Trolling plate or sea anchor

[fish face]

Or instead of a trolling motor how about getting a sea anchor or trolling plate? But which one is better? And what would I need or a 16 feet Smoker Craft with a 25 hp Honda motor?

 

[Irishrover]

The perfect answer is a trolling motor, but that's not the question. I have used a trolling plate. I had twin Johnson 110 2 strokes, and I put the plate on one of them. Before the season was over I removed the plate and went back to sea anchors. The plate is still hanging in my barn some 20 years later. I like having my props free and ready to deliver full power the moment I need it, not have to raise the trolling plate first. There were times when I forgot to raise the darn thing before powering up. The plate will tell you all about it, then when you pull it out of the water you can bend it back in place.

If I need to slow down now I use sea anchors. I premeasured the ropes to make sure they are not long enough to reach my props. I alway have a sharp knive on me while I'm on the boat just incase I need to cut a line. And when I forget to bring them in when I power up I don't have to bend them back in shape.

 

[twout]

fish face, what did you end up getting? I got a 15ft Smoker Craft Lodge and I went with the sea anchor, it seems to work great and only cost me 20 bucks at Fishermans on sale. I dont have a speed paddle on my transducer so I'am not sure of my speed but it's slow enough to catch trout and kokanee. I do at times use a 55 thrust minn kota but not always. Irishrover's point of forgetting to raise the plate was the reason I did'nt go that route, I know me too much and that would've been a frequent issue..

 

[fcastle346]

Well i have not much idea about the Trolling but the sea anchor is great tool for fishing, most people prefer to use the bags and trolling plate reduce the thrust from motor.
The motor thrust is to steer, plates make difficult to steer sometimes.

 

[Markk]

I use a 5 gal bucket and it seems to work fine for me...