Anyone using a Trolling Plate ?

I have a 115 Merc 4 stroke and it trolls down to GPS speed of 2.9 or 3 mph. I recently purchased the whole rig brand new and now I ran out of darn money and cannot purchase a kicker this year anymore. I do have an autopilot 70 on the bow and can troll with that, I think.
Was wondering if anyone is using the trolling plate and how the like it or what they may suggest. I see I can order one from Cabelas for around $80.
Thanks.
Satch

Ok here it is Satch.

I was in a similar situation as you when I bought my boat in 2002. Paid cash for my boat and it left me with nothing left. I wanted to do the trolling Fall thing on Mile Lacs, but with the 135 Mecury Optimax I could not get below 2 mph.

I bought the Cabelas Hydortroll/Troll Plate Troll Plate

Is this thing ideal and better than a kicker, NO. But if your budget will not allow you a kicker, this will work for the mean time. This unit is $99.99. When I bought it I got a free $29.99 Driftsock with it. In the 3 years I had it I did go through a couple of them (3-4). Again here is where great customer service comes in (my theme for today). Keep your receipt, cause I was able to bring in the broken one every time and get a new one on the spot from Cabelas . To let you in on a little secret. I broke the last one last Fall and returned it this Spring and got my $99.99 back in store Credit . Not my original intention, but hey the consumer needs to get the upper hand once in awhile .

So I would suggest buying that one. I know this last year they redisgined it (maybe to make it stronger). So I would buy that one above, if I were you.!

PS. Make sure you pick up some extra shear pins right away, they are prett cheap.

What about the one that is spring loaded? So if you forget to pull it up before taking off it will not brake?
Lip Ripper what did you do with the holes it left in the motor? I have a 115 4 stroke also and have looked but did not want to put 4 holes in my new $8,000 motor yet….

Big C

The trolling plate on the above link, does come with shear pins that are suppose to break if you forget the plate down. They do work right away, but the plastic black part cracks for me??? Not sure why? The plate is rated for Motor up to 150 HP I think? The only thing I can think of is…. I fish late inyo the Fall with air temps often below 32 and water temps below 45. Not sure if this material becomes more brittle in the low temps

The version in the above link is a troll plate and hydrofoil. I had to grab a few wrenches out and took off the troll plate portion, but still have the hydrofoil on. I had an extra unit laying around the garage. So at some point I must have purchased a second one?? I talkled to LaCannes in Faribault where I got my kicker and asked them the same question. They said if I take the plate off all together, it will not affect the performance having these 4 small holes. Like I said I just took off the troll plate part and left the hydro foil on. This is just a few bolts and springs, pretty simple.

I bought a Happy Troller from Cabela’s 3 years ago and it has been working great. I have never had any problems with it. Personally I think the aluminum plates are worth the money over the plastic ones.

I have “Cabelas” trolling plate taken off my Merc. when I finally saved enough for a kicker. If you’re interested, I’m in Waterford/Burlington area. 262-534-6816 We can work something out.

I also have a 115 merc 4 stroke and had similar speeds. I went with trolling bags instead of trolling plates. I was told the plates had poor handling and turning ability, if you are attempting a precise trolling run. I also heard complaints of shear pins, broken parts, etc… Also hard to dock or manuever in reverse when the plate is down. Depends on what style you buy. My bags work great. I use two. I attach one on each side(cabelas small size I think, blue 24.99?) on a short rope to each cleat near the bow. They stay out of the way of the motor and the lines. I can turn on a dime with them. The size I have gets me down to 1.5 MPH. Below that I use the electric motor. Larger sizes are available if you want to go slower. When you are done fishing, take them off the cleats and you are back to normal performance. If you are on a lake and want to slow your drift on a windy day, they have a dual function as drift socks. I have no regrets on what I bought. I have used them on lakes only, so have no idea how they do in the current. And didn’t have to drill holes in my brand new motor!

I had a trolling plate on my old boat, but refused to drill holes in my new motor so I wnet to the drift bags. I use one size bigger then what is recommended for my boat. I hook it to the eyelet for the trailer winch so it stays far away from my motor. I have a 75 hp merc. and went from 2.5-2.6 mph down to 1.2-1.3 on GPS. Slowed me down, handles pretty well, and best of all no holes in my cavitation plate. If you do go with the trolling plate get tons of shear pins, you will need them. Hope this helps..

wiswalleyenut

Hey guys. Before I got my kicker, I just trimmed my motor up until the prop was barely under the water. This directed most of the thrust down and allowed me to slow down considerably. I can go 1.2 mph with my motor trimmed up. Hope this helps. Thanks

Tony