Trolling speed

[vaguru]

I have been a spoonplugger since the late 70's. Recently moved to another state and all the lakes within 2 hrs are electric motors only. Anyone know what the minimum speed is trolling that will get a spoonplug to work correctly? As electric trolling motors don't go faster than about 3-5 mph I'm finding it hard to have success with them here. Maybe the fish here are different, no brass!

Thanks for any info on this topic.

[Team9nine]

I was thinking close to 3 mph or a little under seemed like the minimum. Would be pretty tough on an electric only pace unless you had one of the larger TM setups. You might have to switch over to some traditional crankbaits that will run at the right depth you need, but can be effective down to 1 mph or so. Also a very common practice in the colder water temps when speed control has to be slower than most spoonplugs like to be ran at.

[John Bales]

Oh boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Move back. I'm sorry. Good Luck. John

[vaguru]

I was thinking close to 3 mph or a little under seemed like the minimum. Would be pretty tough on an electric only pace unless you had one of the larger TM setups. You might have to switch over to some traditional crankbaits that will run at the right depth you need, but can be effective down to 1 mph or so. Also a very common practice in the colder water temps when speed control has to be slower than most spoonplugs like to be ran at.

That's what I was thinking, 3mph. Tried it today with 250 and 400. Had to run my 30lb thrust at minimum setting 4 to get any usable lure action. My boat is a 10' jon, only weighs around 400 lbs fully loaded with just me, so this setting will only give me about 3-3 1/2 hours run time, then row back to dock! Called Minn Kota and talked to them about this, a bigger motor won't help and neither will the maximizer when run full tilt.

I can buy another battery, but then I only double my run time, still not enough.

I have been using different crank baits to try and get the depths I want with limited success. The NO BO line definitely helps with that, I run the setup watching the depth finder until the bait hits bottom using line length and speed control.

I did manage to catch 12 bass and one bluegill today. Water was very dirty, could only see about 12-16". Only lure that worked was a spinnerbait trolled or retrieved real slow, bumping bottom for the most part. If trolling submerged trees/humps it was running about 8' deep.

Tried crank baits, carolina rig, spoonplugs(mostly casting), vertical jigging on drop offs. Spinnerbaits accounted for all but one catch, and that was a crank bait over the top of a submerged tree. Only caught 4 while trolling, rest were casting submerged tree tops and brush or bank drop offs into old creek channel.

I have also tried bait walkers running floating crank baits behind them, just don't like the loss of feel due to the extra weight. Will have to try this some more I guess.

Thanks for your reply, but I guess I already knew what the answer was going to be, electric only lakes and spoonplugs equals casting use only. Darn!

[Bink]

They are not cheap( about the same as a gas outboard) but if you only have acces to Eletrical motor lakes only one of theses might be the ticket.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f5YdR4bybnM

[vaguru]

The Torqeedo battery life is very short at speed needed, batteries cost near $1000. Not cost effective.

And the price for these is twice or more than a comparable gas outboard according to pricing on their website.

[vaguru]

Thought this needed to be a separate post.

Went to a "new" to me lake yesterday. Rated No 5 for bass in our state. Tried methods I used at other bass lakes nearby. Had one hit on a Carolina rig, but not hooked, probably not a bass. Had 2 follows to the boat on a crankbait, couldn't tell what fish were. Saw one hit a floating frog from a shoreline angler, lost in the weeds.

Trolled crankbaits and spinnerbaits following depths from 4 to 10 feet in 3 separate tours around the lake. Lake has numerous weeds, only 31 acres. Fished Carolina rig and spinnerbaits over shelves and into deep water drop offs, found underwater humps. Trolled bait walker with floating lures at depths of 20 and 25 feet, two passes around the lake. Nothing!

Went back to cove/bay that had the shallow water, 3 feet out to 15 feet. Cast 400 spoonplug fanning the area completely, the to the 250 covering all the water out to that depth. As water got deeper went to a 200 and covered out to the 10-12 foot areas.

Caught a channel cat, 13" on the 250 in the 6 foot sections, then 2 more, 16 and 19" on the 200 in the 10-12 ft sections. Followed that depth around the lake with the 200. Water was colored but could see about 4-5 foot, bright sun, so I started with nickel. All were caught on nickel even though I also tried copper, chartruse, crawdad, red head/white and flo orange.

Lake has a 20" minimum on channel cats, so I went home empty, but at least not skunked! This is the first lake I have fished in this state that I actually caught something on the spoonplug. I have tried them at other lakes without success. I'll try them again on the other lakes next rime out. I was reeling them in just as fast as I could crank. Going to take the heavier rod next trip as well.

