Aluminum Fishing Boat 16 Foot

Question:
I'm thinking about a 16 foot aluminum fishing boat for next season. The ones I've seen so far weigh about 1000 lbs dry and empty, and I figure two people, motor and fuel, and gear will bring it up close to 2000 lbs. One dealer told me a 50 horse motor would drive this at 26-28 mph, and would do about 1 mph with a trolling plate. I've seen people with smaller motors than 50 hp that also had a 5 hp trolling motor, so I'm wondering how practical trolling the 50 hp would be. It would be a 4 cycle, so maybe it wouldn't be unhappy with long periods of idling (this is a guess)? I don't need 26-28 mph-- would a smaller motor (maybe 30 hp) give me 20 mph and be more satisfactory for trolling?

Answer:
Bigger hp is always nice; nothing says you have to use it but when you need more power it's there, trolling plates work ok but they build up the time on your main motor, I would go with a small trolling motor 4 stroke preferred... I ocean fish, my main is a 100 hp with a 15 hp trolling, the small motor is also a safety factor to get me home if anything happens to the 100...you may require that safety factor as well...