Dave LeGear
Contributing Member
- State
- Florida
I am real hard on Trolling Motor blades, I bang and churn on Oyster Beds all the time when the winds push me or I thump the bottom going after a lure I hung up, so it is a good thing I guess that I do not have a fiberglass hulled boat 
Now some people ask me “Dave, why not use the push pole?” Well have you ever tried to Push Pole a 190 around and fish at the same time? I guess most have not… Now granted, the Push Pole is a deadly way to sneak up on fish, but I have found that I can do much of the same work with my trolling motor and help from the wind. Now the critical thing is to come into on any fishing area (more important on skinny water fish) as quiet and slow as possible “and” if you can, do NOT change the speed of the trolling motor in the process…
Now if you do not think that your trolling motor makes much noise, lie down, rest your ear on the deck, and “hear” what the fish feel… You will be surprised just how little you can turn up the speed without it making noise. Too much noise, and the Red Fleet Subs (Redfish) will hear you and the game is up! (Don't stop laughing yet though, I have a place that I fish that I even named Red Route One)
Therefore, what happens when the blades are banged up from Oyster bed and sand bottom strikes and you get small chucks taken out of the blade edges? Well even on slow speeds, they churn the water up creating even more air bubbles and that creates even more noise... So how do you correct such? Well you have two options…
1. You can just go buy a new blade and re-rig for silent running which always work well, but can get a little expensive after a while at 30 bucks a blade…
2. Or (one of my better ideas) take the blade off, and set in the living room floor while watching some fishing shows (multi-tasking at its finest) and sand the edges of the trolling motor blade back into shape using using some 100 grit sandpaper you have laying around. This way you can save your money for tackle or fuel
Tight Lines in your personal Hunt for Red October
Now some people ask me “Dave, why not use the push pole?” Well have you ever tried to Push Pole a 190 around and fish at the same time? I guess most have not… Now granted, the Push Pole is a deadly way to sneak up on fish, but I have found that I can do much of the same work with my trolling motor and help from the wind. Now the critical thing is to come into on any fishing area (more important on skinny water fish) as quiet and slow as possible “and” if you can, do NOT change the speed of the trolling motor in the process…
Now if you do not think that your trolling motor makes much noise, lie down, rest your ear on the deck, and “hear” what the fish feel… You will be surprised just how little you can turn up the speed without it making noise. Too much noise, and the Red Fleet Subs (Redfish) will hear you and the game is up! (Don't stop laughing yet though, I have a place that I fish that I even named Red Route One)
Therefore, what happens when the blades are banged up from Oyster bed and sand bottom strikes and you get small chucks taken out of the blade edges? Well even on slow speeds, they churn the water up creating even more air bubbles and that creates even more noise... So how do you correct such? Well you have two options…
1. You can just go buy a new blade and re-rig for silent running which always work well, but can get a little expensive after a while at 30 bucks a blade…
2. Or (one of my better ideas) take the blade off, and set in the living room floor while watching some fishing shows (multi-tasking at its finest) and sand the edges of the trolling motor blade back into shape using using some 100 grit sandpaper you have laying around. This way you can save your money for tackle or fuel
Tight Lines in your personal Hunt for Red October
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