Trolling motor in salt/brackish water?

So, I have a minn kota trolling motor on the front of my little skiff. Just wondering (regardless of what the website says), has anyone used their trolling motor in salt or brackish water? Any wear and tear related to using it in salt or any recommendations if I am going to do this?

I used to fish my bass boat with bow mounted Minn Kota in tide zones for stripers. Did it for 7 years. Some of the big mouth fishing in tidal zones can be brackish too, which accounted for most of my outings. I never experienced any wear related issues or damage. The only precaution I took was to rinse the boat, trailer, and trolling motor well with fresh water while flushing my outboard at the end of the day.

Almost everyone in the Sacramento/San Joaquin delta has a trolling motor and most of them are not the saltwater versions. You should be fine if you rinse it after use.

Best,

eugene1 said:

Almost everyone in the Sacramento/San Joaquin delta has a trolling motor and most of them are not the saltwater versions. You should be fine if you rinse it after use.

Best,

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agreed, I have had no issues using normal Minn Kota motors in salt water for several years, I soak the motor end in water for a few hours after each outing. roger

I used my ghetto old minn kota in salt many times and never had problems. It eventually died but it was 15 years old and well abused and it wasn't because of salt corrosion

Awesome. Thanks for all the feedback. I was pretty sure just rinsing the motor and the boat afterward would be good enough. I'm glad to hear all of the feedback is positive too, because I was probably going to try it anyway, barring someone telling me a horror story...ha ha.

Bean said:

Awesome. Thanks for all the feedback. I was pretty sure just rinsing the motor and the boat afterward would be good enough. I'm glad to hear all of the feedback is positive too, because I was probably going to try it anyway, barring someone telling me a horror story...ha ha.

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I have been using an old cooler to soak my Minn Kota in...then quick rinse and hang it in the boat shed to dry...

I have a water snake trolling motor that I use in saltwater without any problems. we go to coos bay occasionally since last summer. I probably should rinse it after each outing, but haven't done that yet. so far, it works perfect. not sure if it is rated for saltware or not, but it's the 45lb thrust one.