Kicker motor

[REZ]

Guys I need your opinion once again. I have an Alumacraft Trophy 17.5 with a 90HP Merc. I'm going to buy a new kicker motor. I was thinking about a Merc 9.9 four stroke. My local marine dealer will give me a great deal on a new 2011 Yamaha 15HP four stroke longshaft that he wants to get rid of(less $ than the Merc 9.9). My question is, will the 15HP Yamaha be able to troll slow enough? I was hoping for 2 MPH or less. I have to buy the Yamaha by 3/31/12 to get an additional two year warranty for free. The total warranty will be for five years. Thanks guys for any replies.

Thanks REZ

[Big Water]

REZ,

I have an 18.5 Lowe aluminum with a 9.9 Yamaha kicker and have trouble getting much less than 2.0 mph. I suppose with the right prop or a drift bag, you could get under 2 mph, but a 15hp could be a little big. My 2 cents. Doug

[Hookedup]

I had a 15 on my 19 ft alumacraft it would go as slow as I needed it to. It wasn't a high thrust model, the Yamaha 9.9 high thrust I have now pushes my big boat better than the 15. Sean

[REZ]

Do I need to go 2 mph or slower when fishing Ontario. Plan on running 2 riggers and 2 dipseys. Big Water, what can your motor slow down to effectively?

REZ

[Big Water]

Do I need to go 2 mph or slower when fishing Ontario. Plan on running 2 riggers and 2 dipseys. Big Water, what can your motor slow down to effectively?

REZ

REZ,

You do not need to present slower than 2 mph fishing for salmon. If you're targeting lake trout or some other species, you may want to slow down to 1 to 1.5 mph. My 9.9 will get to 1.8 mph with some creative throttle adjustments and choking. I would mention that the currents in Lake Ontario can be strong and a surface speed of 1 mph can be 3 mph or more at the ball. You'd only know that if you had a down-speed device or are real good at reading ball blow-back.

[10thMTNDAVE]

I would highly suggest an after market throttle control device (Like ControllKing), what ever you kicker choice is, especially at slower speeds. I have one of these on my boat and I can go as slow as I want (way under 1 MPH) without difficulty (21 foot G3, with 8 HP Yamah 4 stroke kicker). I had a lot of trouble even maintaining 2.0 MPH and keeping it steady with the factory throttle controls.

[J.D.]

Gary, Seeing as you are just getting into Lake Ontario fishing, I would make a few trips or even run the first season on the 90 Merc. and see how it goes... I 've been trolling with my 1996 90 2-stroke for 15 plus seasons with no problems.... speed is not an issue.. get 2 riggers and 2 wires dragging behind the boat and you may need more throttle, not less.

Keep a few sets of good NGK spark plugs on hand and change them out every few months..... way cheaper than a kicker.

I also believe putting a kicker on a smaller light weight boat can cause some safety issues, making the rig a bit stern heavy... easier to swamp in steeper waves..

Just my $ .02

Jim

[slow rollin]

Well i would rather go thru several kickers rather than replacing that 90hp one time.

[retsey]

I had the same kicker (Yam, 15HP , 4 stroke, 25 inch) on my 18' Crestliner and was easily able to get down to 1.5 mph for fishing walleyes. It was a great motor and would not use any other except the 9.9 high thrust that I bought for my new boat.

Great on gas also....troll 7-8 hrs on a few gallons....other guys would not believe it until it came time to split the gas money !

[REZ]

Retsey thanks, appreciate the info about that specific motor