kicker motor options and opinions

[tjakobic]

I have a buddy that just bought a beautiful 2015 22ft Crestliner sportfish with a 200 hp four stroke. we have been trolling for walleye in lake Erie and the boat is a dream! When purchasing the boat he wanted to buy the 300hp but it did not come with the trolling mode. Now he is looking to buy either a 9.9 outboard or one of those Minn Kota? Ulterra? 112 US2 I-Pilot Link Bow-Mount Trolling Motor. Can anyone give me some feed back on these bow mount motors. He has another friend that loves trolling with them.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Silvertip]

Lake Erie is a big body of water and I suspect that when trolling you tend to cover a great deal water. Keep in mind that big electric trollers require, one, two, three or even 4 large deep cycle batteries that take up lots of space in the boat not to mention add a bunch of weight. Just like electric cars, those batteries have very limited range before needing to be charged,. NO! The big engine will not be able to keep up with those high current demands. So my recommendation would be to use a small gas kicker and as such, have relatively unlimited range as well as a better chance to get back to the marina/dock should the main engine fail. The kicker will add less weight as well. But all of this depends on how you fish and what you fish for.

 

[Teamster]

I wouldn't think about fishing the Great Lakes without a kicker,......

I know lot's of guys that use a kicker for forward propulsion and a bow mount for the steering,.

 

[ondarvr]

I use a Minn Kota Terrova ipilot for trolling slow in some fisheries, but it's not as versatile as a gas kicker, so if I could only have one, it would be gas. But like ohers have said, it all depends on where, how, when and what you fish for.

 

[tjakobic]

Thanks for all the great info guys !