Trolling motor - electric, gas

[Peterz]

Hello All

 

Again!  Sorry, I am a newbie at trolling for Browns on the big lake and have lots of questions.  Perhaps you have seen my recent posts.  I will stop for a bit after this one and wait to ask other questions so as not to hog the bandwidth

 

I have a 1999 Lund fisherman 18' and want to troll for Browns on Ontario (and perhaps other places).  I am trying to decide what to do about propulsion.  I have a 100HP yamaha 4 stroke on the boat now that goes to fast for trolling at idle, about 4.4 mph.  I am guessing I want to be around 2 to 2.5 mph.  I have a 2 stroke 5hp Merc that might work but am having my doubts about it as being reliable and keeping the boat slow enough. 

 

My other thought is I have a bow mounted Minkota Terrova 85lbs of thrust, 24V electric trolling motor.  Has anyone ever trolled planar boards with one of these?  I don't expect to be out every weekend, probably 2-5 times a year and not all day probably (I have too many house projects to tend to at home!!!) A buddy of mine said he used his for trolling and it worked fine.  Any thoughts here? 

 

I don't really want to put one of those trolling plates on my big motor.  I guess I could re-prop the motor to slow it down, but this impacts WOT operation which is not good for the motor.  I could throw out a drift sock I suppose, how much pressure does this put on the cleet its ties to before it rips out? 

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Regards

Peter

 

[nijajordan]

     I used to have a Ranger 1850 reata with a terrova 80lbs thrust. I could go all day trolling in heavy winds/waves on erie (10-12+ hrs) on two batteries with 3-4 guys on the boat. Buying good batteries and a decent charger is the key, I used the diehard platinium http://www.sears.com/diehard-platinum-marine-battery-group-size-31m-price/p-02850131000P Well worth the money. Plus you will keep a lot of hours off your big motor and save on gas/oil.

 

Nick

[Mortigan]

I'd suggest running a pair of these: http://amishoutfitters.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2 or sticking with using your kicker.

 

We're similarly outfitted - 18' 1978 Starcraft, 100 hp outboard & 5hp kicker - but do most of our fishing on Lake Ontario. I've seen smaller out there but since we like going for kings as well, I wouldn't be comfortable fishing farther from shore in anything smaller.  We're careful and keep a close eye on the weather.  It's a great size for browns though since they're much closer to shore.

 

We started with just the outboard and although we could hit the right speed, we just couldn't keep it there.  We threw an electric trolling motor in (not a good one like yours) and could only hit 2 mph for about 2 hours in flat seas.  A trolling plate gave us the right speed (2 to 3 mph - ish) but the engine hated it.  We wanted a kicker for trolling as well as safety (we've had issues) and added a new 5hp.  It's worked out great for trolling but it's a bit weak if the outboard dies in building seas - 1 to 3 ft turns into 3 to 5 ft REALLY fast out there.

 

I've heard good things about the trolling bags, been on boats running them but we never tried them.  I don't think you need to worry about cleats pulling out if they're properly installed.  Your kicker will work fine if you stick to fishing from flat water to about 3ft, by then the waves are in charge.

 

Tight lines               

[bear]

I have an 18 1/2 ft Scout and a 115 Yamaha 4 stroke and I run 2 Amish Outfitters Buggy Bags and have no problem trolling at any speed and I put 250 - 300 hours a year on my engine.  As long as you keep it maintained it won't hurt the engine and it uses very little gas.   I have an auto pilot and the bags do not interfere with the auto pilot.  It still works great.