Need to Slow down the Boat

[digitroll]

I use 18" Amish bags for my 19' 9" 2013 Starcraft Fishmaster bowrider with a 150 Mercury 4 stroke.

 

I personally don't believe dropping pitch to 15 from 19 makes a very big difference as it might shave off a few tenths from my experience.  I run 3 mph without bags and one bag will get me down to 2.4 mph and 2 bags out will drop it to 2.0 mph.  I love them.  Great performance from my Simrad autopilot running bags in choppy water as well.  The autopilot won't get lost from a gust of wind with bags out.  Very easy breezy to put out and pull back in just ahead of the riggers.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2015 by digitroll

[jigstick]

I went with 2 of the 22in bags. My boat is up in Erie and I'm in Pittsburgh. And I can't remember exactly what my RPMs are and speed without my plate down. I want to say it's around 7-800 and 3-3.5mph depending on the wind. I'm hoping these two 22in Amish bags can get me down to 1.8 or so.

[digitroll]

_{Next time out (two weeks from now possibly) I will make a short "You Tube" video demo with my Amish Outfitter bags and post that video on this thread.}

Edited June 3, 2015 by digitroll

[jigstick]

There is another benefit that I am hoping to achieve by using trolling bags vs my trolling plate.  With my plate down I get a fair amount of back wash against the transom.  This really interferes with my sonar.  I have to crank my sonar power down to get rid of it…which in turn decreases the amount of marks I get of fish.  With the trolling bags on the side of the boat, and no trolling plate down, I will be able to maximize the settings on my Raymarine sonar and Airmar transducer.  At least I'm hoping...

[digitroll]

Better to go with the 22" when deciding for the 22 ft boat.  28" may cause a lot of rpm to pull em.

[longbow]

I run the Buggy bags on my 25.5 Pro LIne.  I have a 2 stroke 225 Ocean Runner, and a Merc. 9.9 2 stroke that can't keep up with heavy wind and waves so use the bags quite a bit.  I run them off the bow rail mid ship.  Never had a problem.  I try to get them even off port and starboard.  I can slow down to around 1.5mph over land speed if I need to but like to run about 1300-1400 rpms and that equates to about 2.4-2.9 mph over land speed depending on the wind direction, wave height direction etc.etc.  I also will run them with the kicker too.  Seems the kicker will run a bit better at higher rpm's with the bags.  The biggest thing my wife likes is that with the bags out in heavy wave action it sucks the boat right down onto the water and takes out alot of the beating you would take without them.  Much more stable ride and I have a heavy boat and it makes it that much more comfortable.  

[bigblue]

Anything over 18" is overkill on a boat your size . We run two boats a 20 and 22 ft  . Standard 18' Amish bags work fine on both boats a 4.3  & 5.7 inboard outboards. My two cents.

Edited June 20, 2015 by bigblue

[jigstick]

Got a chance to use the bags over the weekend out of Barcelona.  Man I like how easy they are to deploy and bring in.  I have to tweak the length of the ropes a bit.  When deployed the 1/2in twisted nylon rope stretched a bit over the course of the day.  The bags ran nice and tight right beside the boat, and ended a few inches before the transom.  They dry real quick as well.

 

They took me from a 3.2mph SOG to 1.5-1.8mph if I just clicked the boat in gear.  I had to give it a tad more gas to keep me in the 1.8-2.2mph range.  I noticed no difference in fuel consumption or oil pressure.  My Airmar transducer shows much less interference compared to the trolling plate as well.

 

For you guys with autopilot….Maybe I don't have my bags running deep enough….or maybe it was the wind or waves.  But I noticed my autopilot working a little bit more to keep a straight course when going INTO the waves.  I was hoping the bags would help smooth that out  I usually only troll with the waves for this reason.  When going with the waves, the autopilot tracks perfectly.  And even better with the bags out.  But the bags didn't seem to improve my ability to troll INTO the waves.  Kinda bummed about that.  

 

But overall, these bags are really really nice.  I wish I would have never put a trolling plate on my outdrive.  Now I have some holes to patch in the aluminum.  

Edited June 23, 2015 by jigstick

[Chas0218]

 

 

But overall, these bags are really really nice.  I wish I would have never put a trolling plate on my outdrive.  Now I have some holes to patch in the aluminum.  

Don't bother as it is cast aluminum and will be extremely hard to weld.  Previous owner of my outboard put one of those whale tails on but it didn't do anything so I kept it off and tried patching the holes with marine text and such but it didn't want to stay.  Now I just leave them empty doesn't seem hurt anything.

[Lively1]

I tried a Cabelas trolling bag last week on my 18' runabout and it worked well - slowed me down to 1.7 mph. I hung it off the front quarter rail and it ran beside the back end of the boat. But it makes me a little nervous when the bag sometimes ends up under the hull instead of off the side. If the line ever parted it be in the prop in a split second. But I can't see running them off the back behind the prop, they would be in the way of the fishing lines etc. Any one else see this as a problem?

[guffins fisherman]

Put a tag line on it, and hook it to your stern cleat.

[old man]

I used to pull two five gallon pails behind my boat. Kind of a pain at net time but it works.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[Has Been]

Second the Keep rpms up for oil pressure. Had to rebuild mine after a lot of hrs. I also use buckets & have for 30 years. Tie midship ahead of outdowns. Work great.Also stabilize boat in rough water.   My boat came w/ a 15/17 prop & I use a 15 1/2   /!5 now.  I lost some top end but it gets up on plane eaisier & better in rough water. Trolls a little better also.

 

 I would add  a cleat on each side below the split in the 2 slide windows. That way you can throw the bags or buckets out and leave a line attached so you can pull them in easy from the side. My buckets are in & out of the water all day to vary thing & draw hits.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Has Been