Electric trolling motor help 2

[Planet al]

I've fished for years but am new to owning a boat and new to trolling for trout. Just retired and bought my neighbors 18'6 Gregor with 50 Honda outboard. For lake trolling, it's been suggested I buy a 24v 80lb motor and bow mount it. Since I intend to fly fish also, the bow mount with foot control sounds fine but is this setup good for trolling at 20' with several lines out? Being so unfamiliar with boat stuff, Does this setup sound right?

 

[rogerdodger]

I think you are getting good advice, I have the 55# Riptide Terrova i-Pilot on my 16' Alumacraft (light open deck boat) and I love having "Hal" up front, especially the wireless driving and e-anchor but I am rigged for tidewater chinook trolling and crabbing. I think you will be fine with the 80# on that size boat, make sure you have plenty of battery capacity, I have a 200amp-hr in total which gives me a solid 4 hours trolling before I would hit 50% on the batteries...cheers, roger

 

[GaryP1958]

In other news nook was caught at Cushman today!

 

[Troutski]

I think you are getting good advice, I have the 55# Riptide Terrova i-Pilot on my 16' Alumacraft (light open deck boat) and I love having "Hal" up front, especially the wireless driving and e-anchor but I am rigged for tidewater chinook trolling and crabbing. I think you will be fine with the 80# on that size boat, make sure you have plenty of battery capacity, I have a 200amp-hr in total which gives me a solid 4 hours trolling before I would hit 50% on the batteries...cheers, roger

Now that is a fish hunting craft, very nice setup... Oh yeah, electric trolling motors are excellent for trolling; mine happens to be mounted on the rear but that fits the type of fishing I do.
Like was said, go large with the battery's!

Chuck

 

[troutdude]

Did someone say Gregor? You got yourself, a nice boat buddy!

Welcome to OFF.

 

[billfisher]

Planet al, Unless you are going to be doing a lot of Bass fishing I would suggest going with an ipilot over a foot control. I'm sure you would be much happier with it. I have a 70 lb thrust on my 16ft bayrunner and its plenty of power. Have fun,

 

[Willerman]

Planet al, Unless you are going to be doing a lot of Bass fishing I would suggest going with an ipilot over a foot control. I'm sure you would be much happier with it. I have a 70 lb thrust on my 16ft bayrunner and its plenty of power. Have fun,

I would echo this advice. I have a 50lb bow mount minn kota with the foot pedal and while I love it for bass fishing, it is a little tough to keep the boat going straight if you are trolling for trout.

 

[TheKnigit]

Like rogerdodger said. Make sure that you get a decent size battery for it. I think you would be happy with 80 lb i-pilot type trolling motor, but if you aren't going to be doing any bass fishing I think I would stay away from foot pedal steering.

Do you have an electric start main motor? If so then I believe you can wire the trolling motor battery into the charging system for the main motor.

I also wouldn't discount a gas kicker. Personally I like trolling with them better then electric. I think I have a little bit more control, and I don't really have to worry about run time.

 

[Planet al]

Guys, many thanks for the great info. The i-pilot sounds perfect. There'll be more questions I'm sure. A kicker motor would be nice but the quiet of battery might help with the flyfishing.

The boat is a Gregor Seahawk, about 20 years old. It has a chrome bow rail I'll have to cut and cap, just like RDodgers. it came with downriggers and mounts in place.

Yes it's an electric start so connecting to that system is ideal. Dumb question but are outboards all equipted with an alternator for battery charging? Does it matter if the trolling motor is 24v instead of 12 and what's an e-anchor? (I should know this stuff!)
Al

 

[rogerdodger]

Yes it's an electric start so connecting to that system is ideal. Dumb question but are outboards all equipted with an alternator for battery charging? Does it matter if the trolling motor is 24v instead of 12 and what's an e-anchor? (I should know this stuff!)
Al

e-anchor is part of the i-drive system, you hit the 'anchor' button on the remote and the motor holds you in place, I think it stores the GPS coordinates and keeps you within 5' of that point, great in moving tidewater for rigging up to start trolling or when pulling a crab pot...or on a lake in the wind.

 

[TheKnigit]

You main should have an alternator if it is an electric start. Otherwise you would have to pull the battery every other time you ran the boat to charge it. As for how to wire it into the system I am not sure. That depends on how you boat is wired and if you have spare room for the kicker.

I would probably contact the manufacturer once you have made a decision on a motor, but preferably before you buy it, to get their recommendation on wiring. Most manufacturers are pretty good about working with you to get it running. Plus you don't want to accidentally void any warranty by guessing how to do it.