Trim up or down?

[kdubracing]

I have kind of a dumb question that popped in my head. When coming off pad and dropping the trolling motor, do you guys just leave your motor trimmed down unless you need to raise it for obstructions? Or do you raise the motor every time? I know it's not meant to hold the motor up while transporting, hence transom savers. But what about when you're fishing a spot for 3 hours? Also, what if you took the boat to an electric only lake. would you just leave it up all day?

[zippyduck]

In open water I keep it down to help keep the back of the boat on track. In weeds it gets pulled out of the water.

[Wizard]

Yep, trimmed down, the motor works as a rudder and stabilizes the boat.

Wizard

[Capt. BassinLou]

Trimmed down the whole time. Never fished an electronic lake only with a big boat.

[Bassinkorea]

As I am coming off plane I trim down and leave it there while fishing, that way it is ready to go in the right position when I move to the next spot. That also means I'm operating the trim while the engine is running (the trim pulls quite a bit of power out of the batteries).

[BassmanRudy]

Around here there are so many stumps and other stuff to avoid that I trim up the motor almost out of the water but down enough to still act like a rudder. If I left it down well let's just say I learned that lesson rather quickly. Plus I draft really shallow so having the motor trimmed up means if my trolling motor doesn't hit the bottom nothing else is either.

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[Donald Garner]

For me it depends on the water I'm fishing > Open water no obstruction I'll keep it trimmed down.  In areas where's there stumps, a lot of grass / underwater brushes and boulders I'll trim it up just so the prop is just half way out of the water.

One of the things I've learned with this Yamaha is the in dash speedometer if connected to a really small hole in my lower unit.  I bumped a stump / tree limb once and my speedometer quit working.  I took it to the marine dealership to get it checked out.  After paying the Service Fee they showed me that small hole.  It had a small piece of wood wedged in it.  They took a sharp pick and cleaned the hole out.  They then shot a short blast of air into the hole and the line connecting to my speedometer.  My speedometer was now back in operation.

So now when fishing certain areas I like mentioned above I'll trim it up just enough to keep that hole clear.

The Electric Motor lakes around my parts you CAN'T HAVE A GAS engine on your boat at all. 

[Bud Kennedy]

During my 7 years at Santee you can bet that I would trim my motor up most of the time.  Santee is a very shallow place with tons of stumps and of course grass.  Now here on the river not many obstacles in the water and certainly no grass.  The motor stays down unless I venture into one of the many creeks off of the main river.  It can shallow up  pretty quick in some of those spots so it is best with the motor up.    So like others have said it is all about circumstances and there is no one single answer to your question.

[kdubracing]

These responses are pretty in line with my thoughts. As far as electric motor lakes, my area varies. Sometimes no gas motor, sometimes you just can't start it. I've even seen one that you could start the motor for loading/unloading but that's all. I have kayaks also, so I'm not planning on taking my boat on electric only lakes. I was more wondering about leaving it up all day.

[Bass Dog]

mine is down all day on most water around here

I wondering if it matters the type of boat you run too,   now mine is a tracker and I never have had trouble with the motor down other then removing weeds.    I feel draft effects if you need to raise it or not but that is only what I think might matter too.

[BassmanRudy]

With my Tracker if I trim up too much the wind will just push her around.

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[Princeton_Man]

In open water I keep it down to help keep the back of the boat on track. In weeds it gets pulled out of the water.

X2 Although I sometimes still forget until after I'm dragging a big clump of weeds/grass.

[Oldfart9999]

X2 Although I sometimes still forget until after I'm dragging a big clump of weeds/grass.

You could make a quick pitch to that clump of grass, never know.
Rodney

[coldfront]

Yep, trimmed down, the motor works as a rudder and stabilizes the boat.

Wizard

from a guy who fishes current/rivers a bit, depending upon how hot the current is running, I will trim up to reduce drag.  helps not have to work the TM quite as hard to make headway in heavy current.

you can also consider 'turning' your outboard/skeg to help boat track in crosswinds...

[Deadeye]

Well Yes.

What I mean is I have a two-stage trim-tilt and I trim it up to where the 2nd stage starts to lift the motor, or at top to the Trim.

It gives me the Rudder Effect for Boat Control and also eliminates Drag on the Boat and TM. And Yes it makes a difference, try it and see.

2nd Effect it has, at least for me, it a "gauge" of sorts to let me know when I can still float the boat. If the Motor starts bumping then bottom I know I have a few inches left before the boat will start to bump the bottom. I can get into less than a Foot of Water easy and it's between the Foot and XX Inches it lets me know.

I have trimmed it up a touch to clear a bit more at times if I needed to cross a log, stump, or get to that spot.


But I also have my Trolling Motor set just Deep Enough to Run and stay connected in moderate waves. That also is an effective Shallow Depth Finder for me if it starts the bump the bottom I know the Boat will be doing so soon.

I saw where someone mentioned they leave it trimmed down so when they are ready to leave the Spot they can fire up and go. I can see that. But for me the couple of seconds it takes to Trim it down is not a big deal. Maybe if I Fishing for Money and Time was everything, which can happen by the end of a long day. 

[fishingram24]

Always down unless it gets to shallow then up only as much as needed to clear logs or grass. No rock in waters I fish so that's not an issue. I have trimmed up at times when in heavy current to reduce drag but not often. Guess I remember some motors that would flood out and not crank if left up to long.