Long battery cable, need some advice please

Hi Folks,
Great site! I hope someone out there can help me out before I buy the wrong stuff. I recently acquired an antiquated aluminum 10 ft jon boat with a beat up mariner stalker 28lb thrust 12v/24v troller. The battery cables & plug/receptacle are all thrashed and a tad corroded. Since the motor is mounted on the stern and the battery (s) will be mounted on the bow, I will need a good 13ft of cable to run the distance. Do I need 6 gauge cable with such a small motor or can I get away with 8 safely over that stretch? I plan on starting out with a 12v system and eventually buying another battery and going with a 24v system. Also, this may be a stupid question but since I need to get a new plug and receptacle, how do I splice the receptacle to 6 or 8 gauge wire? It seems they are usually in smaller gauges. Lastly, what size fuse should I use for such a relatively small set-up? Should I go in-line or go with the terminal post types? Thank you all in advance for your replies! - Fisher73

Bigger is always better when it comes to wire. Check out these guys: Genuinedealz

Use a breaker at the battery, sized for your motor and wire. If you go with #6, use a 50A breaker.

bigger is never waisted. A friend wasn't happy with his trolling motor and planed to buy a new one, when I saw how little his wires were I told him to go bigger to carry the amps and now his motor's fine. you can downsize wire near connector just use good stuff to get the current up there