Hi, I just bought my first boat and I can't afford a kicker right now. Is it
possible/worthwhile to troll without a kicker?
Troy

Hi, I just bought my first boat and I can't afford a kicker right now. Is it
possible/worthwhile to troll without a kicker?
Troy

What kind of engine do you have? If it is a 2 stroke the answer is probably no.
A 4 stroke will chug around at 1200-1500 RPM all day, no smoke, no fouled
plugs.
..

"Greg" wrote in message
...
Hi, I just bought my first boat and I can't afford a kicker right now. Is
it
possible/worthwhile to troll without a kicker?
Troy

What kind of engine do you have? If it is a 2 stroke the answer is
probably no.
A 4 stroke will chug around at 1200-1500 RPM all day, no smoke, no fouled
plugs.

I've trolled all day with 175 hp V6 2 stroke - noisy, smelly and burns a lot
of gas compared to the kicker, but it worked. Not to dispute that 4 strokes
and/or kickers are better, but it can be done. As a kid, we did all our
trolling with a merc 65 hp 2 stroke. I picked up a verrrrry old merc 9.8
kicker for very cheap and it works great. Just something to keep in mind -
the kicker might not cost as much as you think.

Cam


.

Also Sprach Troy Makaro :

Hi, I just bought my first boat and I can't afford a kicker right now. Is it
possible/worthwhile to troll without a kicker?
Troy

From your domain name, it looks like you're in BC, so I'll assume this is
trolling for salmon. You should be OK for silver/coho salmon, they like a
pretty fast presentation. King/tyee/chinook/blackmouth or whatever you
call them by up there take a much slower presentatiuon. it would be
difficult to get by without a kicker for them. You can slow your troll a
bit with a sea anchor (kind of like a cone shaped parachute you drag
behind you) , or try the cheap but kind of redeck method of dragging a
pair of 5 gallon buckets behind you. They also make a kind of moveable
plate that mounts behind your propellor to block the flow. I've never
used one of them, and to be honest, I think they look kind of flimsy, and
require you to drill holes in your cavitation plate (the flat protrusuon
just above the propellor)

Dan



--
WARNING

Do not re-transmit without the express permission of Major League Baseball.

If you are on a lake, and not subject to currents, then do what a lot of
Texans do in the bays. Let the wind be your friend. Set up a drift over the
target spot and drag the lure behind the wind-driven boat. Not perfect but
it works.
--
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
"Greg" wrote in message
...
Hi, I just bought my first boat and I can't afford a kicker right now. Is
it
possible/worthwhile to troll without a kicker?
Troy

What kind of engine do you have? If it is a 2 stroke the answer is
probably no.
A 4 stroke will chug around at 1200-1500 RPM all day, no smoke, no fouled
plugs.
.

Camilo wrote:
"Greg" wrote in message
...
Hi, I just bought my first boat and I can't afford a kicker right
now. Is it possible/worthwhile to troll without a kicker?
Troy

What kind of engine do you have? If it is a 2 stroke the answer is
probably no. A 4 stroke will chug around at 1200-1500 RPM all day,
no smoke, no fouled plugs.

I've trolled all day with 175 hp V6 2 stroke - noisy, smelly and
burns a lot of gas compared to the kicker, but it worked. Not to
dispute that 4 strokes and/or kickers are better, but it can be done.
As a kid, we did all our trolling with a merc 65 hp 2 stroke. I
picked up a verrrrry old merc 9.8 kicker for very cheap and it works
great. Just something to keep in mind - the kicker might not cost as
much as you think.

Cam


A buddy of mine trolled on an old Johnson 25hp, for like 5 hours. The thing
died on him. Lots of carbon build up and other issues. Techs told him 2
stroke trolling can only be done in 20-30 mins spurts and then rev it up for
like 2 mins...

"Marshall Banana" wrote

You can slow your troll a
bit with a sea anchor (kind of like a cone shaped parachute you drag
behind you) , or try the cheap but kind of redeck method of dragging a
pair of 5 gallon buckets behind you.

Hey! I'm going to add that 'un to my bag of tricks - and I'm a highly
educated and cultured man who uses sunscreen on the back of his neck!

Cam

I'm running an inboard 5L V8 merCruiser. I'll be trolling on the east side
of Vancouver Island for Salmon. What about keeping the trim way up too?

"Greg" wrote in message
...
Hi, I just bought my first boat and I can't afford a kicker right now. Is
it
possible/worthwhile to troll without a kicker?
Troy

What kind of engine do you have? If it is a 2 stroke the answer is
probably no.
A 4 stroke will chug around at 1200-1500 RPM all day, no smoke, no fouled
plugs.
.

Also Sprach Troy Makaro :
I'm running an inboard 5L V8 merCruiser. I'll be trolling on the east side
of Vancouver Island for Salmon. What about keeping the trim way up too?

I'm no sterndrive expert, but isn't that bad for the U joints or
something?

Dan

--
Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter
far than muscatel wine! I must have coffee...

-- J. S. Bach

On Fri, 07 May 2004 05:20:11 +0000, Troy Makaro wrote:

Hi, I just bought my first boat and I can't afford a kicker right now. Is it
possible/worthwhile to troll without a kicker? Troy

Hey, fellow West Coast Canuck!

First, don't run the outdrive "up" - it's REAL hard on that expensive outdrive.

For Coho, etc. running the "big" engine might be OK. For Chinook, you want just
under 2 knots. An electric trolling motor will set you back under $200 CDN -
consider that. Also, I was trolling for Springs off Bowen Island last weekend
just with the wind (barepoles, but I have a sailboat...)

Another idea: not sure about the WCVI, but in the Strait there's lots of places
where you can anchor and the tide runs fast enough to "troll".

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36