By:
Mark Romanack
In the world of fresh water trolling, boat speed varies a great
deal depending on the time of year and target species. In a typical year I’ll
troll as slowly as .75 MPH and sometimes as fast as 5.0 MPH.
EARLY/LATE WALLEYE
Early and late
in the year walleye are best caught trolling at speeds ranging from .75 to
about 1.5 MPH. Accomplishing these ultra slow trolling speeds is a job best
accomplished with a bow mounted auto-pilot style electric motor. The MotorGuide
Xi5 electric motor on my boat is a 36 volt model that produces a little over
100 pounds of thrust. MotorGuide also makes similar motors featuring 24 volt
and 12 volt systems for medium to small boats.
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| For slower trolling speeds used to target species like walleye, the author favors an auto-pilot style electric motor like the MotorGuide Xi5 pictured here. This electric motor can also be used in combination with gasoline motors to dial in trolling speeds precisely and also to help in navigation chores. |
SUMMER TIME WALLEYE
When the waters
warm up a bit, trolling speeds naturally click upwards a notch or two as well.
In the late spring and throughout the summer months my average trolling speeds
for walleye range from 1.8 to 2.2 MPH. At these speeds an electric motor simply
doesn’t have enough electric power to last all day long. To accomplish these
somewhat higher trolling speeds while fishing spoons and crankbaits, I opt for
using a small gasoline kicker motor, fished in combination with an auto-pilot
electric motor. In this situation I’m using the kicker motor to provide most of
the forward speed and the auto-pilot electric motor primarily for steering and
navigation to waypoints.
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| Small gasoline kicker motors like this one mounted on the author’s boat are very useful for generating slow to moderate trolling speeds. |
EARLY SEASON SALMON/TROUT
Early in the
year trout and salmon fishing generally focuses on trolling speeds around 2.0
MPH or a little slower. Again the best way to accomplish these mid range
trolling speeds is with a small gasoline kicker motor fished in combination
with an auto-pilot electric motor.
This set up lets
me dial down my speed to about 1.8 MPH for fishing dodger and Spin n Glo
combinations for trout or dial up the speed to 2.2 for spoon and plug trolling.
SUMMER TIME SALMON
Salmon fishing
in the middle of the summer time is generally conducted at speeds of 2.0 to
about 3.5 MPH. Spoons, meat rigs and body baits are the lures of choice and
achieving these trolling speeds gets a little dicy with a gasoline kicker
motor.
A small gasoline
kicker motor is certainly capable of pushing just about any fishing boat to 3.5
MPH. The problem is achieving that speed forces the angler to throttle the
engine up to the point the kicker sounds like a jet about to take off!
I find that
using my V6 Evinrude G2 E-Tec I can troll at speeds from 2.5 to 3.5 no problem.
The E-Tec is actually quieter than the kicker motor which makes the trolling
experience that much sweeter. To help with navigation and to fine tune trolling
speeds I also use the MotorGuide Xi5.
SUMMER MUSKY
The fastest
trolling speeds anyone in the Great Lakes is likely to encounter focuses on
summer time musky fishing. On average musky guides troll from 3.0 to 5.0 MPH.
To achieve these faster trolling speeds I’m a big fan of using the primary
outboard to provide the basic speed and again incorporate the use of an
auto-pilot electric motor for navigation and fine tuning trolling speeds.
TWO MOTOR TROLLING
Most of the
trolling situations outlined here are best achieved using what I call the “two
motor trolling” strategy. Using an auto-pilot electric motor in combination
with either a gasoline kicker motor or the gasoline outboard enables an angler
to troll at literally any speed.
The key to this system is having a large
enough electric motor and high capacity batteries capable of trolling all day
long. The largest deep cycle batteries currently available fall into the 31 group
category.
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| Two motor trolling is a serious way of targeting all sorts of fresh water species. The author often uses this strategy with an electric motor and small gasoline kicker for slower trolling speeds or combining the electric motor with the V6 for faster trolling applications. |
