Trolling speed 150 Yamaha

[Larry Patrick]

Was trolling some dipsy divers,until I get my scotty down rigger hooked up. I was able to get motor gps speed around 3mph on gps plotter,any harm running long periods of time at that speed? Would like to slow it a little more,but didnt try it yet,poles were really bending. At that speed with wind the wrong way you could tell you were getting some fumes in back area,turned to get help from wind blowing the fumes away. Guess its hard to get big motors to go slow?

 

[Spike]

You should not have any problems running your motor for extended periods of time like that. Also if you want to get your speed down even more you can do what I used to do when fishing for sockeye in Lake Washington , drag a 5 gallon bucket behind your boat. Cheap way of dropping a couple of mph

 

[hardee]

Was trolling some dipsy divers,until I get my scotty down rigger hooked up. I was able to get motor gps speed around 3mph on gps plotter,any harm running long periods of time at that speed? Would like to slow it a little more,but didnt try it yet,poles were really bending. At that speed with wind the wrong way you could tell you were getting some fumes in back area,turned to get help from wind blowing the fumes away. Guess its hard to get big motors to go slow?

Larry,

I'm not a fisherman or a mechanic --- but I slept in a Holiday Inn once :lol:

When you say you were trolling at 3mph on the GPS, that is your "over the ground speed. Your water speed may or any not be the same or anywhere close. If you were on a fresh water lake, then they are probably very close to the same, (water and GPS) however, if you were on salt water it could be very different. For instance, If you are running with a tidal current that is running at 2 knots in your favor, your water speed would have been only 1 mph, but if you were running against that same tidal current of 2 knots, then your water speed would have been 5 knots. So there is, in this example a 4 mph difference in speed possible.

Compare your GPS speed to your water speed in an area where there is no tidal flow and see how close they match. Most systems have a way to calibrate the water speed. It is worth the effort, and I would think for fishing, it would be good to have accurate water speed info. IIRC the fish don't have GPS for speed, only direction :wink:

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[Leon]

Do a big circle and watch your gps speed to see if it changes in tidle waters. I had better luck trolling at 5.5 mph. Something like backing away slowly from a bear versus running. The strike on instinct

 

[Spike]

Harvey
I may be wrong, but GPS speed and direction are done by triangulation of satellites in orbit around the earth and there for not effected by currents or wind. I do find that sometimes if I am not moving fast enough my indicated direction will bounce around, but speed has always remained accurate. Please correct me if I am wrong

 

[Blueback]

Do a big circle and watch your gps speed to see if it changes in tidle waters. I had better luck trolling at 5.5 mph. Something like backing away slowly from a bear versus running. The strike on instinct

When using downriggers and 10-12 lb cannon balls, look for a 45 -50 degree angles on your downrigger cables for a speed TTW indicator. They will sing at a certain speed too-- from tension, at least mine do. This is the best guide to speed thru the water. Fish plugs faster than spoons and flashers-- say 4-5mph plugs--2.5 to 3 for spoons --but tidal currents changes the STW and your DR cable angle is your ultimate guide--IMO.
I find that with a modern 4 stroke, its amazing how well they idle along for trolling. To me, in today world of great outboards -- trolling kickers have me questioning their need for that purpose and are better seen as auxiliary power to get you out of a jam.
BTW how many back-up kickers have you noted on single engine aircraft that fly all over the world--LOL-- yeah some crash too.
Geoff

 

[hardee]

Harvey
I may be wrong, but GPS speed and direction are done by triangulation of satellites in orbit around the earth and there for not effected by currents or wind. I do find that sometimes if I am not moving fast enough my indicated direction will bounce around, but speed has always remained accurate. Please correct me if I am wrong

Spike,

You are right in that GPS speed is figured by triangulation to the GPS, but what it is attached to is affected by it's environment -- water around the boat, or wheels on the car. In the car, the road is not moving. On the water, you could effectively be parked, (as in not running but not anchored -- Ie drifting) and your GPS will measure that movement as "speed over the ground". However, the boat speed measured by that triangulation is the "over the ground speed" and is not the same as the boat speed in the water, unless that water is not moving. If the water is moving, then the GPS is measuring the speed of the boat as it is affected by the water movement, which could either increase or decrease the boat speed depending on it's direction compared to the direction of the water movement.

In trolling, I would think this difference is important because if a fish will feed at 3mph, but not at 7 then you maybe should be measuring your speed in the water, and not over the ground.

There are lots of time that your over the ground speed can be 3-5 knots different than your water speed if you are fishing in tidal water or on a river.

Hope that helps.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[thataway]

The important issue is that GPS location, and thus course, and speed, measures the distance, speed and direction over the bottom or ground. Although it is loosely called "Triangulation", the more precise term is "Trilateration" which is more complex than plain geometry of triangulation.

The satellite knows its precise position, the GPS uses at least 3 satellites, and the very precise time difference, to determine the difference in position from that of each satellite. Technically there are no plain angles measured, as one would in navigation by triangulation. (For instance you can see a light house, a smoke stack, and another known object. If you use a polaris, or other precise instrument, such as a sextant or quadrant, to measure the angles, then your position is determined by triangulation. In the GPS, the position is by an extremely accurate clock. Many of the newest GPS also use the Russian satellite systems: GLONASS. Plus they update 10 times per second.

I agree that idle of one the modern 4 stroke 90's is fine. But I would still run the RPM up every few hours. Be sure that your outboard is running at recommended temperature. Also use one of the additives such as "Yamaha, Ring Free Plus", as well as your normal Stabil, Startron (OK, may be hocus pocus) or other ethanol defeating products… Even the 2 stroke Yamaha's idled fairly well for longer times--the EFI 4 strokes far better.

 

[Larry Patrick]

Thanks for information , Dave schooled me on adding the ring free when gassing up and blue stabil. Didn't want any problems running low rpms ,will bump up speed once in a while .