Trolling motor

Question
I have a 5 speed trolling motor and I need to know how fast I am going. When i have it on 3rd speed does that mean 3MPH?
THANKS

Answer
Hi Caleb,

No the numbers are only an index.  A 50 pound thrust motor on a 10 foot jon-boat would fly across the water.  The same motor on a 2000 pound bass boat would barely move it.  

There are two good ways to check your speed.  The first is if your locator has a speedometer on it.  The other is a hand held GPS.  Those are very accurate.  Some boats have a speedometer built in and it reads on the dashboard.  There was a trolling speed indicator that was very inexpensive .  It was basically a line with a weight on it that hung off the side of the boat and into the water.  Based on the angle of the line, it would read the speed.  Again, it wasn't very scientific or accurate.  

Hope that helps.

Good fishing,

Marc