I fish in a multi species club so every once in a while I have to troll with my bass boat. It does surprisingly well for a old big engine, I can get it down around 2.5 MPH but I would like to attempt to get into the 1 MPH range.
Can this be done with a drift sock? I really don’t want to install one of those trolling plates on my engine.
For reference, I have an 18.5 ft w/ a 1989 150HP Yamaha Pro V.
Try hooking a single drift sock on a short rope to the front eyelet on your boat. That should slow you down quite a bit.
Really, the front? Is that better than the back or just more safe?
Any comment on size of the drift sock?
You want that sock forward as far as you can so the sock, harness and ropes don’t get fouled up in the prop, or in the way when fighting fish.
Getting from 2.5 to 1 with only one sock may be tough. In my pre-kicker days, I would hang a large sock off the bow, and get my speed down from low 2s to 1.7 or so (1750 c-liner, 115 hp 4/s). Under 1.7 was possible with a sock and my bowmount extended to give me some more drag. Two socks may have allowed me to touch 1 mph. If I wanted to go sub 1-1.2, I would just use my bowmount.
A low tech and low cost solution is to use a pair of 5-gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom, tied off to some of your cleats. Keep the ropes short so the buckets don’t get near the motor and stay out of the way. Less convenient to store buckets than socks, but less cost too.
Something else you might try, if the waves aren’t too bad, is putting the drift sock on the front of the boat and going in reverse. In a bass boat, that might not be an option. But something for you to think about.
Jim Caroll and Johnnie Candle’s system.
Thanks for the advice guys, I think I’m going to try the single sock on the front first and see where that gets me before I buy two or maybe even add the 5 gallon buckets along with the front…I won’t even attempt the backtrolling, one wave over the back of my boat and I’m swimming for shore!
Yeah hooking it on the front is the way to go. It is always out of the way for fishing behind the boat which is where you fight the fish while trolling. Just dont forget to bring the sock up before you drive away. I am always afraid that might happen sometime to me
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Jim Caroll and Johnnie Candle’s system.
Yep, I’ve done that. It works really well.
Well, I picked up a 60″ drift sock and found that it dropped my trolling speed from 3.1-3.3 MPH to 1.5-1.7 which I was pretty pleased with so thanks!
I will tell you though, it made steering really difficult. If my partner so much as moved in the boat I would basically have to steer completely the other way. I bet the two sock system eliminates this…
As nice as it was to troll down so slow, it didn’t help me catch any ‘eyes. Tough night on the Croix for me!
If you follow the “Twin Bag Trolling System”, you will actually gain with boat control going forward. You gain almost as much control as a tiller fisherman does in reverse trolling. By pin pointing 2 30″ Wave Tamers or 2 40″ Tamer right below the 3/4 from the front and on each side of the keel….it performs like putting a large rudder in the water. Joe Beech designed the system and the Drift Socks. This sock the best sock on the market. If you follow the link as about, it will explain how to do it. Use your 60″ for drifting across flats, slow down while drifting over weed beds, or other ways to correct a drift. Most likely you purchased a Drift Control Drift Sock – Either Magnum Series (RED) or the Original/Standard Series (Blue) sock. Both good socks, the white socks are WAVE TAMER…..all owned by Lindy.
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