ago. Using it gets your lure out in the river where the big ones are hiding. I got on the internet and ordered a couple of the Luhr Jensen Hot Shot Side Planers so I would have them the next time I was on the river. When they showed up, I still was not convinced that this was going to work. It seemed to me that although the unit is quite simple, there were many things that could go wrong. However, I was going to be just sitting around anyways right.
The instructions that come with the unit are easy enough to follow. I should thank the people at Luhr Jensen for taking the time to put together a very thorough instruction package. They not only explain how to set up the unit they give you a few pointers as to how and where to use them effectively.
The first time setting it up took me quit awhile or at least it seemed that way. You first have to put the unit together as it comes in three pieces. You have the main float body, the side arm, and the rudder. There are actually two rudders one for heavy current and one for lighter currents. You need to slip the arm onto the body so that it is pointing away from you and decide which rudder you will need depending on the river current.
Once you have the unit together you need to setup your line. You thread your line through the eye in the trigger arm and then through the eye in the bottom of the unit. You then slip on a bead onto your line making sure the bead is bigger then the eye at the back of the side planer and then tie on a swivel. This keeps the side planer from slipping down your line and slapping the steelhead in the face once you hook one.
Since I have been using these for a couple of seasons now instead of a bead I have been using a spin-glow float it is just a little something extra to get the steelheads attention. The final touch is the Hot Shot use about a three-foot leader and it is a good idea to use a leader that is lighter weight then your main line. It will keep you from losing everything should you happen to snag up or the steelhead makes a sudden run and breaks you off.
Once you have everything setup strip thirty to forty feet of line through your side planer. How much line you strip out is going to determine how deep you will be fishing. There is a tab on the front of your side plane wrap your line around this tab four times and set the trip arm to the opposite side of the rudder. This is the tricky part you need to keep you line free from tangling yet not let the current take your hot shot down stream. Keep tension from your rod tip to the trigger arm and place it the river. The current will now start taking the hot shot side planer out into the river. If you keep enough tension on the side planer, it will move across the river and pull the hot shot behind it. Once you reach the trough you want to fish you can set you rod in a rod holder sit back, relax, and wait for a steelhead to come swimming by.
I like to use a medium to a medium heavy Steelhead rod with this setup it will give you the power you need for a good hook set. It will also help in keeping your line up out of the river between the side planer and the tip of your rod.
