Northwest Fishing Reports

I have a 15 ft tri hull Seaswirl with 55 hp evinrude and am looking to do some columbia river and puget sound (lower sound and hood canal). I was just wondering what would be the smallest size kicker I should go with?

I kinda' wonder if you are asking the qrong question... You could get too small of a kicker... I'd rather ask what is the "right' size kicker... Especially in the Sound it is nice to have a second motor that will get you home if your main motor craps out. I think you want something that will troll down to fishing speeds but also push the boat at 4-5 mph if need be...

That being said, my bro-in-law has a similar sized boat with a 50 Horse main motor. He used to have a 6hp and now has an 8hp and both worked well.

Hope that helps!

Be careful not to put too much weight on the stern of your boat. I had a 16' Starcraft with a 65 merc, but I was forced to stay with a light kicker (I got a 3.3 merc) because anything larger would have put too much weight in back. Moving your gas tanks and battery up to the middle or front of the boat should help out a bit. If you plan to be in rivers and the sound (both places have current) I would recommend no smaller than a 6hp to ensure that you could get home in an emergency.

I would go with an 8 first choice, 6 second choice. I run an 8 on my 15 ft aluminium and 18 ft Seaswirl.

Mike Carey wrote:I would go with an 8 first choice, 6 second choice. I run an 8 on my 15 ft aluminium and 18 ft Seaswirl.

What size is your main on the 15? He has a 55 and I think an 8 would be too heavy, most 8hp weigh about 100lbs, especially the 4 strokes.

Matt wrote:

Mike Carey wrote:I would go with an 8 first choice, 6 second choice. I run an 8 on my 15 ft aluminium and 18 ft Seaswirl.

What size is your main on the 15? He has a 55 and I think an 8 would be too heavy, most 8hp weigh about 100lbs, especially the 4 strokes.

It's a 50hp jet, meaning approx. 35hp at the pump. I have a 2-stroke Mercury which I'm able to lift from one boat to the other so I'm going to guess around 60ish pounds? Good point though, I didn't mention that. But I think a trihull would be pretty stable in the stern, wouldn't it?

Oh you're right, I didn't really put 2 and 2 together. It is a 15 ft Trihull seaswirl so it is a big fiberglass boat. I would definitely go with an 8hp, that hull shouldn't have any problem supporting the weight. 2 strokes are going to be lighter (as Mike said, closer to 60 lbs) than 4 strokes. My 4 stroke Yamaha 8hp weighs about 105 lbs. If you can afford it I would say shell out the extra dough for a nice newer 4 stroke.

Mike Carey wrote:I would go with an 8 first choice, 6 second choice. I run an 8 on my 15 ft aluminium and 18 ft Seaswirl.

And I'll echo this for another reason, most all motors under 8hp are single cylinder and they have the "thump" that will rattle everything in the boat when trolling. We had one on our 16' Hewescraft Sportsman and I hated it. When we traded up, I got an 8hp and love it, nothing like a smooth running twin!