Printable View
Hey guy's just looking for a opinion on which you think is more Important to you a Fish Finder or Good Trolling Motor ? I have already Ordered a Garmin 93SV and am either going to get a Terrova or a Garmin 73DV/53DV for up front not sure which is more useful maybe both ?
Depends on a persons style of fishing. I have both a terrova and a fortrex. For my style of fishing I keep the fortrex on the front of the boat. Don't anchor unless I absolutely have to. The Fortrex, with its cable drive, has an immediate response to allow me to pretty much go handless all day. I also have one of those minnkota quick release plates on each trolling motor if I want to change them out. The Terrrova does have its advantages but for fishing over structure or a school of fish hard to beat the Fortrex.
Now to your main question...what good is a depth finder going to do a person if he can't troll up to the spot (or stay on the spot) if he doesn't have a trolling motor. Anchor???? Been there done that...at the MOST I will have one anchor down and use the trolling motor to keep me close to the buoy or spot your wanting to fish. Before I had a depth finder on the bow we could at least throw out a marker as a way point so we know where we were located in relationship to the structure or fish. Using the trolling motor you have some room to work with. Very easy to be off 5-10 ft without a waypoint or marker of some sort. That can be costly when it comes to crappie fishing.
Thanks Drifter I have a Powerdrive now but the Spotlock and track record has me wanting a Terrova . The Powerdrive has been a great motor just not sure if it worth upgradeing or keeping what i have .
Just an opinion but I would consider converting the PD motor to Ipilot since your happy with it and save enough to just about pay for new finder. Kill two birds with one shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cray
I thought about doing that but I cant use the pedal if I convert it over. Not sure how i'd like using just the remote .
If using the pedal is important then yes you need the Terrova. I would give up my 998 before my Terrova.Quote:
Originally Posted by Defiant
I bought the terrova with the foot pedal. I have used the foot pedal 1 time. You'll
Love the remote!!
Yes I like the pedal I can keep fishing without moving my hand's of Pole guess Im just used to doing it . I guess the motor is what would be the better Investment for now is what I understandQuote:
Originally Posted by cray
not sure it's worth trolling over to a spot where there are no fish, but who's to say what one enjoys most - trolling along or finding fish, IMHO :Rofl
Thanks for all the reply's guy's went with A Garmin 93SV and a 73DV .The verdict is still out on the Terrova I wanted it mostley for the Spot Lock and apparentley it dosent work as good as the claims . but ill wait and see maybe they will get it fixed .
Anything can be improved, but spotlock can never be better than the underlying GPS technology.Quote:
Originally Posted by Defiant
When GPS performance is degraded by solar flares, satellite positions, noise in the radio signal, the weather, terrain, overhanging trees, or for any other reason, all GPS units' accuracy suffers. Even under the best conditions there is a margin of error. If the manufacturer claims accuracy to within 5', you can bet that is measured under perfect conditions. In the real world we rarely get perfect conditions, and some fishing holes will never get perfect conditions. As a GPS' accuracy degrades, "the spot" grows larger. If perfect conditions yield 5' accuracy, that's a "spot" with a 10' diameter. Under typical operating conditions, accuracy is more likely to vary from 10' to 30'. Now the "spot" has grown to a diameter of 20' to 60'.
Regardless of the size of your "spot" from one minute to the next, iPilot will do nothing until it senses that it has drifted off the "spot." On calm days, you don't drift far before iPilot starts your motor and points you back toward the "spot." On windy days (or when you're in a current), you're farther away from the "spot" before correction begins. iPilot bases it's motor speed setting on the distance you have drifted, so in a breeze it will crank the motor speed up...and routinely overshoot the "spot." Then, it senses it has drifted off the "spot" in another direction and begins another correction. In my experience, a 10 mph breeze causes spotlock to whipsaw my boat to the point where it becomes more trouble than it's worth. But that's just my boat...your boat will be different.
The point to all of this is that spotlock is a tool with limitations. On some days, in some locations, and for certain fishing styles, it's a fantastic tool--but if you mainly shoot docks, vertical jig small BPs, or fish in tight quarters (including spots near man-made structures), you will never find spotlock to be very useful. On the other hand, if you spend a lot of time over open water fishing humps, submerged points & dropoffs, grassbeds, rockpiles, and other large structure, spotlock can be very useful.
Thanks Corker i am going to hold off on the Terrova for a while maybe they can improve it more then it is . Seems lime the Motorguide is better at holding spots so if they can get it close to that i might buy one or if not ill just have to not expect to much from the Spot Lock
The xi5 has dual GPS for added calculation data ...Quote:
Originally Posted by Defiant
I would guess competition my very well push Minn Kota toward this idea in the future (especially as they start to notice the number of forum discussions dealing with this very topic)...
Rickie