EasyTroller Trolling Plate

Link to EasyTroller Trolling Plate on Cabelas web site. Is anyone useing one of these? My Nitro and my little flat bottom Lowe troll at speeds in excess of 2 mph land speed. The Easy Troller has 17 reviews on Cabelas site and all are favorable. I just ordered a 10.5 X 11 prop for my Lowe and concidered a 11 X 9 but thought the wot speed might be too slow. I didn’t even concider a trolling plat until this evening and this one really appears interesting. Almost forgot to mention that the prop I currently have on the Lowe is a 10 X 13.

Any thoughts?

I have a barely used one I would be willing to let go for cheap. I got it from a friend, but didn’t want to drill any holes in my new 4 stroke Merc.
Supposedly they work though

Here’s a couple of threads with comments from Easy Troller owners.

Post #1

Post #2

My personal experience with a trolling plate is they slow you down (a little) but make boat control miserable if you have a side wind or if you’re trying to contour troll.

Try a pair of small trolling socks. They’re simple, cheap and actually improve your boat control.

Here’s a post from the Rainy Lake forum where we get into more detail on the Trolling Socks.

Trolling Socks

James hit the nail on the head. save the money and buy drift socks. i use mine for adjusting trolling speeds all the time. forewards, backwards, drifting also keeping my boat from swinging when anchored in current. any good sporting good store should carry them. i got my 36″ers from cabelas last year on sale for $25ea but they agerage moybe $40 best of luck, Chuck

I saw your video on the Rainy a few weeks ago. What size of socks do you recomend for a 16 foot flat bottom with a 30 HP tiller?

Quote:

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I saw your video on the Rainy a few weeks ago. What size of socks do you recomend for a 16 foot flat bottom with a 30 HP tiller?

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The smallest trolling socks available are the 30″ bags available from Drift Control. While one larger sock would likely be enough to slow you down I will strongly encourage you to get one for each side of the boat if you’re going to forward troll. Back trolling you’ll likely be able to get by just fine with one sock in the 40″ – 50″ range tied off the bow. The huge advantage of the pair of socks, one out each side, is how much stability and directional control they add to your presentation when forward trolling. I know those light flat bottom boats with a minimal to non-existent keel can really suffer in a side wind. With dual trolling bags I think you’ll see a huge improvement in the handling characteristics and you’ll be able to dial in your speed to suit your needs.

I had to go back and check in the sponsor’s announcement forum but I knew I saw an announcement from Wade that Jolly Ann was carrying the drift control socks.

http://www.jollyannsales.com/drift_control.htm

The 30″ bags are $34. And there’s that whole FREE shipping thing.

I also see he has a major sale on the harness buoys. Those buoys are dang handy when back trolling. Normally they’re $29 +/-. I see Wade has them for $19 when you buy a sock.

I used a trolling plate for 2 years until I got my T-8.
I would not recommend one. Very difficult boat control and
if you forget to lift it up before powering up , you snap the brass pin. Go with 2 small drift socks or better yet a good kicker.