Trolling with 250 Optimax

[IRISH56]

So I am in the market for a new boat ..... VERY few boats the wife and I can agree on to accommodate big water fishing and cruising/skiing/entertaining.

 

One of which is a Seaswirl Striper 2101 DC. Looked at one in Rochester the other day with a 150 Yamaha (standard power) and am considering making the drive to CT to look at another with a 250 Optimax (max power).  Weight of the boat sitting in the water is +/- 3200lbs.  Curious if anyone has any thoughts on how well the 250 would troll down??

 

Motor is a 2008 with 450 hours, first 430 hours were in saltwater before it was put on the Seaswirl as a repower.  I am a little leary about that as well .... any further thoughts on that would be appreciated also.  The Seaswirl is a freshwater boat.

 

Thanks.

 

DAN

[FISHIN' ADDICTION]

I have a 225 verado that I troll with, the key is the smartcraft gauges. I can adjust the RPMs to get the perfect speed

[Huntin' Trout]

_{I have a 225 Merc with more than 2000 hours on it most of which are below 1000 RPM. I have put 1 set of plugs in it since 2007 and she trolls just fine. I can only speak for my experience and have heard the same stories about never trolling with a 2 stroke. Depending on lake conditions I may have to throw a bag out to slow me down but that is rare. Good luck.}

[IRISH56]

I have a 225 verado that I troll with, the key is the smartcraft gauges. I can adjust the RPMs to get the perfect speed

Not familiar with how Smartcraft gauges operate ... you can adjust RPM's without adjusting throttle?  The boat I am looking at is equipped with the Smartcraft gauges.

 

Thanks for the responses guys!

[John E Powell]

A lot of the stories you may hear about trolling with a 2-stroke may not be with current engine technologies. I troll just fine with my 225 E-Tecs and use .3 gph at trolling speed (that measurement is verified with a digital fuel flow meter).

 

You might want to check out one of the mercury boards and ask the optimax gurus if there is a preferred spark plug for extended trolling use.

[FISHIN' ADDICTION]

The smart craft gauges you just put the motor in gear and engage the troll mode then you can move the rpms up our down to get the perfect speed without touching the throttle. Go to Google and search trolling with optimax motor with smart craft gauges.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Chas0218]

Are both Sea Swirl Stripers? Is there any way you can go with a longer boat?  I have fished out of my buddies 2002 21' Striper and it is a rough riding boat, it will jar your fillings loose and that is with a johnson 150 ocean runner. I would hate to feel how bad that would be with a 250.  I have fished in other 21' boats that aren't as bad as the striper.  They aren't known for their ride but I would take that into consideration.  Come to think of it the Trophy Pro 20' or 21' boat my neighbor has rode better.

[IRISH56]

Are both Sea Swirl Stripers? Is there any way you can go with a longer boat?  I have fished out of my buddies 2002 21' Striper and it is a rough riding boat, it will jar your fillings loose and that is with a johnson 150 ocean runner. I would hate to feel how bad that would be with a 250.  I have fished in other 21' boats that aren't as bad as the striper.  They aren't known for their ride but I would take that into consideration.  Come to think of it the Trophy Pro 20' or 21' boat my neighbor has rode better.

They are both Striper 2101's .... the Rochester boat is out for other issues    I have read that about the 2101 but then I have also read just the opposite.  I think you can make just about any boatride pretty harsh with the throttle and you can smooth out almost any ride with throttle and trim tabs HOWEVER ....  I have not had the chance to sea trial one yet so I can't say from personal experience. 

 

That's pretty cool about the Smartcraft system .... I will have to look into that a little more.

 

Thanks again guys ... very helpful as always!

[Iceman]

_{Just put a small 4 stroke kicker on it.  It also is safer w/2 engines.}

 

_{GOOD LUCK!}

[Chas0218]

I'm with Iceman on this one.

