What am I doing wrong

[Hugh Albrecht]

I read the post below about backtrolling with a Ranger. I read where guys are backtrolling into 3-6 footers without splashguards and not taking any substantial water over the transom. I tried to backtroll in twos a couple of year ago when my bow mount went dead and while it could be done it was a rather wet and chilly experience in Nov. For all you guys who can backtroll in 3+, what am I doing wrong.

[Kevin B]

I don't have a similar boat, but I made a few mistakes learnig to backtroll in waves.
When backtrolling, you don't want to take the waves "head-on." You are actually trying to take the waves at an angle. And, every few minutes you're gonna take the waves head-on and get a splash while trying to stay on whatever breakline you are trolling. The second tip on backtrolling is to figure out the right speed. You should be trying to "time" the crests between waves by figuring out the speed you need to be travelling to "bob" effectively.
I don't know that I explained this very well. I too was pretty lousy at it until I got in a boat with a guy who was good at it. After that, I caught on fast. But be warned that when you get good at it, everyone says "Let's take your boat today" - - because they already got the weather report!

[nothing]

Hugh,

When guys say they are back trolling in 6 footers, they might be exaggerating a little ;-) However, splashguards make a huge difference, but you still might get a little wet in big waves.

I don't think your doing anything wrong, and the post before this one has some very good advice. Just keep practicing, and try getting some splashguards.