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| Just curious as why some folks troll with their trolling motor down?
CT |
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They might have a transducer mounted on the their bow mount, when wedged at a 45 degree angle you will be able to see structure a lot sooner as you would with just one transducer mounted in the back. |
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Posts: 194
Location: Lincolnshire, IL | Not sure if I understand the question...are you asking why some folks use the trolling motor rather than than a kicker or main motor?
I use my bow mount autopilot for a few different applications. When trolling for muskies, I will use my kicker as the speed(locked in straight ahead) and my autopilot to guide my course. For walleyes I strictly use my autopilot for low speed applications like pulling spinners on calm days. I also use it in shallower water because I think I am being stealthy... |
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Posts: 611
Location: Michigan | I know a couple people who do this and they do it because of the transducer on the trolling motor. Using the transducer in the front of the boat gives them and extra 16' (boat length) or so to see the structure before the lure gets there.
Edited by jasonvkop 12/4/2008 4:14 PM
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | Most guys are probably doing that for precision steering. This fall my main motor was trolling too fast, so I dropped in my bowmount, and turned the motor perpendicular to the boat. Slowed my speed down by a few tenths, but I doubt that's what most guys are doing it for...
curleytail |
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| You must have been on GB. Works great for steering "autopilot" and you can fine tune your speed. |
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| We had this discussion while trolling on GB last weekend. We saw a guy trolling with his trolling motor down and the first thing we thought was the transducer on the trolling motor. Then we realized that he was fishing alone. The trolling motor would be ready for boat control if he hooked a fish. While trolling with multiple lines, it would help to have your trolling motor ready to swing the boat if needed to stay free of other lines while fighting the fish. Just a thought. Jeff |
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Location: Des Moines IA | What I don't understand is why do guys cast with their main motors up? Seems to be alot more difficult that way? |
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Posts: 285
Location: NE Wisconsin | Saw a lone guy Sun. trolling with a small boat and motor. Maybe a 20 hp tiller. The outboard was running and in gear, doing the trolling. He had the tiller handle in the up position and was sitting with his hands in his pockets. Keeping warm. It was very cold and windy. The way it looked to me, he was doing 100% of his steering with his foot controlled front trolling motor which was in the lowered position. |
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Location: Twin Cities | I do that all the time, usually i'll move from spot to spot trolling and just leave it down. Sometime's i'll steer too depending on the wind etc. |
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Posts: 1451
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | Here's the reason at least some people do it....they have auto pilot on thier bow mount and use the bowmount to steer the boat rather than the kicker....they leave the kicker locked in straight ahead....this is nice b/c if a fish is caught, the kicker can reamain running and also the boards can stay out--at least some of them. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | I learned the trick from jvanert, and it really workes great and serves as an extra dude when fighting a fish. tap the pedal, and take outboard out of gear. Heck if it wasn't for the extra lines, I wouldn't even have to take people fishing anymore hehehe... More useful having a transducer up front than on the transom while trolling as well.
Edited by Reef Hawg 12/4/2008 6:25 PM
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Posts: 80
Location: Clintonville, Wi | Like Jason said i like to have the trolling motor in while trolling so I can hit the autopilot and keep nose of boat pointed in the wind when a fish is on and take the kicker out of gear. Usually i wont have to clear lines and minimizes most of the clusters that can happen trolling as many lines as we do in wisc.
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| You guy are on it. It makes running 9 rods with clients a very easy thing even in big winds. I even use my co piolt so I can control the boat anywere in the boat. Allso my alumacraft does not track well and this helps out a ton |
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Posts: 272
| If you saw a guy on GB doing this solo on Sunday, might have been me.
I put my TM down whether or not the TM is actually on and helping propel the boat, but usually both my little 6hp kicker and the MinnKota share the job.
I do it because of a couple reasons. My boat is small, and is shallow, and doesn't track the best in the water. With just one guy, the boat is pretty stern heavy, which makes tracking even worse. Having the TM down in the front, whether its on or not, acts like a rudder. Its just something else dragging in the water up front, do give the boat a little more of a kiel. And, while solo, since the boat is stern heavy, the bow acts like a sail with little weight up there. Having that TM down and running gives the bow a little "presence," which also helps to track nicer.
Its also nice to have the front TM running because my kicker doesnt' like to stay at a high idle, and I'm constantly having to tweak the throttle. By using the TM as one of two sources of push, I just set the throttle on my 6hp to whatever it will stay at nicely, and I adjust my foot control from there to speed up or slow down to a desired speed.
I also troll where there's quite a bit of wind and/or current within current pushing you around and getting the boat at funny angles to the direction I'm trying to go. For all the above reasons, having the TM down elminates alot of the "bent and wiggly" trolling that would otherwise go on.
And, yes. When you get a fish, its like having someone else driving the boat while you fight a fish alone.
Basically, my TM is always down, whether I'm solo or tandem. For me there's just no down side to it. I rarely troll faster than 5mph, and the TM is not a hindrance for that.
-Eric
Edited by muskie-addict 12/4/2008 10:17 PM
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Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | Simple, a transducer on the bow tells you where you are going. A transducer on the transom tells you where you have been. Kingfisher |
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| i understand the benifits of having the trolling motor down but has anyone had a problem with the extra wear on the trolling motor.( brushes,bearings)?
even if the trolling motor is not on, the prop still turns as you troll. |
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Posts: 1769
Location: Algonquin, ILL | I have the Pinpoint System on my boat, on those rare ocassions when I do troll the Pinpoint is used to keep me right on the break line or at the desired depth, The Gas motor pushes the Boat & the Pinpoint Steers so it's basically hands free trolling  I just have to watch for Docks, other Boats & floating junk
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Posts: 194
Location: Lincolnshire, IL | guest - 12/5/2008 12:10 PM
i understand the benifits of having the trolling motor down but has anyone had a problem with the extra wear on the trolling motor.( brushes,bearings)?
even if the trolling motor is not on, the prop still turns as you troll.
I never thought about this, I guess I bought the stuff to use it....I suppose it has some extra wear/tear but that would be like worrying about the number of hours I put on my motors.... |
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| Transducer on your bowmount trolling motor can also be angled upward to see if suspended fish are moving out to the side as your boat moves forward.At the same time with this forward angle of the transducer one can see rising structure in time to make a turn to avoid running into it.I do this sometimes on waters that I have not fished before.
Capt. Larry D. Jones
www.mostlymuskies.com |
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Posts: 272
| I don't even turn on my bow mount graph. Tough to see from the back of the boat. And, if you did angle the 'ducer, I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to interpret what I was looking at with the cone pointing out in front of me.
In time though, I suspect that fishfinders will be something like when they rub the jelly on your old lady's tum tum for an ultrasound. You'll literally see a picture of what's down there in the water (or ahead of you), not just an icon or an arc or a bump on the bottom. Humminbird is already doing this to a certain extent with their side imaging. I think this is only the tip of the iceberg in sonar advancements.
Wouldn't that change things if your sonar projected forward and you could literally see muskies and "aim" at fish ahead of you that you see on your graph?
Yeeesh.
-Eric |
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