Trolling speed problem

[Killin' It]

So ... here is my post from MS

...

The Biggest problem we had was getting the boat to troll down nice

it would start stalling out under 1000 RPMS... we did not have a GPS on board, but I think we were on the top end of 2-4 MPH, but not sure.. when we would run it at 1200 RPMs it just seemed like we were going WAY to fast.

I was wondering what I should do...

Trolling bags and run it at 1200 RPS because it was doing fine then?

[Nailer]

Dave the bags work very good. Check out this post or this one.

Dicks bags are what we run. The cost about $80 for two. You may want to try the bucket trick first. 2.5-3.0 sog is a good place to run.

[A-Fishy-Anado]

First thing, i would try to find the butt of the motor problem...i would start by a fuel additive and cleaning your carbs, you don't want it to become a BIG problem. I think you really need some sort of GPS to really guage where you were running.

[NO MO BEGGEN]

i had the same problem with my boat i just got and i had to get the carb rebuilt

[Paulywood]

Dave, bags are a good idea but I agree with Bromley, you should figure out the motor problem. Start with a can of Seafoam, then either check the settings on the carb or having someone look at it. I don't know much about outboards but I would be worried about being out on the lake with a balky engine. Better safe than sorry.

[JWheeler]

I fish for walleye a lot and have found that I can't get slow enough either. My fix was the addition of a kicker.

[Priority1]

Get the engine tuned and get a GPS. Bags are a good way to slow you down.

[Killin' It]

Talked to the boat shop this morning about the motor. He said that the year (90) and type of motor is not meant to run under 1000 RPMs.

He said if anything put some cleaner in the gas tank and run the crap out of it a couple times. He said if its running fine in the 1200-1500 range everything should be pretty good inside the motor.

[Paulywood]

Good to hear. Now you can either use a pair of buckets, bags, or get a trolling plate to slow you down. As far as telling speed, I used to use an Etrex handheld. I could set waypoints for pierheads and nets and use it for speed. You can usually pick one up for under $100.

[1mainiac]

Talked to the boat shop this morning about the motor. He said that the year (90) and type of motor is not meant to run under 1000 RPMs.

He said if anything put some cleaner in the gas tank and run the crap out of it a couple times. He said if its running fine in the 1200-1500 range everything should be pretty good inside the motor.

Never heard of such a motor who makes this motor that was not designed to idle? My 89 350 will sit at 600 rpms all day the newer electronics improve low speed idle. Sorry I have to call the BS card on the person who told you that crap. Get a real mechanic to look at it the one thing I love about the new engines is that you can get them to do several things well vs when I started building motors back in the late 60's as a kid and thru the 70's when you either set it for general purpose driving which would run good but never great or you set it to run great at one purpose and lived with what it did the rest of the time.

[Nailer]

This is the boat and motor Jim

Dave, why not use that kicker?

[1mainiac]

That motor has to drop down to roughly 650 rpm to shift does it have a hard time shifting? Something is not right we had the same motor on a 17 ft bass boat and it would troll all day long a friend of mine has a 60 which is pretty much the same motor with smaller carbs and it will troll all day long but does run a bit rough below 700 and will foul a plug now and then so he carries a set of plugs.

[Killin' It]

Nailer,

We are going to try that thursday, my only concern is it will not get me into the 2 range on nasty days.

The boat is going in next week to get it looked at. Hopefully it will be resolved by next weekend.

I have had no problems with it shifting.

[pulpfishin]

another way to gauge speed if you don't want to spend the money on a GPS unit is to keep an eye on the rigger cables. When you think you have the speed dialed in check the distance that the cables are from the boat. When you hit a fish make sure that from then on, going the same direction, that your cables are that same distance from the boat. This is how we started before all the fancy electronics we have on the boat now, and it works until your trolling direction changes! Then it is time to start over. A compass is critical to keep trolling direction the same when employing this technique. In time you will have all you need on the boat, but for now get out there and pound that water 'til you figure it all out. In the end you will become a better fisherman and learn how to read water!