Trolling for Salmon and Trout

[cowen]

Currently I have a Lund 18.5 that I use for al my fishing needs. I like to troll for trout in the lakes in the Interior of BC and I have also dropped it in the ocean for near shore salmon trolling. I have a nifty set up with my kicker motor attached by a steering arm to the main motor for easy sterring while trolling.

Now the deal is, I really wan to upgrade and I am looking at a Seaswirl 2101 O/B with a 200 Yamaha. Am I a fool to think that I can troll with this large 4-stroke, or do I need to invest in a trolling motor set up for my trout and salmon needs.

I ask this b/c I have never had a large 4-stroke and I do not know if you can even consider using it for trolling in lakes or the ocean.

[Seth]

Trolling speeds for salmon and trout are rather slow, in the 2-4 knot range, and a 200 would hardly be out of idle. You could do it smoothly and quietly though. This is what a 4 stroke is well suited for. What size are you running on the Lund at present? I know these used to come with, I believe, a 100 hp.

[cowen]

Right now my set up on the Lund is a 150HP (2-stroke) with a 9.9HP 4-stroke.

My real issue is that when researching my new boat, very few of them come with a kicker mount steering capabilities and I found it to be somewhat of a pain (kinda hokey and expensive) to add it to my Lund. Especially to achieve steering at my main steering wheel. Not to mention speed adjustment.

Since, these fishing boat boats like the Seaswirl 2101 that I have been looking at, don't already have kicker motor capabilities, I thought I'd ask if these big four-strokes are actually suitable for the low speed trolling.