trolling plates are great for trolling but a kicker will get you home in case of trouble i just bought a new 8 hp honda 4 stroke for $1899.00 bracket and steering arm and to splice into main gas tank another $500.00 ready to go (maybe a contol king later) i also have a trolling plate on my 115 but will be taking it off. the biggest thing is this honda will pay for itself in gas this year probaly. used $30 in gas last night trolling 2.5 hours with 115 2 stroke johnson.

Gas is a consideration, but I don't use hardly any when trolling ????? I wondered if the plate would suck up some more gas when I wanted to work against it and troll at 2 mph. We only went out once with it and I think it might have sucked up a little more fuel, not positive however, too early to tell.

WOW, 30.00 to troll for 2.5 hours, I can troll for 16 hours (plus) on 50.00 worth of gas, including motoring out to where we troll. I have a 115 too, are the 4 strokes that much better, never owned a 2 stroke ???? Pleasure boating with the family is a killer on gas, but gas for fishing itself never cost me much at all. Of course the ride to and from the Lake, about 3.5 hours round trip, is a killer..

As far as the kicker getting you home, I didn't think that was a prime concern when considering a kicker, however the thought might sound good to jusitfy to the wife "why" we need one, still be a tough sell though. Besides that's supposed to be why we have radios, when we need help on the pond, of course it's nice to shoot the breeze and get a fishing report too now and then.

Believe it or not, years ago when I saw two motors on fishing boats (or any boat) I honestly thought the smaller motor was for emergency use like you mentioned.

Trolling Plates are still my pick all things considerd for a fairly new person in the sport.

John S.

I don't want to sound argumentitive about the cost, but deals are out there. A couple years ago I found a 5 HP Nissan kicker for $750. I went to the guy that works on boats for us, walked around his "old boat graveyard", found a mount for the kicker on a "junk boat", offered hime $20 for it, took it off the old boat, and brought it home. Getting a kicker doesn't have to cost a couple grand....

hilltopper

Not argumentive at all, there are deals out there for sure. My advice/post was aimed at the fairly new guy that thought he had to have a kicker, etc. or the guy that was watching how he spent his money that wanted to go slower. And of course many are doing fine with a few 5 gallon buckets. There are many roads

There are plenty of fish caught without kickers and lets face it, it is a luxury and a nice one too, good deal or not. Myself, if I can get er down to .5 to 1.2 easily and without spending 1000.00 or more (and money is really not a huge factor for me, I'll borrow it from Adrien) I feel it's good advice to pass along, especially to a new person that thinks he "needs" a kicker to catch fish.

I suppose those that have em will want to justify them and those that don't (like me) will not think they are abslolutely needed. Each situation (boat)is different I suppose, not sure how I would put a kicker on a Pontoon boat anyhow if I decided I needed one ??

I'll repeat myself, if you are "hooked deep" and it "feels right", "go for it", if not, there are other less expensive and easier alterantives.

Myself, I fished for 3 years, no Kicker, no Trolling Plate or Bags, caught plenty of Salmon, speed was not a problem with my boat/motor.. Then I decided to try Live bait, so speed was a new consideration.

I did look into a Control King, but they said it was only for smaller HP motors, not sure why. But if I could put one on my 115, I would for the convenience alone. Anyone have any ideas how we could use one on a bigger motor contact me please.

I'm outta here, Dentist appointment, ugh.

John S.

I agree with John, Kicker's can be expensive for some guys that are just starting out. Like me and my bud Rob for example we've been fishing hard for salmon and lakers for the last 6 years he own's the boat but we go 1/2 on the gas, we where having trouble with our 4.3 running rough when we bring it (speed) down real low, she doesn't like to troll slower then about 1.8mph so i had an old happy troller plate that's been on my grandpa's old boat for about 17 years, very solid so we decided to give it a try, It's built alot stronger then the plastic ones which we also tryed and kept breaking pins on it, got sick of it and took it off the only problem with my old plate was it was a little short, we took it to his cousin at the machine shop and had him add about 3 inches to it to cover the exhaust on our motor, we should have it back this week and hopefully try it out on Sunday, I will make sure to post how and if it helped to slow us down more. For the beginner not looking to spend alot of cash, i would go for the trolling plate, or if your cheaper like me a couple of 5 gallon buckets LOL, (I gotta start hanging around more with John and Adrien to learn how to spend money$$$ LOL) I do agree that a kicker is nice and also very helpful if your big motor dies, but some of us just can't afford it. Plus if you have a radio most people who frequent the board would be willing to help one another out if we were really stuck i believe, and if not you could always get a Sea Tow membership which is still quite cheap compared to a Kicker, Just my 2 cents worth!!! Take Care God Bless and Tight Lines Dave!!

