07-09-2009, 02:51 PM
Another thing to consider is whether the trolling motor is the only motor on the boat. If you only have one motor then it is also the motor that gets you around everywhere, so you should probably get the biggest motor that will troll as slow as you like. The reason for this is the need to get off the water in a hurry for safety. I would guess around 10hp in that case. If the motor you are talking about is a dedicated trolling motor then I would say get something in the 5-6hp range.
I used to have a 16.5ft Hydroswift with a 65hp main motor. When it was running right it could cruise at about 25mhp. I put a 6hp trolling motor(2 cylinder) on a remote troll bracket. That setup was IDEAL. It could troll very, very slow if I wanted, or up to 5mhp. And it was quiet and smooth. One-cylinder motors often can't run at low rpm for long periods, and don't run as smooth.
More recently I had a 14ft aluminum fishing boat. It only had one motor. It was a 15hp 4-stroke Honda. The boat could really move, for a fishing boat, but the motor was too big for trolling less than about 3mhp. That speed is okay for some things but for pop-gear and flatfish it is just too fast. I would drag a five gallon bucket to slow it down some more and had plans to install a trolling plate. I had to sell the boat before I got it setup right. The reason I like the 15hp is because it was big enough to get me around fast if I needed to.
Trolling plates are another option to get you more speed for safety and still provide good trolling capabilities.
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I used to have a 16.5ft Hydroswift with a 65hp main motor. When it was running right it could cruise at about 25mhp. I put a 6hp trolling motor(2 cylinder) on a remote troll bracket. That setup was IDEAL. It could troll very, very slow if I wanted, or up to 5mhp. And it was quiet and smooth. One-cylinder motors often can't run at low rpm for long periods, and don't run as smooth.
More recently I had a 14ft aluminum fishing boat. It only had one motor. It was a 15hp 4-stroke Honda. The boat could really move, for a fishing boat, but the motor was too big for trolling less than about 3mhp. That speed is okay for some things but for pop-gear and flatfish it is just too fast. I would drag a five gallon bucket to slow it down some more and had plans to install a trolling plate. I had to sell the boat before I got it setup right. The reason I like the 15hp is because it was big enough to get me around fast if I needed to.
Trolling plates are another option to get you more speed for safety and still provide good trolling capabilities.
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