well, I'll tell you a bit about my trolling experience. I dont use boards all the time. Sometimes when it is just two of us we will run the rod holders straight out off ea side and let whatever lures we are using run. We try different distances and different speeds. The speed you troll at is very important as well as the lure and depth you run at. When you get a fish on then mark the area and the lure and the depth etc. Eventually you will gain experience on what works for you and what doesnt. you could buy a couple small inline boards and get used to using them thru trial and error. You mentioned a kicker motor which allows you to get down to the speed you want and not use a lot of gas. Just make sure you can access it or have the controls hooked up so that you can steer etc with it.
It isnt cheating at all to take a charter one day and learn as much as you can on how the pro captains do it. Most of them will share info with you and they seem to enjoy helping newbies out. trolling can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. Just go out there when the water is safe and throw some lures over the side and slowly troll around and see what happens. Learn as you go and take notice when you catch a fish of everything you were doing. Talk to the bait shops and other fishermen. You will find that there is plenty of info out there available from the people around you at the docks, the bait shops, this forum etc. Dont go out the first time and try to be an expert. Buy yourself a couple of reefrunners, some worm harnesses, and several other lures as mentioned on this site and start learning by doing. The more you do the more you will understand what some of these posts are talking about. Typically in my opinion, most people new to trolling tend to troll too fast. Different lures may dictate different speeds, i.e. worm harnesses are usually trolled much slower than diving lures such as reef runners. Capt Juls gives awful good advice on what succeeds for her clients. Dont be intimidated by it, just go start doing it. Keep your spped somewhere around 1.8 to 2.5 (depending on the lure) and relax and enjoy tooling around the lake. Stay very aware of other boats and watch for boards that other boats may be running. Get you a couple of line counter reels and try different distances back from the rods, try different depths of water and different speeds and different directions (with the wind and against the wind or across etc). You will eventually find some walleye and when you do make multiple passes thru that area. Have fun and see how fast you start to catch up on the techniques. tight lines.