Prop question for MJ
 

MJ, I was looking at your gallery and it looks like we have about the same outboard... (150 HP Yamaha?). I think mine's a ~ 1987. I remember you saying that your favorite prop is a 15 1/4 x 15. I still haven't splashed my boat but if I recall correctly it came with a 17 pitch prop. Here's my problem. I need to troll SLOW at around 3 mph for salmon. I won't know for sure until I get my V wet but I strongly suspect that my current prop won't let me go that slow.

Do you think the 15 1/4 x 15 will troll that slow on the Yamaha?

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

Tuna, sorry to break in. Any problems with a wind sock?
We used to drag an anchor while trolling for trout if the motors we had were too big and wouldn't idle low enough.

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

Most guys use a sea anchor or drift sock.

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

I had a 175 Yamaha and now a 175 Evinrude, I have a hard time on troll, here we like to do 2 mph and I have a hard time getting under 4 mpg.

I have asked before and have been told that maybe the 17 will be better cause it pushes less water then the 15?? so I am going to try with the 17 and see what happens? If I do better then I might put the 17 on when I know I am trolling, and stick with the 15 when I am not??

I Will let you know what happens? I am going to leave the 17 on and I am hopefully going out Sunday, I will troll to see what happens,

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

easy way to troll throw a couple 5 gallon buckets off the boat tied to the rear cleats

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

We do that regularly in hot summer pullin' lead-core line ... you can figure ALMOST .5 mph speed reduction per bucket ... I like buckets cause you still got good boat steerage ;) ...

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

You can also run a smaller diameter prop with a smaller blade area to decrease idle troll speed, but still keep some top end.

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

I always for get the buckets, so I hate them!!

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

Buckets are great and usually are out of the way, just don't forget they are out there when you take off :-X

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

Are you opposed to a kicker? At least you can use it in emergencies also.

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

A kicker motor allows you to get down to a good SLOW trolling speeds, saves huge dollars in fuel (burn is less than 1 gph), and gives you some redundancy in case your big motor has a problem.

Tuna where are you located? I'm in the process of transfering a salmon permit onto my boat. Should be done by July 1st.

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

Speak of the Devil and he shall appear!! ;)

BS Check out the Tshirt thread under general, you were mentioned today!!

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

Bigshrimpin, you had me at fuel savings ;D *

I just put a 15 hp Evinrude 4 stroke on my baby. *I hadn't seriously considered using that for trolling but I like the idea alot better than trying to fight a fish around a bucket that I KNOW I'll forget about when I put the pedal to the metal (umm... fiberglass).

I'm just north of Eureka by the way.

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

Tuna - the 15 is a lil heavy, but with some trim tabs (or a fishing buddy) you'll be able to even her out. I ran a yamaha 8hp (four stroke) on my boat and it was a PIA to take on and off, but that's the only downside. I sold it and now I'm running an old 7.5hp merc with a 5 pitch - sailboat prop. It's very nice cause I yanked the oil injection on the big motor and now I can run both motors off the main tank.

How's the salmon fishing up there? The wind has everyone shutdown here in the bay area.

Re: Prop question for MJ
 

My last trip was Saturday out of Eureka. (see the report in the Fishing section w/ pics!) We fished in the middle of the "fleet" in ~ 190' of water. Lots of nets waving around us. Lots of silvers.

Thanks for the idea on using the kicker motor. I've wasted several minutes of your tax dollars looking at the "EZ Steer" trolling motor systems since you put that in my head.

FYI, the Bay Area Tuna Club is the best source for fishing info on the CA north coast that I know of. If something is on the chew, a weather window is approaching or the Terafin SST report looks good you'll find it here.
http://offshoreanglers.com/discuss/default.asp