Does anyone have an idea on how to better control trolling speed with my Mercury(Yamaha) 115 4 stroke. Idle speed is too slow, and 1.8 – 2.2 mph is achieved by feathering the throttle to find that tiny window of perfection. It CAN be done, but hard to do with an adult beverage in one hand.
Is there anything like a trollmaster / digital gauges for my motor? Please don’t make me use the cupholder!
-some of those are big $$$
-try bow mount, either pushing or pulling
-Drift sock, every boat is diff.
I really like mine under the boat. tied a special line so that the sock is in the middle of the rope and i tie one end to a bow cleat on one side. throw sock and rest of rope off tip and tie other end of rope to other side’s bow cleat. Just a thought
What size or kind of boat?
FDR
what year Mercury do you have? If it is SmartCraft enabled, you can get the tach with the troll-control feature, and adjust the rpms in fairly small increments.
HRG
toe a 5 gallon bucket behind
Check out the video forum. James did a show on how to use trolling bags. It’s an option. A trolling plate potentially.
A kicker is the real long term solution, but I realize money doesn’t grow on trees either. 
My drift sock works fantastic with my Merc 115/4-stroke. 
I know it isn’t the cheapest option, but a trolling plate really makes a nice difference, and in my humble opinion the boat control is least compromised using the plate.
Boat – 2002 Lund Fisherman 1700
Motor – 2002 Mercury 115 4 stroke
The problem is NOT slowing it down, it is speeding it UP to achieve that 1.8 – 2.2 mph I’m looking for. I can idle at around 1.0 mph. The amount of throttle needed to get to 1.8 is very touchy. If I needed to slow down, I’d use a trolling plate for sure.
I think the point is that you can get the throttle to a point where it isn’t so touchy and still be in your speed range by using a drift sock or two, or buckets, or trolling plate.
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