If you’ve kept up with my writing here on iDofishing.com, or shared a boat with me on a guide trip, or been my partner in an FLW walleye league event, then one thing will become obvious after only a short time: I am a troller. Spinners, longlines, leadcore…..I troll them all. I spend (I’d guess) more than half of my time pulling something behind the boat. Trolling is a great way to learn new water and strain the water column for active fish. What’s not to love about that?
My early days of walleye trolling relied on the main outboard to push the boat. At the time, I was driving a boat with a quiet 115 hp 4-stroke motor that reliably pushed me along in the low 2’s for speed….a perfect speed to start looking for walleyes. After a few experiences with mentors like James Holst and Dustin Stewart, I eventually hung a 4-stroke Yamaha T8 kicker on my boat. As Dustin is famous for saying, “the only thing a kicker will do is help you catch more fish.” Well, of course, he’s right. The tiller-controlled T8 took my trolling to a whole new level, giving me much more precise directional and speed control, and allowing me to easily access speeds much slower than my main engine would permit.
I just completed my third FLW Walleye League event for the year, qualifying for the League Championship with a 13th place finish (and a small paycheck) in the midst of a very VERY tough bite. There is one tool that, in my opinion, helped me land the 4 walleyes (in addition to numerous pike and beautiful perch) that I brought to the scales in this event: the Troll Master Pro 2 remote throttle control for the T8 kicker on my Skeeter WX 1880 from Skeeter Boat Center in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Using the Troll Master Pro 2 remote throttle control is the subject of this Tournament-tested tackle tip.
When engaged, the Troll Master control overrides the tiller handle throttle control, providing the angler with ultra-precise, fingertip speed control. The main dial on the Troll Master allows the angler to dial in a precise engine throttle setting (using a simple digital readout) to reproduce boat speeds under any wind/wave conditions. There are also buttons to allow for a burst of Max RPM to generate quick speed adjustments, as well as a button that will toggle the running motor back to idle speed (like when a fish is hooked). Pressing the idle button again immediately returns the engine to its original throttle setting.
The Troll Master works in conjunction with a simple remote steering attachment that links the kicker to the main outboard. What this means is that you can sit in your comfy driver’s seat, in front of your graph, with steering and ultra-precise throttle control at your fingertips. On guide trips, I’ve always preferred to drive from the transom, so I can monitor all of my rods and my guests and give direction from an “out of the way” corner of the boat. But after using the Troll Master throttle control and remote steering for the first time during this event, I may never go back to the transom!
Here’s how the Troll Master helped me catch more fish: our program on Bemidji was to long-line cranks over the weeds along wind-blown shorelines. And when I say wind-blown, I mean wind-blown. Wind makes boat control particularly challenging, and imperfect boat control in a trolling situation can really cause catch rates to deteriorate. Using the Troll Master and remote steering linkage allowed me to steer from the console (using the big motor as a rudder to help turn the boat, and preventing the kicker from turning left and right as soon as I took my hand off the handle). The speed control on the Troll Master helped me dial in the precise engine throttle setting required to reach the target speed in any wind situation. For example, when trolling right into the wind, I knew that I needed a throttle setting of 280-300 to reach my target speed of 2.4 mph. When trolling with the wind, I needed a throttle setting of 60-80. When fishing in a crosswind, I needed a throttle setting of 160-180.
What could be simpler?
As the boat moved along and through the weeds, I could dial in the precise engine throttle setting to keep my boat moving at the right speed ALL THE TIME. No overshooting, no undershooting….a perfect 2.4 mph. When the wind gusted, all I had to do was dial my throttle setting a little up or down and watch my Humminbird GPS speed respond until I returned to 2.4 mph. After 4 days fishing (3 prefishing and one on game day), my shoulder wasn’t sore from full-contact trolling in the wind, and I had a (small) check to cash from an event that featured 23 zeros in a field of 60 boats.
If you are a serious troller, you need to add a Troll Master to your kicker. It will take your trolling to the next level.
For Troll Master sales and installation on your current boat, contact Dan Meyer at Skeeter Boat Center in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Dan and master mechanic Sean will have your boat rigged and ready for your next trolling trip!
For other Tournament-tested tackle tips, check out these links:
Tournament-tested tackle tip #3.
