Trolling with 115 Merc Optimax

[love2fishhave2work]

Hello, I am new to this board. I fish mostly the southern Ontario to Central Ontario area and if people have questions pertaining to these parts, I would be happy to help.

I came to this board by googling a question on my Merc 115 Opti.

I recently rigged up my boat with downriggers and have been trolling for Salmon on Lake Ontario. I have not invested in a kicker yet and have no problem in trolling 2 to 3.5 MPH with my 115 Optimax.

Someone mentioned to me that the larger motors experience carbon build up at slow trolling speeds and I may ruin my motor. The initial set up has cost me a nice penny so I really don't want to go to a kicker yet unless I absolutely have to.

Does anyone on this board know this motor well enough to comment on using the 115 Opti for trolling? I noticed it is giving off more smoke than I am used to. I have only trolled with it 3 times, maybe 10 hours of trolling in total.

Am I doing damage?

Much appreciated.

[eyeshavit]

Troll all day long with your Opti Max. It is a direct fuel injected motor and you will not harm it trolling. I trolled Salmon for a season on a demo 225 Opti and it ran flawlessly. I have been selling them for years and have never seen a service issue because of trolling.