boat control ?s

[7outof10]

i have got an 04 16.6 fish hawk with a 75 merc. 4 stork and a 9.9 merc. kicker with the gear reduction and a minkaota trolling motor on it

so here is the problem i love to going trolling now when you are trolling you spend a lot of time in waves but at low speeds like trolling i can now keep the boat going strat the wind just blows the bow around if i use the kicker but if i try te big motor i can not get to go as slow as i would like

so here are my options

1 use the kicker but do the drift scok over the bow and under the boat to slow me down to my speed that i want but i have never tried that and am now sure now to rig that up

2 use the kicker and lock it in going straight and use the trolling motor to steer but someone told me that it is not good on the trolling motor to leave it down when you are not using it to drive you

3 back trolling my back end sets really low in the water because of the 2 4 stroks hanging off the back of it and i already have splash gards on it ....it dose not steer very good in back words

4 idk ?

any help here would really be nice

[Charley]

Ok, take the 9.9 kicker off you realy don't need it.

Next get a 70 lbs. 24 volt trolling motor. When its to wind for trolling motor use your 75 merc.

[7outof10]

my trolling motor is 24v and its around 70 or so pounds but i like to troll for 3-5 hours some times longer the trolling motor wont last that long for juice

[Charley]

What? Are you running the trolling motor at 3/4 thottle? Something doesn't sound right. You should get more than 3-5 hours on a charge.

[7outof10]

it will run for about 5 hours at half or so

[Charley]

You have a simular rig the only diff is I have 17.5 fiberglass boat a Yamaha and 70 lbs. Minkota.

How old are the battiers?

[BSG]

Here's my take,

My uncle has a 150 4 stroke Yammy on his 20ft tiller. I've fished/ran this boat trolling on Lake Michigan. One day it was really windy with nice big waves, thing trolled perfect in the waves. The next day it was glass calm. Couldn't get the boat to run under 2mph. So we Tied the drift sock onto the main eyebolt on the front, and ran the other rope to the bump seat in the front. That slowed us down to like 1.4-1.6, which was fine, and you could adjust the speed accordingly. Usually he doesn't have to do that, but that is a very good option, and it works.

IMO, I wouldn't use the 9.9kicker, I would imagine the 75 trolls down just fine. And if not, throw a sock out and experiment with it. Just don't forget it's up there and take off fast.

[Charley]

Sock would help. BUT

[Sandmannd]

I would go with the sock running your main motoer if the troller motors don't handle it.

[7outof10]

i was kind of thinking maby trying kicker with sock down then the wind could not blow the bow and i would have to use more power from the kicker witch would like it steer better ? the reson i want to use the kicker is i have it so i would like to use it and to save gas and take time off the the big motor lol

[Bigeye30"]

I have the same problem, to much weight in the back and nothing up front so everytime the wind picks up it swings the bow on me and I end up doing a zig zag trolling pattern.

So here's whats worked best for me on those windy days, i run the sock underneath the bow to help keep more of the bow in the water, I also run the kicker as I like the quietness and fuel economy, however the one thing that really helps is to lock the big motor in gear and then turn it as if you were steering with it into the wind, seems to work great for me. Of course this will only work if your controlling your kicker without the steering rod connected.

[Bandit]

Leave the main motor down, it will give you more rudder and help you steer at a slower speed.

At least it seems to help me.

[hhguide]

Do you have a trolling Motor in back? If so.... Put that down and put it in reverse that slows me down alot as slow as I usually want to go! Good luck.

[7outof10]

I have the same problem, to much weight in the back and nothing up front so everytime the wind picks up it swings the bow on me and I end up doing a zig zag trolling pattern.

some times the zig zag is a good thing lol but not all the time but that is the same thing that i do with mine it sucks so i hope one of the things will help me

[John Mickish]

Sell the little motor, get better batteries for the front and your set. On a full charge my Minnkota 24V 70 APUS will pull my Pro V around all day without any problem. If it gets to windy I use the big motor and either tie a sock off the back or on the bow point and run it under the boat to keep the bow down and in place.

[gregg52]

i think i'm getting all 3 on are on the back i think like stated above take the kicker off I'm not familiar with that boat but put alittle more weight up front if you have a live well in the front be sure its full of water

another option is put a bow mount on it I have 80# terrova

on 2095 yar craft and i can run at least 6-7 hrs in big winds

and good control so i would think in boat that light you could run forever

i'm not sure about some of the speeds i was reading above

i never troll 3-5mph not even with cranks bout 2-2.5 with cranks

1.4 for spinners .7 whem riging if that

[fishermatt]

One thing not yet mentioned: If using the Big motor and going forward, try trimming the motor up a ways. That will slow you down a little bit, but it also tends to raise the front end, which can be good if it's Really windy. If it's really windy, use the big motor. If it's calmer use your kicker. If backtrolling, use the kicker. If it's too windy for all of the above, Anchor ; - )

[fishguyd]

Sounds like your making it way to complicated, The best way is to have someone show you what to do and how to do it. Your rig is set up fine, maybe need new batteries though, My set up is similar only bigger, problem is your fighting the wind when you don't need to. I offer fishing clinics to teach this kind of thing in your boat if your interested. Good Luck