trolling plate, good, bad, or ugly?

[tundra5]

I'm in the process of buying a boat, 17' stryker with 90 merk. iv'e got a electric bow mount troller and didn't want to buy a kicker, hoped a trolling plate will work. mainly lake fishing, but there are times when the electric won't do, my question is that if i get a troll o matic ( the spring loaded one) will i be able to regulate my troll speed, say between 1.5mph and 3mph or will i be stuck to one specific speed? Also is it easy to remove the plate or maybe the springs on days that i don't plan to troll,or want to troll faster? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[trap50]

90hp I think would be hard to slow down and running it that slow wouldn't be all that good for it. Those plate work on spring tension only. In other word the faster you go the more angle on them. They don't lock down like the Happy troller. As far as removing springs when not needed. Good luck.

[tundra5]

thanks trap50 for the reply, does anyone else have any imput for me. i like to go to odell two or three times a year and troll for macks, thats the only time i can think of when a electric motor wouln'nt do. i don't wan't to spend a couple thousand on a kicker unless i really need to.but if thats the best option then so be it. any help is appreciated.

[GFISH1]

I don't know about the 90hp, I have a 50hp with a trolling plate and I can easily regulate between 1.5-3mph. The only thing I didn't like with the trolling plate is getting it up and down. I had a nylon cord, which I thought was tight enough not to cause issues and still be able to turn, but it got wrapped around the prop. No dammage, but it wasn't fun to get off. Now that I'm skeptical about attaching anohter nylon rope, I have to stop the motor, lift it up and then hang off the back of the boat to lower or lift the plate. It's a pain.

How do others release or lift their trolling plate? I am just gun shy about using the nylon rope again, I don't want to wrap it around the prop.

[Gr8waves]

I used one with a 40 horse on a 16' Smokercraft - after a few weeks I found a 4 hp kicker which worked much better.

[Chrome Bumper]

I have one on a 25 on a little boat. Happy troller, if you use the electric for most of your trolling then the few times you use a plate should be fine. Look in craigslist. You bare going to burn extra gas trolling a big motor, and put extra hours on it.

[1pump]

I have a FishOn plate on my Merc 25ML. It's pretty much the same as a Happy Troller (the smaller version).
Only problem is that it works too well. I can't lock it in the full down position or my boat won't move at an idle. Period.
I remedied the situation by filing two notches in the plate for the lock bar about halfway thru the travel. Now it locks in the middle and I can troll right down to a crawl.