I also tried trolling them fast as I could, when they didn't act right I cast behind the moving boat and helped by reeling in and with rod twitch. Didn't catch anything that way, yet, but didn't do it long was concerned to run down the battery too much.

Looks like I'm going to buy another battery for piece of mind, will be able to troll for a few hours to find the fish, then use the second battery for positioning and return to dock.

[NoMuskyJoe]

Hi Vaguru,
(Curious, what state are you in ?)

As you have stated (and are aware), trying to troll a spoonplug (or other lure / crankbait) and limited to using an electric trolling motor impacts the amount of time you can have to troll and at what speed (based on the power consumption for how long power will be available). It can be frustrating while on the water, especially when the battery is low / out of power and then you have to physically start rowing.

Here are various items you can take into consideration (and / or pricing) based on any changes to increase your time on the water and / or trolling speed:
The size of the battery can range from a D24 (the smallest), D27 (~ weight: 53 lbs, reserve capacity @ 25 amps: 175 minutes), and D31
(~ weight: 60 lbs, reserve capacity @ 25 amps: 185 minutes).

Since you are thinking of getting a second battery... If you are using a typical "deep cycle" battery, here is some information about the sealed, absorbent glass mat (AGM) battery that can also be used as a power source for a trolling motor:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/arti ... ss_mat_agm

http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-X ... t/2045402/

Since you were in conversation with Minn Kota, here are some links pertaining to Motorguide for comparison and see some additional information:

R3 Basic trolling motor: http://www.motorguide.com/store/product ... e/r3/specs

R3 Digital trolling motor:
http://www.basspro.com/MotorGuide-R3-HT ... extensions

The digital trolling motor can extend the amount of time by the power that is within drawn from the battery, but only applicable at the lower trolling speed as opposed to the faster, 7-8-9-10 selection to obtain a faster speed. But, you might still be able to use just one battery for 4 - 5 to 6 hours depending on how much time you are trolling (slower vs faster) to cover more water vs trolling from point A to point B and then stopping / anchoring, and then casting around that area.

Hope that some of these links will be helpful to help you make a determination what you will get related to trolling with an electric trolling motor and that you can work out a way to spend more time trolling.

[vaguru]

NoMusky,

Thanks for the time to post the links. I have already been to most of them trying to figure this out. There is no real solution when using electric only motors.

Located in central Virginia, all lakes are impoundments of one sort or another. The ones closest me are water supplies for cities, therefore no outboards. And most have VERY limited access.

[NoMuskyJoe]

Vaguru, I'm in Maryland and in the exact situation with several reservoirs nearby and limited to either manually paddling or using a trolling motor only.

If you were within a reasonable drive and you could determine if you would go there, Lake Anna would let you use a gasoline fueled motor and you would have fun fishing and trolling for large LM bass, walleyes, and stripers along with crappies, if you wanted. I'm sure you can research the forums or ask Bink, I remember him posting a comment about how he traveled there and loved fishing there !

Based on your decision for your type of boat and weight capacity, to upgrade to a digital 55 lb trust trolling motor and have two (or even three ?) batteries in the boat will give you the basis of time and speed to spend trolling when fishing alone by yourself. Anybody fishing with you and the additional weight of tackle and anything else in the boat will put a limit on the number of batteries you can have in the boat based on the limit of your total weight capacity. I know you have certain limitations using a 30 lb thrust trolling motor, especially trying to troll faster but you can get a little more usage by having a second battery in the boat so it is a good idea that you already decided on.

Vaguru, hope it all works out for you.

[vaguru]

NoMusky,

I have considered Lake Anna. Did all my research, don't like having to pay $10 to launch daily. I try to fish 3 days a week as I'm retired, and bored during the summer. Can't ride the Harley any more do to health reasons, so it's up for sale, without luck I might say.

My boat is a 10' Tracker Jon boat, considered a gas out board, found some really good buys on used 2.5 - 3.5 hp motors. Lake Anna is about 1 1/2 hours from me (closer to 2 hours to get to the park), and with only a 10' boat I'm a bit concerned due to the "pleasure" boating traffic done there.

Before I moved here I had a 14' deep v all setup with a 9.9 outboard for bigger waters(we had some places that had a 10hp limit), a one man Bass Hunter with 28# Minn Kota for smaller water and rivers that were nearby. Unfortunately they are long gone.

