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I am rigging up a small jon boat with a deck and a trolling motor for shallow water spider rigging. The trolling motor is not the foot control kind. Is it imperative that I mount the motor on the front of the jon boat or can I mount in on the side and closer to my pedestal and still control the boat with the same control as mounting it up front? Thanks for any advise.
IMHO the Trolling Motor does HAVE to be mounted on the front. But it will require much more constant attention if mounted anywhere else, especially if the wind or current is running. The choice is yours. Do you want to fish or do you want to adjust the troliing motor? I have my trolling motor on the front right along the centerline. It is a handheld and I rarely have to adjust if I want to go in a straight line. I have more time to fish and tend to my lines.
If it is a tiller type TM, I would recommend you mount it up front and get an extension handle so you can steer and change speeds while seated. Just have to be careful it doesn't interfere with your SR setup or vice versa.
I mounted a tiller steer trolling motor on the side of a 14' jon boat and it worked out good. I had to cut some wood on angles to be able to mount it straight -you know - Southern Engineering. I used c-clamps to hold the wood on the boat and clampd the TM to the wood I cut to extend up over the side.