Trolling Plates

[a-b]

Me being new at this boating stuff I was wondering what the word is on trolling plates. Now that i have dumped all my money into the boat I just bought there is'nt any left for a trolling motor. So I was thinking about puting a trolling plate on the big motor and giveing that a try. Whats the opinion out there.

THANKS

a-b
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[One_eyed_jack]

Hi a-b, here is my experience... I have used electric, small trolling motors and trolling plates on different boats. I like electrics for the fact they are quiet and easier to get into small spaces, but if the wind is out they sometimes do not have enough umph to use. Trolling plates have been a good thing for me except I have seen that alot of inboard/outboard boats that have high powered engines can tear them up, however for my situation (outboard 125hp) it would be ideal. Small trolling motors are good to use if you do have a high powered boat and do not want to risk replacing happy troller plate one after the other. So it really depends on what you want to spend your flow on, for mee I am going with a plate. I does also depend on what speed you are going to be trolling and what species you are targeting. I have found that my boat for wiper and such at willard does not even need a trolling device, I just puut it in gear and I can get speeds 1 mph up.

Hope that spill helps.
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[ram4x]

My buddy uses a trolling plate on his 90 horse motor in place of his trolling motor, and it works great. On thing we have a problem with is the fact that, as the prop turns, the propulsion hits the plate spinning in one direction. This makes his boat gradually turn more and more to the right if left unattended. It's sometimes a pain having to constantly make corrections to the wheel to keep towing a straight line. The one he has is the rigid plastic kind, and he's been using it regularly for about 4 years now without a problem.

Justin
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[Kent]

I used a trolling plate on my first boat, which was an inboard/outboard. It worked fine, as long as I remembered to release it before hitting the throttle.
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[poncho]

If you want to go cheap put out a couple of five gallon buckets if not there's alot of info on trolling at.

[url "http://www.fishingequipment.net/trolling/"]http://www.fishingequipment.net/trolling/[/url]

The buckets would slow you down quit a bit.
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[Fish-N-Fool]

I have a happy troller on my 4.3 liter I/O , if I am at willard trolling for wipers I don't use it, but trolling for trout I always use it, and have never had a problem, the only thing I don't like about it is you have to keep adjusting the steering wheel, to keep it going straight, a nice remote controlled gas or electric would be nice for that, my buddy has a remote gas troller setup that has a little thumb switch that is really sweet but I think it was close to 2 grand for that setup.

my happy troller works just great for what I need it to do
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[FischRMann]

I use a trolling plate on my boat for trout and slower-type trolling. I use the electric for real slow stuff like walleye, etc, but the trolling plate works fine. My folks use theirs on an I/O motor all the time and love it. Like others have said before, you just need to remember to pull them up before you take off to the next spot or you will bend them right out. My dad did that and had to fix his up a bit. They are alright, especially until you decide to pony up the big bucks for the new motor, either kicker or electric. For what it's worth . . .

Fisch R. Mann

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[Jasjorg]

I have a troll-a-matic trolling plate that i got from Sportsman's Warehouse it works great and the best thing about it is that it's spring loaded so it automatically raise when you speed up so you never have to remember to raise it.
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[DennisW]

Trolling plates are a quick fix to slow you down, but the drawback is the loss of steering control. I/O or outboard doesn't matter--they work the same. If you've got a tiller motor, another option to slow you down AND to maximize your boat control is to backtroll. Plus, it puts the turning axis right above your transducer. So you can follow tight contours more easily than forward trolling.