trolling plate remote actuator lever?

So last year I got an early 80's vintage starcraft 16' boat. it's been taken care of, and even upgraded a little along the way. however someone felt it a good idea to remove the livewell at some point and put a flimsy deck on the front. I'm going to tackle that later but for now I want to get it up and running to start fishing.
First problem it had last year was it trolled too fast, around 2.4 MPH. it worked, but not what I wanted. I tied a bucket to the front and drug that to slow me down and it helped, but is kinda ghetto. so I found a trolling plate on craigslist and got it mounted today. the downside is it has a string to actuate it and unlock it, but it's flimsy and is loose around the boat. I'm thinking about making something like how a brake line is contained in a sleeve of some sort and mount a lever next to the drivers seat. I've looked everywhere for something like that and although I've come close, I can't locate a premade one. does anyone have any ideas on how to make something like that?

this is the closest I've found for what I'm thinking.
https://www.controlcables.com/single-remote-lever-180-inch-aluminum/

That lever in your link looks promising. You could also probably rig something up from a bike brake or gear cable. Either way I would be concerned with rust if using a cable like that. Maybe staying with the cord release is the better way to go.

Just for conversation sake, in the old days we were all concerned with getting our trolling speed down. In fact, some of the old standard spoons don't work well at higher speeds. Now days 2.4 mph would not be considered fast (for trout) at lakes I frequent. I guess it all comes down to what gives the best presentation.