 

 

They are both Striper 2101's .... the Rochester boat is out for other issues    I have read that about the 2101 but then I have also read just the opposite.  I think you can make just about any boatride pretty harsh with the throttle and you can smooth out almost any ride with throttle and trim tabs HOWEVER ....  I have not had the chance to sea trial one yet so I can't say from personal experience. 

 

That's pretty cool about the Smartcraft system .... I will have to look into that a little more.

 

Thanks again guys ... very helpful as always!

 

I wasn't sure if you sea trialed one yet, they are definitely a sea worthy boat.  They are a good entry level boat. 

[IRISH56]

Kicker motor is definitely a consideration for all of the above reasons.  It's not easy finding the right trailerable boat to make the wife & kids happy while at the same time being a worthy big water fishing platform   

[John E Powell]

Having owned both, I'll take twins over a main and kicker anyday (and twice on Sunday). 

[fathobbit0074]

I troll witha 90 Optimax just fine. I have to use drift socks to get down but does the job.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[Sk8man]

My 135 Opti trolls down to 1.7 mph at 540 rpm's  and I use it against the wind mainly trolling wise and my 9.9 for most usual trolling. If you use it for trolling I'd interrmittently "blow it out" full throttle when changing locations etc. I had the same set of plugs for 12 seasons (replaced this year) and they weren't all that bad even then so my "system" worked  anyway....

[fishaddict]

I spoke to Yamaha tech service and they told me that trolling is worse for large engine than running due to suboptimal temperatures in the block and significant carbon deposits. I troll with large 2 strokes and I gun it for about 5 min wot on the way back. I would also use anti carbon additives like ring free.

[IRISH56]

New question .... got compression numbers for the 250 Optimax but I can't find what the numbers should be.

 

1-130   2-125  3-130   4-125  5-135   6-135

 

Thanks.  Going to look at the boat next week!

 

[Chas0218]

Within 10% they seem fine to me generally anything around 125 is good.

Sent from my thinking chair...

[longbow]

My Pro Line has a 225 Opti on it.  I use sea bags.  Have used only one but am going to go to two bags after some advice to just being able to run the motor at a slightly higher rpm with 2 bags vs. 1.  The Pro Line I have is a very heavy boat when loaded with fuel but the Opti doesn't seem to have any problems running at trolling speeds and it is pretty darn quiet.  The one thing I've found out about fuel injected motors especially the Optimax and on my bagger is that good batteries are a must.

 

For instance, last week fishing the boat a couple of times the motor stalled when trolling.  Just didn't seem to run that well frankly.  This was on Thurs. Saturday go to take it out and wouldn't start.  So get the DVM out and check the batteries and of course one is dead.  I have a Cabela's gel crank 1100 amp battery on one side and an old Interstate crank on the other.  After getting a bit of sticker shock on pricing batteries I settled on an Advanced Auto 100 buck 1000 cranking amp Marine Battery.  Put it in and right when the engine started up I knew something was better right away.  the engine ran so much smoother and just sounded stronger even though it was idling at the same rpm range.  

 

Took it out Sat. evening and trolled from the point off Hughes to about a mile or so just east of Ginna, calm water, nice evening, and that engine ran right about 2.8-3.0 mph perfectly.  Never once skipped a beat, stalled, burped or farted.  So good batteries are a must.  Everyone says to plan on every 2 years replacing a battery so that is what I going to do.  

 

So I use an Opti 225 for trolling.  When I am done fishing I run the motor hard for about 10 minutes or so, usually back to Hughes depending on where I am on the lake.  thanks

[IRISH56]

Well fellas I have an accepted offer on the 2101 DC with the 250 Optimax ..... we shall see how it converts from pleasure boat to fishing machine.  Now I have to get it rigged with track & rod holders, fuseblock for the downriggers, a charger and maybe even an autopilot. 

 

Longbow - I have read that about Opti's and batteries, they tend to run better with 1000 + batteries.  Thanks for the insight.

 

Thanks again for everyone's input.

 

DAN