Open Water needed!

Hello to all,

First time post here for me. (nice site!) I am heading out to Port Clinton April 14-19th is the lake going to be free of ice by then? Hoping the lake is boat ready by then. This will be my forth year out there and going to bring my own boat this year. I have only jigged for them in the years past, is it worth me bringing all my trolling gear? I have all gear needed to troll I fish the Fingerlakes and Lake Ontario here in NY. Any info provided for my upcoming trip is well appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeremy

Both ways catch fish... it's what ever you like to do.. I will be out trolling as long as the lake is ice free. Give me a call if you need some fishing info.. 614.327.7144

I have a Crestliner Phantom 196SST aluminum boat equipped with 140HP Johnson outboard motor and 15HP Johnson outboard as a kicker motor for trolling. My problem is I cannot get the kicker motor to troll slower than 2mph . I am looking to buy a trolling plate to allow me to go slower. Should I look for a Trolling plate to be mounted on the 140HP or the 15HP motor when I intend to only troll with the 15HP motor? Also which trolling plate would work best? If it is mounted on the 150HP motor it would have to be able to be released when using the 140HP for high speed. When running at high speed the 15HP motor is tilted up to a locked position with prop out of the water. If trolling plate is mounted to the 15HP motor would a permanently fixed trolling plate work better than the 140HP releaseable trolling plate? Thank in advance for your recommendations and experience.

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Originally Posted by walleyeaddict

I have a Crestliner Phantom 196SST aluminum boat equipped with 140HP Johnson outboard motor and 15HP Johnson outboard as a kicker motor for trolling. My problem is I cannot get the kicker motor to troll slower than 2mph . I am looking to buy a trolling plate to allow me to go slower. Should I look for a Trolling plate to be mounted on the 140HP or the 15HP motor when I intend to only troll with the 15HP motor? Also which trolling plate would work best? If it is mounted on the 150HP motor it would have to be able to be released when using the 140HP for high speed. When running at high speed the 15HP motor is tilted up to a locked position with prop out of the water. If trolling plate is mounted to the 15HP motor would a permanently fixed trolling plate work better than the 140HP releaseable trolling plate? Thank in advance for your recommendations and experience.

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Go to dreamcatcher and get a couple of trolling bags. Great price and you don't have to attach anything permanent to your boat.

Yeah use bags, I got a 21' aluminum Sylvan Pro Fisherman and use 9.9 4 stroke Yamaha and still always use bags to stabilize speed. That will get you slow enough. I will run bags even trolling faster for salmon and trout they smooth out your presentation especially in waves and chop. Can't wait for the ice to clear boat is ready to roll!

-Jeremy

Yea use bags... they Will help stabilize the boat along with slowing it down...

X4 on the bags for sure. You can add a bag or remove one to fine tune your speed. Works very well!

I had the same problem with my Mercury 9.9 bigfoot kicker. I changed props and went with a smaller prop size. Worked great!

For years I have used 5 gallon buckets tied on each side of my boat trailing just ahead of the netting area. I drill four 1/2 inch holes equal distance apart just below the top rim of each bucket, run a 30 inch length of 3/8 inch nylon rope through each hole and tie the end of each inside the bucket with a simple knot to stop it from pulling threw. I then tie the loose ends together in a single knot. Next I drill four 2 inch holes in the bottom of the bucket, wire an empty but sealed 20 oz Gatorade bottle to the middle of the outside of the bucket to act as a float and a 6 oz duck decoy weight on the inside opposite the plastic bottle to prevent any rotation. Finally I tie a 6 foot lead rope to the knotted rim ropes and the other end forward off a guard rail. When I'm ready to troll, we just throw one of those buckets off each side of my 20 foot Proline WA and with my 150 Evinrude Etec idled back, GPS speed is 1.2-1.4 mph. I've used the Happy Troller trolling plate in the past but this drag method is so much easier and it only cost me pocket change.