90 Merc - trolling

[BrnetG]

Hey folks ... new to the site and a new boat owner as well. I just bought the Legend Xcalibur 18' with the Merc 90 ELPT Four Stroke. I fish lakers alot with a tinner and 9.9 ..... how well does the 90 troll down on its own? Should I be looking at a trolling plate ? OR should I consider mounting the 9.9 as a kicker?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[OUTCAST]

Hey folks ... new to the site and a new boat owner as well. I just bought the Legend Xcalibur 18' with the Merc 90 F/S. I fish lakers alot with a tinner and 9.9 ..... how well does the 90 troll down on its own? Should I be looking at a trolling plate ? OR should I consider mounting the 9.9 as a kicker?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Pending what 90 Merc you got on the boat, just put an electric bow mount or transom mount on the boat and troll with that.

[sambo]

I have 115 merc 4 stroke on my 18 and i use a trolling plate and can slow down to 1.25mph

[Bowhunter54]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/trol-...=trollingplate


I have one of these on my 17 ft lund pro sport with a 75 merc 4 stroke works great. Would not go back to other trolling plate after bending welding etc

[One_Tracc_Mind]

The trolling motor won't last the day trolling you around especially with a decent wind. 1.5-1.7 mph is almost at a 12v max speed you would be lucky to get 3-4 hrs of fishing time. I have a 80# terrova and I dont use it for trolling. The cheapest/ easiest way to get your speed down is toss out a med/large drift sock off the bow port side so it reaches half way down the boat. The sock will be out of the way for rods trolling off the stern of the boat as well as prop when you shift into neutral. I have a 115 opti that will troll down to 2.0-2.5 mph depending on conditions. If I need to slow down further that drift sock will slow me down to 1.3-1.8 mph. If you not a hard core trolling I wouldn't spend the money on a kicker, if you troll 90% or more, I say get a proper kicker set up. I only troll 15% of the time so my money was spend on TM/ Talon. Try the sock first is $80.

[seabast]

90 Honda 4 stroke, .75mph with the plate, around 1.5 without. So pretty good for lakers.
Always nice to have a kicker to troll close to shore with potencial bulder or to get back home if something happen.

[BrnetG]

Thanks guys, good feedback.

[Frenchie]

I have a four stroke Yamaha on my Lund 1775 .. I can get down pretty slow for trolling ... but years back at the Bay of Quinte I noticed I was still going faster than the charter boats that were trolling around me ... to slow down even more I've now got a couple drift socks that really get me down in speed ...if you don t want to buy them throw a couple cloth bags (like the Ikea ones) out .. 1 per side and tie up to the front cleats .. it works without the cost !

[OUTCAST]

The trolling motor won't last the day trolling you around especially with a decent wind. 1.5-1.7 mph is almost at a 12v max speed you would be lucky to get 3-4 hrs of fishing time. I have a 80# terrova and I dont use it for trolling. The cheapest/ easiest way to get your speed down is toss out a med/large drift sock off the bow port side so it reaches half way down the boat. The sock will be out of the way for rods trolling off the stern of the boat as well as prop when you shift into neutral. I have a 115 opti that will troll down to 2.0-2.5 mph depending on conditions. If I need to slow down further that drift sock will slow me down to 1.3-1.8 mph. If you not a hard core trolling I wouldn't spend the money on a kicker, if you troll 90% or more, I say get a proper kicker set up. I only troll 15% of the time so my money was spend on TM/ Talon. Try the sock first is $80.

I have a 24v 80lb Maxium bow mount on a 21MSX Javelin and can troll for 5-7hrs @ 1-2mph. The sock method is good but try and steer your boat with one sock to the side of your boat, also the drag I find a little hard on the motor over time. a gas 4stroke kicker would probably be this best option. Trolling plate would be the least expensive but always got to remember to lift it when done trolling.

[Marker]

If you go out on any of the big lakes a second trolling motor is cheap insurance, I personally had the outdrive stop working and had to get towed back, and I have also towed others back. In each case the stuck boats only had one motor which broke down.