Controlling a skid / slide while Trolling with the 210 FSH

[FSH 210 Sport]

I had meant to say Lee boards, which are similar but different than a daggerboard. Lee board design and why.

https://www.duckworksmagazine.com/01/articles/leeboards/index.htm

I bet another on the other side and more forward would take the crab walk out of the troll.

Was revisiting this thread and re read your post… I bet you are are correct about an additional board forward would really help to stabilize the crab in a rear quartering wind.

A bit of and update, I’ve been using this dagger board all summer, and after getting some better clamps the dagger board stays straight now. I can tell you that it becomes apparent very quickly if I start trolling and have forgotten to put the dagger board out. I use the dagger board with the trolling motor and or trolling with the mains. It will still skid a bit in stronger rear quartering winds. I bought a 30” drogue as an in between for my 18” and 50” (the 50” is a lot of drag!) drogues and that has helped to dial in the braking I need in a down wind scenario, which also helps with the amount of skid there is, as it keeps the trolling motor pulling strong enough to maintain good directional control. The other thing I have done is to switch over to Legacy auto pilot from Advanced auto pilot on the Rip Tide Ulterra trolling motor. The difference between the two is that Advanced lays down a gps track and Legacy is a compass bearing. In very windy conditions, the Advanced auto pilot will do everything it can to get back onto that gps track which means it will make very sharp turns-not conducive to keeping trolling lines from crossing and becoming a total cluster! The Legacy auto pilot is much more subtle albeit not as precise, but much much better for those very windy conditions.

 

[Julian]

Adding Cobra fins made a significant improvement for me in slow speed tracking and to a lesser degree wind movement. I went without them for 5 years, then added them - so I have had PLENTY of experience both with and without. The amount of steering correction I have to do now to track straight is hugely less - I had to train myself to stop pre-correcting....took some time!

Definitely won't give you as much as this rudder will....but for those looking for something in between...fins do help

(ignore anyone that says fins are for beginners - I've got 20 years on these boats - they clearly haven't used the latest size or any size perhaps!)

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Adding Cobra fins made a significant improvement for me in slow speed tracking and to a lesser degree wind movement. I went without them for 5 years, then added them - so I have had PLENTY of experience both with and without. The amount of steering correction I have to do now to track straight is hugely less - I had to train myself to stop pre-correcting....took some time!

Definitely won't give you as much as this rudder will....but for those looking for something in between...fins do help

(ignore anyone that says fins are for beginners - I've got 20 years on these boats - they clearly haven't used the latest size or any size perhaps!)

I keep coming back to the TV‘s.. but so far have not installed them. I may have to give them a try at some point. Your experience is much appreciated !!!

 

[Julian]

I keep coming back to the TV‘s.. but so far have not installed them. I may have to give them a try at some point. Your experience is much appreciated !!!

The surface area of your rudder attachment is massively bigger than Cobra Fins or Thrust Vectors, so it wouldn't perform as well in your application, but it would improve trolling for sure!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

The surface area of your rudder attachment is massively bigger than Cobra Fins or Thrust Vectors, so it wouldn't perform as well in your application, but it would improve trolling for sure!

I’m sure that either of those would enhance low speed maneuverability! The rudder / skag is pretty awesome for what I’ve been using it for. With the sea sucker mounts it is quick to install and stow.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

So after a couple seasons of use with the prototype has proven VERY effective, but we will be making some improvements to this design. I hadn’t posted comprehensive pictures before, so I thought I’d throw some in this thread.

Under heavy side loading (wind) and waves there’s just too much load for the single sea sucker pad on the bottom to stay attached. So, we will probably go with a two pad lower and single pad upper design, and make another for the other side to improve skidding in high wind. When I was at Lake Oahe last trip I was trying to keep fishing in 2-3’ rollers, one seas sucker came apart, so I put in my spare and it would stay in for a while then pop off, the six inch pads I use are rated for 240# each, so there’s an idea of how much force that dagger board is putting on that pad.





With just one pin to connect the dagger board to the mount, the system is easy to deploy and then break it down again for svelte storage. We are probably going to make dedicated storage for the dagger board(s) above the horizontal rod holders.






The Yamaha badging may have to go or get moved to make room for two six inch pads side by side.





We have toyed with the idea of making aluminum dagger boards that would attach under the swim platform and would deploy and retract with trim tab motors, but I don’t think we can get enough surface area that way to make it worthwhile.



In that position I can make runs to wherever I want to go at cruising or faster speeds, it’s very convenient, you just rotate the dagger board up and take off, once you arrive at the new location just rotate it down and you’re back in business.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

This solution looks really inventive. I was in one of those "other threads". At the time the common wisdom was the drogue chute. I just didn't like the idea of wasting all that energy by creating so much drag for the trolling motor. I also didn't like the idea of having something dragging in the water to snag on or get tangled up in when fighting fish.

I purchased some Thrust Vectors last fall with the hopes that they will do esentially what this board is doing without having another device to manage. I haven't made it out on the water to test yet, but I'm hopeful it will be effective.

How did the TV’s work out?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

That makes sense. If you have a strong enough following wind no amount of rudder is going to fully solve the problem.

All boats skid…. It’s just ours have so little keel that a whisper of a breeze pushes ours sideways.

 

[NeoBrew]

How did the TV’s work out?

The thrust vectors are a significant improvement over stock equipment. I have not had any crazy spin moments since I installed them.

I would recommend them as a solution to the trolling problem. They also help stabilize slow speed driving under engine power, but I didn’t mind steering without them before. That said, if you are trolling with your boat I feel they are worth it.