Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

  • 0

9.9 Pro or T-8 for 18 foot boat. which one trolls down slower.


Mykal

Question

I'm sure this topic has been discussed before, but I am looking to purchase either a 2004-5 Pro-V or a 2007 Alumacraft 185 Tourney. I troll alot and am looking for anyone with experience or opinions on which one trolls down the best on those cold fall days when slow is a must.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

Their performance is identical, I prefer the Pro Kicker but like the T8 a lot too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Trying to keep up with the big boys? Make sure it has a heater also them November nights get cold grin.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Thanks PerchJerker, 18 inch, I will have to bring an extra blankey because I won't be able to afford a heater. crazy.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Hey Mykal, Hope you had a good winter. I'm actually in the market for a kicker as well. I'm going to get the T8 as the motor on my "new boat" is a Yamaha. We need to catch up as I'm busy preparing for the upcoming season. My preparation is being helped as a Gander Mountain opened five minutes from my house.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I have a Tourney Pro 175 (18')and use a Merc 9.9 2 stroke for a kicker (without the 4 blade high thrust prop). It trolls down to about.7-.8mph and .5-.6mph backtrolling. I would imagine the 4 stokes would go even slower. I was hoping for 1-1.5mhp and was amazed at how slow it trolls. Hope this helps.

ERW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Either will do you fine. They are the 2 best kicker choices out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Thanks everyone for the input. It's going to depend on the main motor then. DHenry yes, we will have to catch up indeed. I hope to bump into you on the opener this year and try that trolling thing. I'm not sure if I will have a new toy by then as I am working on my options. A good friend of mine is interested in my current boat. I also have a friend who is a Yamaha rep. I may be able to help you get a good deal on a T-8 if you haven't picked one up yet. What boat did you buy?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I bought a Ranger Reata 1850 with a Yamaha 150 2-stroke HPDI. It's a nice fishing boat (very wide) with some family applications(flip up seats on the back deck, spot for a ski-pole,etc) I have it set up for fall trolling with a graph mount for my 332c back where the kicker will be. I've got the kicker plate on and the gas line in, but I haven't purchased the motor so any help would be appreciated. I chose to go with a tiller vs the kicker that mounts to the motor as I wanted to have my hand on the throttle for total control while trolling. I've been looking for a used one to save a few dollars, but they are hard to find.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I've got a 2004 1850 SportFish and went with a 9.9

Mercury Pro Kicker, mainly becuase my main was

also a Mercury Opti-Max. Not sure the options

a Yamaha T-8 has. My kicker has both electric and

manual start, so no chance of being stranded some

where on the water with a dead battery!! It also

has a small charging system to replenish the dead

battery as to get your main motor up and running.

The Pro-Kicker has tilt and trim like the T-8, how does

Yamaha keep the kicker in place while running the main??

The people at Mercury have got this simple intergrated

system. Simply trim up and go!! The motor will stay centered

without flopping around. Talk about run and gun.

On the speed thing, I found I could easily backtroll

at desired profiles for walleye, as well as going

forward for some faster approaches, or number of poles

out. I found even more fine tuned speed changes were

possible by raising or lowering the main, causing

drag or the lack of. So far it has been everything

I wanted in a kicker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.