Whoa! Slow it down - by Brad Wiegmann

Crappie anglers will also be focused on lures, rods, reels, boats and electronics. I don’t blame them. It seems like new products are constantly being released. You can also include brakes for boats in the mix of new products.


Before we dive into the new brakes I saw let’s explain why crappie brakes are so important for crappie anglers. Although, I said important for crappie anglers you don’t have to have boat brakes to catch crappie, but when used correctly can increase the odds of a crappie angler catching fish. The fact of the matter is it’s all about boat control allowing an angler to put the lure where a crappie can bite it.


That being said I recently visited with National Crappie League Division 1 angler and winner of the NCL wildcat tournament in May about the boat brakes on his Ranger boat. “Before I got my 22 foot Ranger boat,” Alex Cochran continued, “I was fishing out of a 17 foot boat with a 40hp engine. I promise you, I did what I could to control it, but it was challenging. It was a step up to a fiberglass boat, but boat control was still an issue. It was easy to get the boat moving, but I had no way to stop or slow down the boat without turning the trolling motor around and turning it on and that usually scared the crappie away or let them know I was there. So, I got some log chains and rigged up them for dragging behind the boat to slow up or stop the drift which did work, but log chains have some limitations.”


Before any brakes were made for boats it was common for anglers to use log chains behind the boat to slow or stop a boat. Even today a few anglers will use them in certain lakes or rivers especially when their boats don’t have brakes. Truth is Cochran still has a set of log chains just in case something would happen to his brake system on his boat. I have even seen one crappie team use them in a tournament when their brake system failed.



Cochran’s world changed when he met John Thomason the owner of Swack-Em Outdoor Products (www.swack-emoutdoorproducts.com ). Thomason had designed and was building plus installing Pole C.A.T. S. boat braking systems. Cochran figured the Pole C.A.T. S. would be the answer to controlling his boat and got them installed. Needless to say Cochran loved it.


Basically, Pole C.A.T. S. boat braking system consists of 4 trolling motors attached to the back end of a boat that can be adjusted up or down above or below the surface with an electric actuator. A plate on each side of the outboard has 2 trolling motors. One 55 pound thrust to stop or brake the boat from moving and one with 80 pounds of thrust that can move backwards or forwards to brake the boat or move the boat faster forward.


Tim the Tool Man would have said, “More power!” The Pole C.A.T. S. is just that more power to control the boat either forward or back. Truth is at the first like you would have thought Tim built it.


Cochran controls the boat by turning on and off the 4 trolling motors. “I can push my boat forward 2- to 3-mph with just the back trolling motors to chase down a crappie if it starts swimming away from me or stop it with the back trolling motors if the crappie is holding in one spot,” Cochran continued, “By moving 2- to 3-mph I can cover lots of water searching for tournament winning size crappie. I can also corkscrew the boat with the brakes with the nose into the boat to get the right casting angle.”


Most days Cochran is fishing a long pole for crappie. “Having complete boat control allows me to use any weight or jighead I want. A lot of times it’s a 1/16- or 1/32-ounce Crappie Reaper, but I will switch to a bigger bait in reservoirs like Grenada with big crappie in it,” said Cochran.


Are brakes for boats too much? Not when you want to cover lots of water quickly and that is what it’s all about in crappie tournament fishing in most situations. Are they nice to have for the recreational angler? Yes, but you don’t have to have them to catch crappie.