John, Its called a Uni-troll.

My .02$
Big motors-kicker, small motor- plate, biggest I have ever had is my 60. If I had a big motor and a big boat, I'd have the kicker to go with all my other "stuff". Gotta have "stuff". I have had 3 different plates on my different boats. The other way I use to do it was with an electric. The ultimate cats ass for me is the riggers down 30-40 running 1.5 in the stealth mode. But that as you know has its draw backs to. Plate would be #2.

Popeye

I have to throw my .02 in here, there are hundreds of good used potential kickers out there. I bought a 15HP 2 stroke Johnson 12 years ago for $800, used it as a kicker right up to last year and to run my duck boat every fall, still have it on my duck boat. You can rig a boat with a good kicker for 700-800 if you shop around and don't need shiny trinkets. One man's opinion
Throbbin Rods
Out

its probably going to be the trolling plate for me also, i cant get over how much they are getting for those small engines. when i set up my boat in 92 with the merc 115 the cost installed was 5600 dollars with the throttle linkage. im just hoping i can increase the rpms and still go slow enough with it, the motor really bucks and shakes the boat at low rpms. i can get 33 hours trolling from a 35 gallon tank. need to count whats in my change jar, maybe i can find a second hand motor that would fit the bill. in the past ive caught more salmon at faster speeds with increased rpm's 3-3.5 mph and sometimes faster) which tells me that maybe the engine knocking is putting those fish down at the lower speeds

I'll second the fuel consideration. Might not make a big difference at $1 a gal, but it will be near $4 a gal on the lake this summer. I can troll all morning with the Honda 8hp on about 1 gal of fuel. Plus the added benefit of being able to hear the loons, and not smell the fumes from the old 2 stroke. Suggest looking for a lightly used 4 stroke, bought mine from Melvin Village, used 2000 model, paid less than half of what a new one would cost.

I second the kicker. No smell, no mess and it cost ALOT less !!!!!!!!

I.ve been using a trolling plate on my Merc 150EFI for several years now. Had to weld reinforcement on several plates since if you even bump the power up slightly it bends. Anyway, I bought a replacement trolling plate last fall (Still in the box) and have now decided to buy a 9.9 Honda kicker due to the price of gas. I agree it's much more expensive than buying a trolling plate, but with the price of gas what it is , I figure i'll save $5.00-$10.00 each time out and even more on the Lake Ontario salmon trips.

I have a brand new Happy Troller trolling plate (large size) and mount, still in the box I'll sell to anyone interested..

I agree it does depend on the level of determination and frequency of fishing time a person has (plus, to a lesser extent, finances.)
I had a trolling plate on my 40 hp (now have a 70 hp) and had so-so results with it. Busted pins & I could never quite get the speed right using it. 2 fast, 2 slow. So I scrounged an old kicker mount at a boneyard for 20 bucks & used my old 3 hp Sears Gamefisher, 2 cycle that used to power my 12 ft v-hull. It was very light but, loud. Sounded like a jet turbine. I jury rigged a motor link to the big motor & used it for years. Finally, I broke down & bought the 5 hp Merc. 4 cycle in 2001. The Merc was a 1999 model that had sat on a pedistal in a showroom for 2 years. I got it for about half the list price. Best investment I ever made (well, except for "The Tank.") I can troll for days on a 6 gallon tank. Quiet as can be, no smoke/fumes. For me having a 2nd engine adds a lot of peace of mind, 'cause if something can go wrong it WILL for me. Kicker will push me at 3.5 mph which is enough to motor home. (I love redundancy. Plus, rowing "The Tank" is out of the question.) I'm divorced, so "justification to the spouse" is not an issue. (Hey, you can always ask her, "how many pairs of shoes does a woman "need" anyway????" LOL. Nevermind that one, you're tryinjg to get the motor not start a war, right?)
Get a Kicker. You'll do it in the end anyway. Face it, once you start catching salmon....you're never the same. You're never gonna give it up 'till you get your turf blanket. It's as bad a deerhunting that way. & I Love it.

