Thread: Pulling Cranks 101

Originally Posted by G3 Fisherman

On my boat I can not tell any different from when I was running my stabilzer....It runs on plane great. However....I understand that If you do not get the Troll a Matic mounted on your motor perfectly straight and aligned that it will not drive right. Almost sounds like you had your motor trimmed up a little too high and you were porposing....might not have been that though.

What would you align it to or square it up to? The back face on the prop is about all ican come up with. Straight edge against back of prop flange and measure to each side of plate?

I think I measured and set the hinge shaft even on each side of the back of the cavitation plate and then made sure that the whole thing was centered.

Originally Posted by majflyboy

Had a chance to use the drift sock Fri on Eagle spiderrigging. It works GREAT. Thanks Stan for your info on them.

Hey Maj. You or Stan mind sharing info on drift sock use. I looked back to see if it was posted on this thread and didn't see it. May have been that I get distracted by reading all the other good input.

I bought 2 of Cabelas Pro Angler 48" socks. Haven't gotten them wet yet. Never used a sock before and just was wondering what info Stan shared that was worth the "Thanks".

Two 48's ought to stop a river boat. Yikess (Stan), had been using them for some time and I had asked for advice on size, etc. I got a 42" and it works great on my boat, 175 pro crappie.

I have two 60's and have had to drop chains with them before to slow down enough, but I prolly shouldn't have been out there then.

Originally Posted by feelay

I have two 60's and have had to drop chains with them before to slow down enough, but I prolly shouldn't have been out there then.

That should stop an aircraft carrier.

boatsall I use drift socks to dial in my speed when trolling using my big motor. My goal is to be able to maintain a certain speed with the engine in gear but idleing only. I use several different sizes to accomplish this and may use more than one to get the speed I need depending on the wind. My little 18" one is a handy little dude. It's worth a .01 mph alone which is some serious fine tuning of speed. I normally pull cranks for 1.7 - 1.9 but will check 1.2 - 1.4 in the early mornings and run on up tp 2.1 - 2.5+ in the afternoon. They are much easlier to store than 5 gallon buckets and offer more variety. They work just as well when drifting with the wind like Feelay mentioned above. The socks keep the back of my boat facing the wind absorbing the wave impact keeping my rod tips nice and steady on the other end of the boat. They also help plant the back of my boat when I'm slow trolling in a cross wind keeping my track nice and staight. Can you tell I'm a drift sock fan and boat control nut? lol

Yeah I got two drift socks for trolling with the big motor. Depending on the wind and direction I am running, sometimes I use the small one and sometimes the big one. I got mine from academy sports. I think they were about $12 each. They are a big help to fine tune your speed.

DoubleG