outboard trolling question

I have a 90 hp 4 stroke mercury. The only way to slow troll my boat is to tilt the motor so the prop is just partially out of the water. The water pump still shoots out water. Will running like that for extended periods hurt anything? I don't like backtrolling with a steering wheel.

Put the motor back in the water. Tow a 5 gallon bucket (sea anchor)

Happy troller or other trolling plate.

^^^this^^^^. But also drill a few holes in the bottom of the bucket. It's keeps water flowing through it and the bucket won't spin around.

Thanks for the great idea. I will probably troll only a few times a year in the summer so the bucket sounds like the way to go.

Trolling plate. You can troll a Merc 250 @ 1.8 when you add a plate

Great idea

the bucket or sea anchor work but get int eh way when your landing a fish. trolling plates work

we troll with a 225 @600 rpm we will start off 2.9 to 3.0 then as we get down riggers out and lines run the boat slows to 1.8 and a nudge up to 700rpm is needed for 2.2-2.6 depending on how many planer boards we are dragging.


also since you can only control your rpm so much with most outboard motors zig zag a bit not so much you tangle lines but like in a parade the outside marcher must go faster and the inside slow down it presents greater variety so if you have a fish that only wants to bite at 2.2 and you can only get 2.7 the zig zag has you passing through 2.2 with some of your lines at every turn.

it is possible we invent this stuff in our minds as a reason we aren't catching fish , but given the number of times we pick a fish up in a turn there seems to be something to it.

Also catch a lot of fish aftah you release your line from the down rigger ....and let your lure or fly flutter up the water column.....

I used the 5 gallon bucket trick in Canada last year, used a hole saw and put a 3 inch hole in the center of the bottom, worked great. I boughtt a couple different sized drift socks from Cabelas and added pool floats to the tow roap so it doesn't sink when we stop to land a fish.

I have seen the same thing when trolling for salmon & trout on Lake Michigan, nothing happening then make a turn and Fish On!

or directional bites , you can only get a bite some days trolling south other days it is north.

Trolling bags would be better than a bucket. The bucket wil lose its handle after a bit. It doesn't take much to slow you down.

Buy a cheap kicker motor for a few hundred if your boats big enough for it..

if you have a supply of good 5hp to 9.9hp outboard motors for 3-400 dollars we could make a killing bringing them up here and selling them for 6-800.

A 30 year old 2 stroke here sells for 600-700 for a 9.9 in decent shape.

^ I bought a 10hp 2 stroke for 275 around a local lake about 50 miles away here. Older Johnson , but a good one.
Pretty common around the local lakes here. Theres a Guy in Parkville Mo has them online about every month for around 300. older 2 strokes.

the 4 stroke make much better kickers , after about 10 years with a 15hp Yamaha 2 stoke dad switched to a 5.5hp honda 4 stroke much better rpm control and didn't have the 2 stroke fumes.

I don't get sea sick but I used to get sick when trolling sometimes , took me a while to realize it was when we were tolling with a very light breeze at our stern it was 2 stroke fumes I was getting sick on.

the only outboards I see here for 300 are in very bad shape or 50 years old

I have a 115 Yamaha on an 18 foot Lund Fisherman with a steering wheel. I troll mostly for northern pike lately these days since we're not allowed to keep any walleyes on our lake. I don't need to back troll. I can get my 2 stroke Yamaha down to 2.2 mph without any pail or plate and the engine doesn't load up. We catch plenty of northerns at that speed.

I have a grady white 226 with a 250 yamaha four stroke on it.

I ant to add a kicker for trolling. I have a good bracket.

I can put a 5 hp fs honda, or a 9.9 hp electric start merc four stroke with power trim.

I feel like the pull start four stroke honda will be best as it is lighter..but wondering if it will push it well enough for downrigging. Any thoughts?

I have a newer 15 hp merc tiller two stroke as well which would be lighter than the 9.9 four stroke, but I dont want to have to have a tank of mixed fuel just to troll.

Amish outfitters makes a good trolling bag. Its heavy duty and comes if multiple sizes. I use 2 of the smallest size for slowing down my 18.5'. I went to bags because I like to run them off the front cleat so they run along the side of the boat, buckets scuffed the boat.

Just got back in from trying the bucket. Worked great for my purposes. I'm fishing smaller inland lakes (300-900 Acres) for walleyes. No fish but I was mostly just experimenting and looking for spots. I prefer jigging but thought as long as I'm looking for structure on new water I may as well drop a line. Thanks everyone.

Any of u guys fish for pike in. Sebago Lake in Maine?

Have a trolling plate on a 115 Merc on 17' Fisher boat. Motor runs on 2 cylinders until 2000 rpm. Very efficient but not as quiet as a 4 stroke would be. I can troll as slow as 1mph if needed for kokanee. Pulling a "brake" behind the boat seems to be troublesome to me.