Electric trolling motors

I just read thru the thread about members boats & I noticed that some of you are using Minn Kotas along with a "kicker".

I am wondering how well they work on the larger (18ft.)boats. How much thrust do you use? How many batterys?
What about the transom mounts? The cost would be large to get everything set up , are the worth the effort?

Thanks for your help.....Kokonuts thumbsup

I mounted the 40 lb thrust Minn Kota up front mainly to use when jigging. It's great for staying over schools, or just moving around to a different spot. It's got it's own battery behind the front seat. The Yamaha's are used for trolling.

Silver Bullets said:

I mounted the 40 lb thrust Minn Kota up front mainly to use when jigging. It's great for staying over schools, or just moving around to a different spot. It's got it's own battery behind the front seat. The Yamaha's are used for trolling.

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what he siadthumbsup

I use mine to go catch BASS when not fishing for kokes. They are as much fun up on the gorge.

I have an 18 crestliner with an I/O. I have a Minn-Kota power drive V-2, 70 lbs of thrust, 24 volts. It can troll the boat for about 4 hours at 1.8 mph. It has auto pilot so I use it alot if I'm by myself. You just set a course and the motor follows it. I can set lines, fight and net fish, and the boat steers it self. It's a great feature!!. It doesnt work that well in windy weather.

jacksonlaker said:

I have an 18 crestliner with an I/O. I have a Minn-Kota power drive V-2, 70 lbs of thrust, 24 volts. It can troll the boat for about 4 hours at 1.8 mph. It has auto pilot so I use it alot if I'm by myself. You just set a course and the motor follows it. I can set lines, fight and net fish, and the boat steers it self. It's a great feature!!. It doesnt work that well in windy weather.

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I saw on a fishing program on TV where some pro fishermen were using a fancy gps/fish finder to control their Minn Kota. It sounded pretty neat. I could see how you would run a course manually, recording it on the GPS unit, and then put it on "autopilot" to re-run your trolling path again. As long as the trolling motor has enough power, it shouldn't matter about the wind. Do any of you guys do this?

I have the Yamaha T-8 Kicker in the back and a Minn-Kota Autopilot & Wireless 24V unit on the front. This is on a 19 foot boat (effectively 21ft with my offshore bracket. I rarely use the Autopilot and I use the T-8 as my main thrust and set it straight and then use my wrist control to change direction or vary the speed slightly if needed. This combination not not only save marriages (Honey Turn RIGHT!.... Honey.... Turn Left) it puts you in control with the flick of a button. The wife said it was the best investment made on the boat so who am I to argue.

This setup lets you turn the boat on a dime and with short setbacks you can circle a school of Kokes really easily or just get out of the way of other fisherman when it is tight quarters, usually at derbies. A number of other guys settle for TR-1 unit on their kicker which works good too but it always seems that friends are always having to have their units worked on so I like my setup.

Using this combo setup I can last a weekend without a re-charge because I rarely use the trolling motor above 3-4 out of a 9 scale. Sure I could run with just the trolling motor alone but that is only going to last 3-4 hours with no wind. Speaking of wind the trolling motor is effective for when your boat gets sideways in the wind and you need to yank that bow back around.

Kevin