After moving here for work and then retiring 4 years ago I decided to get back into fishing. Looking at the available water, I bought the 10' jon boat. I loaded it in the back of my pickup. I wanted a 12' but it hung off the back a bit more than I liked, and I was worried I couldn't load it myself, so the 10' got the nod. I mounted wheels on the transom with a bracket I made so it was easier to move about.

Then I had a health issue that prevented me from loading the 10' in the truck by myself. I bought a Harbor Freight trailer and converted it into a custom trailer for my boat. Duck soup to use without straining myself. If I knew I was going to end up with a trailer I would have bought a bigger boat, maybe even a 14' again.

So....here I am. Costs too much to move up with the loss I'd take on the 10', it's only 2 years old.

I looked at buying a used 14' deep v with trailer and 20hp motor(sitting for12 years, the motor questionable) before I built the HF trailer, but felt it was just too much for what it was, so I went the trailer route. Even if I had bought the used rig, I would still have the 10' sitting around, or take a considerable loss.

Any decent lake around here is a minimum hour drive for me, so that's not the issue. Here are pics of my rig. I have since added 2' pole extensions to the top of the light bunks to see the trailer when backing.

IMG_3666.JPG (239.1 KiB) Viewed 5206 times

IMG_3665.JPG (212.1 KiB) Viewed 5206 times

[NoMuskyJoe]

Vaguru, thanks for posting the photos of your boat. One other thing you can take into consideration, if you have not already, is the kind of prop you have on your trolling motor. A larger, two blade prop can increase speed a little compared to a three blade prop, which will save some power drawn from the battery. Have a nice time on the water trolling !

[vaguru]

NoMusky,

The motor has a 2 blade prop. I spoke with Minn Kota about props, different pitch and so on. I was told I might pick up a bit of speed, but in order to do so I will draw more amps. That doesn't seem to be the answer.

Guess I'll just have to keep doing what I'm doing, troll when possible with whatever gets the depth I need, and cast spoonplugs reeling in fast, faster and faster yet, to provoke strikes. Just makes more work to cover the same amount of water.

Thanks for replies.

Almost forgot. Today I weighed everything that goes in the boat, motor, battery, seats and mount, anchor, depth finder, tackle boxes, oars, rods, etc. With just me I'm at 283lbs, with 2 batteries 333lbs. Boat is rated at 380 pound max, but I have already had a total of 453lbs when my son goes with me(very seldom)without any problems. Doesn't seem to make any difference with freeboard or anything else. I also moved the battery to the front of the forward seat in a centered position. I'll see how I like that change.

I do have a motor bow mount I fabricated for the boat, but didn't like the "attitude" with just me sitting on the forward seat retaining the battery in the stern.

[NoMuskyJoe]

Vaguru, with you having a 30 lb thrust trolling motor and your comment about your motor mount, here is an option where you can put the trolling motor mount bracket in a boat handle, whether it is in the bow/stern (front/back) of the boat:
http://www.basspro.com/Jon-Boat-Trollin ... uct/37359/

Of course, if you want to sit in the front and mount the motor in the front (boat handle) you would need to reverse the positioning of the trolling motor handle so it will face you, but most folks sit in the back of the boat so you have no problem reaching the motor handle mounting it that way.

The trolling motor mount bracket just slips in and out of the boat handle, so once you clamp the motor on the mount you can leave it on all summer instead of clamping it on and off every time you go go fishing.

The link has numerous comments by people that have put the trolling motor mount bracket in the boat handle of their boat, so you can check it out and see what you think and whether you are interested in getting one ?

Vaguru, trying to fish with just a trolling motor has numerous concerns that you are trying to resolve and be comfortable with, so I hope with all the research you are doing and then trying when on the water will all work out for you. Have a great time on the water this summer !

[vaguru]

NoMusky,

Yup, saw that after I fabricated mine. My mount is aluminum plate that bolts under the front handle with a hardwood block screwed on the top for the motor mount. Has the same angle as the slip in version. Needed to sit in the front seat as I mounted a bracket on the motor shaft(like a bicycle handle bar) so I steered with my feet. Just had too much weight forward with the curvature of the bow, as the bow was lower than the stern. It works fine when sitting in the rear seat with an extra length handle extension(read pvc pipe) on the twist control, but I preferred to steer with my feet.

I will use what I have for this year and decide what to do, if anything, later on.

Has been nice chatting with you, and thanks for all your effort trying to help figure this issue out. It's a tough nut to crack.

Wishing you a fruitful fishing season as well.