TOPIC:

Has anyone used these? I inherited a set and tried them out the other week, Only issue I had was they seemed to get pulled far behind the boat when I had more than two lines out per side. I wanted to use these with my copper line set ups but think the boards may not work well with the added weight. Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated.

Tomas,
I personally haven't used big boards but I have an understanding of how they work. I prefer the inline boards when hauling copper/leadcore so the weight of one line is pulling on one board vs having 3 or 4 heavy lines putting stress on one board making it drag. I'm sure otter boards would work great pulling flatlined plugs or short leadcore with spoons for coho or nearshore steelhead.
Another issue I see with the big boards using weighted line vs inline board with weighted line is the reset. If you have a 5,7,10 leadcore out and the 5 takes a fish the 7 and 10 would have to be brought in or a tangle is definite. The inline board would just have to be sent straight out to a certain distance then threaded between boards.
If you're dead set on using the big boards with weighted line then you may want to look into the double or even triple ski design to give you more planning surface than what the otter boats have to get them out and away from the boat.
I hope this helps.

I've fished on boats with Otter board/boats but haven't used them personally. Still, from what I recall, the "harness" on the OBs are adjustable to make them pull wider rather than tracking back. Check that out. The ones I have experienced did a great job with leadcores and copper lines.
Now I'm going to preach a bit. It's called "SPORT fishing." If you are fishing a money tourney and the amount of "fun" is dictated by the size of the prize, then go ahead and run 600 coppers and 20-color 'cores on giant sized in-line planers.
It's bad enough cranking in 10 colors and 300 coppers with a fish on the line, but sometimes the 'riggers and divers just won't produce any hook-ups.
At least, if you have those long lines on a mast and planer system, you don't spend the first 5 minutes - when the fish is the strongest - doing nothing more than winching in the walleye board or other large in-line board. If that means making a bit of extra effort resetting the lines, big deal. If a fisherman is that lazy and only needs some dead fish in the cooler, they can go to the seafood section at the supermarket and pick up all the fillets they want quicker, easier and cheaper than fishing for them.
More lines? Most days, running 1/3rd more lines doesn't mean catching 1/3rd more fish. Say you are running a 100, 200 and 300 copper on one side, You probably aren't going to catch the same number of fish on each one. More likely, one of them will only catch one or none. Experiment to find the best sets and rely on them.
Remember, ti's called "sport fishing."
I've met plenty of people who try it once and never go again. "We caught some fish," they say, "but it's about as exciting as catching garbage bags."