Trolling Speed

[Bud]

I was out on the weekend of the 7th and 8th and trying to troll crankbaits at 2.4 MPH. The wind was bitter and I spent the whole day at the helm just trying to maintain the speed. Throttle up and throttle down. It Got to be a chore by end of a day. Does anyone make a sort of like cruise control that will maintain a boat speed?? RPM wouldn't do as it would be a different speed going into and against the wind and wind speed changing every 10 seconds at the same RPM.

[Valv]

If you have a newer Mercury you can add SmartCraft which is a computerized engine management, and will allow you to set many different parameters, I'm sure speed is one of them.

Otherwise there is no "cruise control" for outboards.

[LIGHTLINE]

THE BEST CRUISE CONTROL FOR OUTBOARDS WOULD BE AUTOPILOT IF IT IS IN YOUR BUDGET. PROVIDES CORSE, SPEED AND PLOTTING YOUR TROLL IN A GPS MAP MODE AS LONG AS YOUR TROLL IS ABOVE 1.2 KNTS.

[PerchJerker]

There's nothing I'm aware of that will maintain a constant trolling speed. But don't sweat it, a constant speed is not necessarily the best.

Vary your speed and make s-turns, which speeds up and slows down the baits.

Troll with the wind, the surge of the boat in the waves will give the baits more action. Troll into the wind, it will be easier to keep a steady speed and course and will take the surge out of the baits.

I trolled a lot during the days you're talking about, there was plenty of wind and I agree, it was a chore to control the boat.