ive been using sea anchors for slowing the boat down, but i think its time to make a switch. my boat is a 19 foot eastern and i troll with a 115 1992 merc, at low rpms, it bucks and bangs enough to that i believe its putting the fish down. if i raise the rpms and use a huge drift anchor (4 foot diameter) i definately catch more fish at this time of year going at the same speed as i was with the motor at low rpms and a smaller anchor. the big anchor makes mauevering the boat extremely difficult, especually when wind is involved. do those troll plates work well enough, what one would be the right choice, or should i save up for a kicker motor.
with all do respect to Yo' if the cash is'nt there I've had great luck with plates. You do suffer some with controll in wind but if cash is an issue or if you want a solution untill mother lets you buy that 9.9 honda for $2850 pluss steering control i'd go with a plate any day of the week. I can get my boat to .5mph, have to throttle up to troll.i would definatly go with the aluminum version. If you foreget it down when you get on the gass you'll know it quik enough.
just my 2 cents
Whip
melvin village marina has a left over 8 hp elec. start $2150.00 2005 honda or 9.9 man. start $1999.00 honda 2004 i just got a 4 stroke 8 hp man. start honda 2005 for $1899.00 and i love it can't even hear it running at 1.5 mph I DID ALOT OF SHOPPING BEST PRICES I FOUND GO WITH THE KICKER TROLLING PLATES ARE GOOD BUT THEY WON'T GET YOU HOME IN CASE OF TROUBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT TO MENTION SAVE TONS OF MONEY IN GAS$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
I almost had a trolling plate put on my boat. I seem to be having the same trouble as you. The problem with the plate is that if you should forget to unlock it and go to full trottle you are going to bend that plate, then it is useless. I think they cost about 130.00. Thats a lot of money and for me I know I would forget to unlock it. I think I'm going to save for a kicker.
I went with trolling plate -- yes -- the Easy Troller for a number of reasons, including the hinge that keeps it from bending. I got sick of buckets and socks and did not want to get a separate motor.
The Easy Troller works great. Its a little more $ than some of the others but worth it in my estimation.
Bought an Easy Troller on line from BoatersOutlet.com for $99.99. It is all metallic and the bottom plate is hinged and pops outward if you forget to raise it prior to takeoff. I'll let you know next weekend how it works.
Do you have to drill holes in your motor to mount it? That's the only thing that scares me away from using plates. Last thing I need is a hole gone bad in my motors lower unit.
Yes. You need to drill four 1/4" holes fastened with stainless steel bolts and lock nuts on the anti-cavitation plate. If it doesn't work out you can remove the unit and just leave the bolts in place. I've done it in the past with a hydrofoil that I didn't care for. I removed it and left the bolts on and had no negative effect on steering, performance, etc. I'll post this weekend on how it works out installation and performance wise.
