New to Trolling

[SusanJames]

So, My buddy gifted me his 1954 Larson-Crestliner 14' aluminum.  I have finished the rebuild and outfitted the boat with rod holders, etc. My hope is to troll near shore on Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes. I've been a stream/river fly guy for 25 years so this is all new to me. Looking forward to learning from this site and the collective knowledge of it's members. I've attached a few pictures of the Susan~James.

Edited November 14, 2022 by SusanJames

[whaler1]

Pretty boat!  No reason on calm days, with attention to weather, that you can’t fish Lake Ontario. What is the boat powered with?

[SusanJames]

Right now I've got a little Johnson 8 on her. I have been able to troll down to 1mph no problem. She tops out at about 9mph so I'm not going far. I was out on Lale O yesterday and I was comfortable out to about 40ftw.

[whaler1]

How much horsepower is it rated for?

[whaler1]

https://yamahaoutboards.com/en-us/home/outboards/115-50-hp/40-30

[SusanJames]

The boat is a 1954 Larson Crestliner so very little information available. As far as I can tell doing some research it is rated for up to 30 horsepower

[whaler1]

https://www.timelessboatworks.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/LarsonCrestliner/1955_Larson_Crestliner_Catalog_150.pdf

[whaler1]

Not sure which of these are yours

[SusanJames]

Yep...that's one of the resources I used when doing my restoration. Mine is the 14' commodore. Thanks for the info. It's amazing the knowledge and willingness to share on this site. I really appreciate it!

[rolmops]

The Evinrude  28 ,30 and 35  2 strokes all have the same weight and engine block. If you want stay traditional you should go up to the 1958  engine because this engine already has a fuel pump which solves the problem of a pressurized fuel tank. ( these engine are available  as are the spare parts) In those days, the horse power was measured at the drive shaft, not the propeller.that only changed in 1986. So if it says 30 horse you should read 28 horse for a newer engine.

Modern 4 strokes weigh a lot more than the old two strokes and they have a lot more torque. If you choose to go that way you should not go over 20 horse.

[SusanJames]

Ah...good info...thanks Rolmops

[ifishy]

That's a great little boat with the motor it has there are a lot of alternate waters available and you can launch where others can't you can even launch some places after docks are out. There are times I miss my 14 footer put an electric trolling motor on it and you can do do all sorts of things lake o is fine on calm days but on windy days there are still lots of other options

[sherman brown]

you did a great job on your boat it really looks good for an old boat. with a 14' boat I would make sure the weather was good with a good forecast before even thinking about going out on big water. it doesn't take a lot to swamp a small boat. at the first sign the water was getting rough I would head for the harbor. and I wouldn't venture to far from the harbor or close to shore where i could beach it I needed to.

 

on calm days on Erie's western basin many days small aluminum fishing boats would go out to the intake at coolie canal which was 4 miles from shore. a few of them would go past the intake and drift back in. so it is very possible to do it, but you need to make sure it's safe.

[tuffishooker]

Asposted pick your days and get a weather report before going out in Lake Ontario ! Once it gets scary it stops being fun !