Trolling with outboards????

[skiptomylu]

Never use my big motor and all I use is my troll motor. Been doing that since the late 70's so a long time. I do use a variable speed motor so it is not a 5 speed as I don't like them. I set it on 3 every time and adjust for the fish and wind from there.

If the wind is so bad I can't do that then the wind will end up putting a bow in your line that you can't live with. If the wind is that bad I stay at home since I live on the water. That spoils me a bit so don't go if I don't like what ever may be what is going on with the weather.

Skip

[Cane Pole]

back before the advent to energy efficent electrics, just about everyone i knew, including myself, used gas engines. however you couldnt use the big motor for crappie trolling as it pushed the boat too fast at idle speed . i used a little 2&1/2 hp johnson kicker, and even that, on a 14 ft alumacraft pushed the boat too fast at idle speed. the only way i could get it slow enough for long line trolling was to grind the prop off till it pushed the boat at the speed i wanted at a little above idle. when i bought the sea ark the johnsons shaft was too short and i never bought another troller. i did use a friends honda some, but never could get the sea arks speed adjusted to where i wanted it. the honda was a 4 stroke and would never idle good, especially for hours at a time so i quit trolling for the most part. i dont know how fast i was going back then as we had no way to measure our speed, but it was s -l - o - w...

I member those old prop grind days. My old Merc had a 2 blade prop. I just cut it off with a hacksaw and smoothed it with a file. Kept filing the blade til I got the vibration out in the test tank. Works.