Trolling

[Big Trouble]

Good morning Gentlemen. I posted this in the general discussion first but seems as though more advice is given in this forum... I believe it is time to give this trolling thing a shot. My problem is that I am unable to get my speed below 3.5mph. After talking with other folks, I believe a prop change will be best for me. I have a Trophy 1952 with the four banger. I tryed the bags already and with the small amount of fishing room I do have...pain in the butt. I do not mind losing top end speed as it is definitely not a race boat. But the way it is set up now, it handles the lake very well for it's size. Any thoughts, suggestions...
Thanks

[forefathers]

Don't change your prop. This its not a good thing without making sure your numbers are right. This could cause engine failure due to over rev our excessive lugging. Drop 2 Amish bags off the side tied to your cleats. Should get down to almost any speed you want. I use 2 36 inch Amish outfitter bags one on each side.they are out of the way for landing fish and i can run at any speed i want best bags made!

[Big Trouble]

Thank you for your help

[Longliner]

You may want to check out a trolling plate. They just require mounting on your motor and are very easy to use.

[wayne johnson]

I agree don't change prop, we use two trolling bags off back of boat, look up our may 19 catch pictures and you will see our bags out back, work great bring fish right thru middle of bags, if you run them on the side the problem they may get caught in your prop, its happen to alot of us. contact skipper 9 on this site he will set you up with right size bags.

Capt mike reel sport charters.

[PDnaz]

I was new to the bags, tried running them out the back, wrong idea. Run them off your bow and check the length of your rope to stay out of the motor and you are good to go. Once I got the hang of it they work great. I have tied the back of the bag off to a cleat to keep the bag from swinging out from the boat, gives you much better boat control and keeps them out of the way of netting fish.

[Big Trouble]

Good luck to all

[penalty box]

I run my bags off of the side and they work fine just make sure the rope length doesn't let it go in the prop. I have a I/o so that helps.

[sherman51]

i suggest you get one of the easy troller trolling plates. i use one on my boat and love it. i had one of the old happy troller plates but i took off without raising the plate and it bent way back and ended that trolling trip. then when i got home i had to use a 10 ton bottle jack and put it under my old motorhome and set the jack on the plate and jacked the mh up and it fixed the plate. but i have taken off with the easy troller down and it didnt hurt anything.

the easy troller is hinged in the middle and is spring loaded. so if you forget and try to take off the lower half will swing up and not bend. i have one i bought for another boat but didnt use it. now im selling the boat so i dont need the plate any more. it is a used plate but in great condition. if you want it you can have it for 80.00 shipped to you. but even if you get a new trolling plate the easy troller is the way to go.

i just take my boat out of gear then pull the release cord and hold it and put it in reverse then release the cord and it will go down and lock. then you are ready to go forward and start trolling. then when you get done just put the boat out of gear and pull the release cord then put the boat back in forward gear then release the cord and give the boat enough gas to bring the plate up untill it locks in the up position.
sherman
sherman

[bowguy84]

Contact skipper 9 on here best bags u can get most bang for your buck I run them off the side of my 272 with no issues as long as you take the time to make your ropes the correct length u wont have any issues with them getting into your prop I have a inboard and don't have any problems I like to make the back lines and the front ones a little long and then just wrap them around the cleat more to get them adjusted corectly and that way I can run different size bags also or I will adjust the back of the bags with the line to controlling how much drag I have to controll the boats speed down to the tenth on speed because as the capt Jim informed me if u can't run the correct speed you won't catch the fish seriously just contact him on here he will help u out