Thread: New trolling motor....any ideas?

I have a 16' x 48'' Aluma weld and just got a Minn kota Maxxum 24 volt 70 lb thrust foot control with maximizer variable speed. I love it but the Maximizer does cause cause a little interference with sonar as I have transducer mounted on the motor . That might be too much motor for your boat but it takes lots of power when it is windy to hold my boat for verticle jiggin. That variable speed is much better than 5 preset speeds.

In my opinion spend the money on the ipilot. Its worth it. Watch out on the ducer. These newer down scan/side scan finders may not work with it. I have the ipilot and I'll never go backwards on it. My 2 cents.

I once had a 14 aluma weld with a 20 on it and even with the heavy 3/4 decking we had and make shift livewell full of water the kotta 34LB was plenty so when Nimrod said 70 I about flipped, you could ski behind that sucker NIM! For those who know, dad was looking for a motor for his boat....news as of yesterday was he's bought another boat and motor package!!! He needs a trolling motor on it though as well. I'd say anything above a 30LB thrust would be plenty, heck go with a 40LB if your not sure but my 18.5 Skeeter with 150 only has a 67LB motorguide on it and it does fine.

Originally Posted by Searcyfish

In my opinion spend the money on the ipilot. Its worth it. Watch out on the ducer. These newer down scan/side scan finders may not work with it. I have the ipilot and I'll never go backwards on it. My 2 cents.

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Constructskeeter I have lots of power cause I fight the wind alot of times. Comes in handy in moving between spots to avoid using big motor every time I move. I figured he would look at the lower powered Minn Kotas. But the 70 works for me. With 2 hot battries it will move my boat 3 1/2 MPH on high and will barely move at 10%.

Originally Posted by Slab Junkie

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When verticle jiggin , how close will the I-pilot hold you ? Some spots I fish are extremely small and need to hold within 10'.

Originally Posted by NIMROD

When verticle jiggin , how close will the I-pilot hold you ? Some spots I fish are extremely small and need to hold within 10'.

It depends on a couple of factors; GPS signal strength, wind speed, current flow. I have set on brush piles many times and just set the spot lock and not touched it for 20-30 minutes or more. There have been other times when the corrections where a little too far off when fishing very narrow brush piles and it didn't quite hold me as tight as I wished. There are other bonuses to it though. My only livewell is in the back of the boat so when I unhook a fish I have to go to the back to put him in the well. If the wind is blowing I'm off my spot by the time I get back to the front (drawback of aluminum boat as you know). With the spot lock I can hit the button, put the fish in the well, and come back to the front and still be within 10-20 feet of where I started. It is also super nice when you are retying, eating a sandwich, netting a buddy's fish, or anything else that may pull you away from the foot control. The remote really comes in handy at times; I can stand anywhere in my boat and run the troller. I might be watching my GPS at the console coming up on a waypoint, or moving from one spot to another while retying or changing baits. The motorized steering doesn't drift like the cable steering does so it will track straight as your moving along. If you really want to track a straight line you can use the advanced auto pilot which uses GPS and a compass in concert. The only thing that takes some getting used to is the motorized steering. I ran cable steering ever since I was a kid so it took a couple of trips to get used to it but now that I have it's no big deal.

ok.. I had a 30 lb thrust but i'm gonna go with the 50 lb. I mostly push minnows or pull cranks so I'm thinking that the remote will come in handy. I thought about the ipilot but there is more than I would use.

thanks Guys!