Trolling plates

[sthrcave]

I'm in need of a kicker but it might be a while before I have the funds. What are your opinions on using a trolling plate as an alternative? I fish a 24' trophy with an OMC 350 and merc out drive (I think). I normally fish for Kokanee and occasionally troll for salmon as well as jig for bottom fish in the salt.

[Hunter757]

I put one on my 19' bayliner and it slowed it way down. Very happy with it. Mine is a Happy troller, if I had it to do over again I would of bought the one with a split blade. This seems to help if you forget to put the plate up and hit the gas it will bend you plate you can see this in some used ones for sale. I have not had that happen but I am sure it will.....lol.

Cabales has a new one out that looks very beefy and worth the money something to think about.

Good luck.

[G-Man]

Trolling plates work well if you don't have any wind to battle as it redirects your prop's thrust to either side of the plate. Drift socks/sea anchors will slow you down and help keep you on course in windy conditions. I also use them when deep water jigging to help maintain position over a particular spot. I normally use two small ones and hang them off either side of the bow, which keeps them out of the way of the fishing action. Takes a bit more effort to deploy and stow, however, they work and are always nice to have around.

[sthrcave]

Thanks for the input! I ended up scoring a 6hp yamaha kicker for a great deal. I think it's a bit small for the ocean but should do great for trolling in the lakes. I might still try a trolling plate for the ocean though. My boat idles at about 3.5-3.8 mph. If I was trolling against a tide rip I think it would be ok, but in slacktide I think it might still be a bit fast. I might drill holes in a couple buckets and try them to slow me down

[Hunter757]

Great to hear, hope it works out great for you. Is that a 2 or 4 stroke? It would be nice if it were a 4 then you could just connect it to your main tank. No extra tank sitting in the way is always a nice thing.

[Steelheadin360]

I would go with a large drift sock instead of a Trolling plate. Trolling plates make it very hard to steer the boat. And you might be suprised about how much power a 6hp has! My 6hp will push my drift at max hull speed (9mph) at around half throttle, and its a huge boat (18'x68")

[tonygange]

I run a happy trolling plate on my "06" 20 ft. Trophy and it works great no steering problems and idles downs to 1.3 MPH GPS speed.