Lake Champlain United - Forums

Hey guys, kinda new to this boating/trolling thing. I've got a 15' aluminum boat with 40hp motor. I want to target salmon primarily, and the boat will troll at idle at 3.4 - 3.6 mph. The electric trolling motor only runs at 1.2 - 1.4 mph max. If I use the gas motor to troll, what's the best way to slow it down a bit? I've seen socks, had folks recommend 5 gallon buckets, etc. Being a small boat, the transom area is pretty busy between the motor and riggers. Would anything work off the side without spinning the boat in circles? Thanks in advance.

Dave

A trolling bag or heavy duty drift sock is the simplest and will work tied to the bow cleat with just enough line to keep it in the water under the bow of the boat but not allowing it to get back near the engines! A 5gal bucket works but bangs against the bottom of boat and can spook fish. You can create less drag with the bucket if needed by cutting a hole in it with a hole saw. ...sometimes the handles break off of the bucket too which creates trash and/or can strike engine.
Another option is a trolling plate. It mounts to the anti-cavitation plate on the lower unit of your engine and has a plate you flip down behind the prop to divert the thrust from the prop. I installed one on an old mercruiser outdrive and have been very happy with it. Took a couple hours. It brought us from 2.5-3mph down to less than 1.5 with a 260hp Mercruiser. The one I installed also has larger anti-cavitation "wings" and it significantly helps trim the boat up on plane too. We no longer bother with the trolling bag. Just remember to raise it before you go up on plane ...I speak from experience.

https://www.amazon.com/MOOCY-24-Inch-An ... pons&psc=1


Run one 24" off either side of the boat. Tie the to the front and back dock cleat. when you want to pull the bag out pull it from the back rope. If you run just one drift sock it has a tendency to pull the boat to that side. I carry two different size sock in my boat. one for slow and one for REAL slow.

I often use my bow mount trolling motor backward to slow me down. I find the steering is much more easy than with the sea anchor use.

wesson357 wrote:I often use my bow mount trolling motor backward to slow me down. I find the steering is much more easy than with the sea anchor use.

No THAT is innovative..... new ideas always are interesting..... Thanks for sharing

Sounds like your electric is underpowered for your boat. I had a 14'6" aluminum boat that would do 4.5-5 mph with the electric TM cranked, and would happily hold at 1.5-2 at 20% power. Even now on my 20ft boat my bow mount 70lb cranked up will pull us at over 3mph without an issue. But trolling on a electric does limit your fishing time to battery capacity. I would say bags or a plate are the best option. As stated if you go plate DONT leave it down when you take off, it can be costly if the lower unit cracks.

You can pick up a cheap spare prop with less pitch then the one thats on your boat it will troll slower and have a better hole shot when boat is loaded .Plus you have a spare and a cheap aluminum prop online really is not that much money .

Wow. Thanks for all the help. I picked up a couple of bags from George at Big Rivers B&T.

I'm definitely going to try the trolling motor backward trick, just for the heck of it. Genius.

And I think that there is an issue with my electric troller. It's a bow mount 50 lbs thrust. Seems like it should do better than that.

If you find the bags don't work for you the happy troller trolling plates work excellent

FishnChef wrote:If you find the bags don't work for you the happy troller trolling plates work excellent

Especially is you can find an old hydraulic Beaver Troll system. They are not made any more
but were the best designed trolling plate made.. You could adjust them real time hydraulically..

They sometimes still can be found on ebay or craigs list...

With an electric trolling motor a bigger motor does not mean more speed it will give you more thrust but once you reach the potential of the prop you won't go any faster. Pitch=speed and they all seem to top out around 2.5 mph some just get there faster. Ramel

Trolling plates = no boat control

Tried out the 18" trolling socks today on Shelburne Bay (which was pretty dead BTW...water temp 40-41 degrees). They worked perfect. Trolling speed with the gas motor was reduced to 2.2-2.6 mph, depending on the wind speed/direction.

Thanks again for all the help.