All the Best,

Gary

I went out this year and got a new lund which has a happy trolling plate on my 40hp 4 stroke merc. and I find that when i go out for say 5hrs or 6hrs of fishing I use about 1.5 or 2.5gals of gas each time. That to me is pretty good, For the last 4 yrs I was using a 5hp two stroke evinrude which was good but I would use more gals of gas in less time than in my new boat. Plus i don't come home smelling of gas and fumes. I'm a big fan of the trolling plate. Just my 2 cents
Dan

Gents...can't help to add 3.5 cents. I spent a bunch of time this winter looking at kickers, plates, going back and forth. I've got a 90 HP Honda 4-stroke which (supposedly) only uses 0.1 gal per hour at idle. So gas conservation was less of an issue than for other guys. I settled on the Easy Troller plate, which is more or less the most expensive trolling plate out there. Its solid machined aluminum, very sturdy. With the hydrofoil fins the cost was about $179 from cabela's, probably could have found it cheaper. The plate is hinged so if you forget to pull it up first before pushing the throttle, the hinge gives so the plate does not bend. No pins to break or replace. It works great and I can get into the 0.5 to 1 mph range or higher with a slight bump of the throttle.

Bottom line: if you're leaning towards a trolling plate vs. a kicker but are concerned with potentially bending the plate or busting shear pins, go with the Easy Troller. Second choice would be the Happy Troller, it supposedly gives automatically...

I put an easy troller on my 19 ft. GLS in 1991 after I bought it and didn't like using buckets to slow me down. I then picked up a 6 hp kicker and hung it off the back. I like both for different reasons. Ruff water and windy I like the big motor with the plate. Early mornings and calm water I like the kicker. Big water trolling Ontario or the mouth of the piscataqua I don't use either. I'm on my third or fourth fish finder, sixth down rigger, replaced the steering, fixed the floor, put new vinal on the side boards, put a mast and otter boats in it, got several rods I use in the boat and ten more in the garage that don't get used. My tackle box has enough lures for everyone to use at least one or two, My buddy said always buy two because if they're good you'll have to give me one until I buy more. Fishing is the greatest! I don't catch fish every time but it gives me pleasure to tinker and think about it. Remember what ever you do, keep going fishing, bring a friend, a child, your wife if you have to and share. It makes the stories more believeable. Sorry for such a long post. Tight lines!

As I've stated before... I have the Easy Troller also. I feel the fins give me much better plane control at higher speeds and the plate works great. I get down to .5 with my 3.7merc @170hp...
They say in the box that this plate can withstand the force of a 140hp motor at full throttle and not bend. I like to test things... Therefore, I put the plate down and gave her all she had with my motor... The plate worked as stated. The hinge flipped and NOTHING bent or broke. That to me is awesome. I now know that I have no worries. And neither should you if you buy this plate.
The way my transom bar and downriggers are setup it would be very hard for me to access a kicker... I'm sticking with the plate. Been out three days the last week (about 16 hours total) and including high speeds to and from trolling spots (up to 8 miles) I have only used about 10 gallons. Not too bad in my opinion.

Craig,

My Easy Troller came in today. It looks well made and rugged, can't wait to try it out this weekend.

Good discussion. I've never been fully satisified with my bucket solution and have been considering a trolling plate. One question I have is when they are up, do they have any residual effect on boat speech, maneuverability or noise? Have people been satisfied with the EasyTroller in this regard?

Thanks,

JC

Very happy with mine... I bought the one with hydrofoil fins and it definitely helps the boat plane better at higher speeds. You wouldn't know it was there when its in the up position...

I've also got the Easy Troller with hydrofoil fins on a Honda BF-90 4 stroke on an 18-ft Alumacraft Magnum 175cs. Since my boat is a little bow light, the fins help with control and planing quicker at low speed. Seems to run nice at high speed too. At first I thought it took about 2 mph off my top end speed(about 33-34 mph before), but I found that if I adjusted the tilt up a little bit (which I normally run all the way down at high speed), I found a sweet spot where I got most of the speed back, maybe I lost 1 mph. All in all, I'm very happy with it, just wish I could get up to Winni soon...

Another thing, it definitely helps in trolling in rough water as others have posted.

Im a bit late one this but here's my 2 cents.I just put an 8 hp kicker on my boat and my main thing is keep the hours of use off the $6,000.00 motor and put them on a cheaper and more fule friendly 8hp.
mark

What are you asking for the plate ?