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Hi everyone,

When fishing at my girlfriend's cottage we use a 14' aluminum boat with an old 10hp motor that doesn't like to run at low speeds. This means that in order to troll for walleyes we need to run the boat in reverse and go backwards to move slowly enough. What size of trolling motor would be needed to troll with this size of boat? What about battery issues etc.?

Thanks for any help.

JohnB wrote:Hi everyone,

When fishing at my girlfriend's cottage we use a 14' aluminum boat with an old 10hp motor that doesn't like to run at low speeds. This means that in order to troll for walleyes we need to run the boat in reverse and go backwards to move slowly enough. What size of trolling motor would be needed to troll with this size of boat? What about battery issues etc.?

Thanks for any help.

You could also add a trolling plate to the 10 hp.

I would go with a 46 lbs thrust 12v Minn Kota transome mount electric motor. It would give you the slow trolling speed you are looking for and be better in the weeds than the 34lbs. Believe it or not the more power the trolling motor has the less battery power it takes to run at low to mid end. It retails for about $325 or less. Let me know if you need more info it.
Cheers
JP

My personal experience...

Buy the biggest you can afford. And keep money for a battery, and buy a GOOD charger. If you get something really good, then you can always move it to another boat when you upgrade, and it always better to have more power than not enough.

I know it's going on a tiller, so it's likely you'll get a transom mount... but if you plan on upgrading soon, maybe consider a bow-mout with co-pilot, so that you can move up later and not need another motor...

Thanks for all the help.

I am a student so the best option looks like living with looking funny on the lake or a trolling plate. I guess I was hoping for someone to tell me all I needed was a low end motor etc. (wishful thinking!).

John

John,

Like I said, buy the best you can afford. Anything is better than nothing. I've used a 36lb thrust transom on a 14 tinny and it worked fine.

You'll have ne regrets buying what you can afford. Also look at getting something used. We got a stronger motor than we could afford by buying it used. Working great for two years now...

if your 10 hp will not slow the boat down slow enough, throw out a bag, I can remember years ago in a small boat like yours, just throwing out a plastic 5 gal pail slowed the boat down enough..good luck

Mrpike57 is right on.
used the same set up for drift fishing in the old boat and will most likely do the same for the new one.

I agree with MrPike too

Cheap and effective way to bag (no pun intended) all those eyes..

Hang a 5 gallon bucket off the back.....