Quinte Fishing

I'm looking for help deciding on the size of an electric trolling motor for my 16 ft Legend boat. Anyone who fishes from the Gap to the Batcave knows how windy and wavy it gets. Will a 12 volt, 55 lb thrust IPilot pull my boat on an average day. I would appreciate any input from anyone who has a similar setup.

I have an 18' with 24v 80lbs I-Pilot, found two solutions:
A: Use the i-Pilot to steer, on #3 speed setting main motor to push, buckets or drift socks to slow it all down
B: troll downwind with electric only, once you get to far from your spot pull lines in and motor up wind. Great time to check lines for weeds and small fish.
I use a mixture of both methods depending on wind/waves, my preference is electric only, quiet, no fumes as I am running a 2 stroke. Can usually get in a full days fishing.
I found battery life is reduced with the cold, compared to summer
Best advice I received was buy as big as your budget allows, go with a smaller unit and you can't rely on it to fish all day, to much is never an issue just the extra cost of unit, battery and a bigger charger

I have the smaller more basic 16 foot legend with a 12 volt ipilot and it runs all day. If you had the bigger heavier model I would go 24 volt. Not so much for the power, but longer battery life with a heavier boat. I have a 36 volt motor guide on my big boat and the autopilot will change your fishing. So much easier in the wind or when you have kids on board or solo. Any way you go is worth the investment.


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BobV75
@dadbod fishing

I have a heavy 16ft and a 55lbs i-pilot. I use it for trolling on calmer days. On windy days I use the gas motor for power and the trolling motor for steering.
If the trolling motor is going to be your source of power for trolling on windy days or pulling planer boards, you'll want to go bigger than the 55.

Scrap the Ipilot 55 idea and go with a more powerful motor. I have a heavier 16'5 boat that came stock with a 12 volt 55lb. I switched it to a 24 volt 70lb (no Ipilot, same price) and I am very happy with it. Windy days kill batteries no matter what.

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There's something wrong with that rod.
It has a bend in it!!!

I used to have a Minn Kota 54 lb, 12 volt Ipilot and I swapped it out for a Terrova 80 lb, 24 volt ipilot because on the windy days, the 54 lb simply didn't have enough thrust to control the boat consistently. Even with the 80 lb thrust, on the really rough, very windy days, at times, I have to steer with the kicker motor. I have a heavy deep V 1650 aluminum boat. It's definitely better to have too much power rather than not enough power.

Good luck with you decision,

Kevin

You're gonna want a 24v electric motor. You'll kill the 12v too fast.

24 and 12 volt will last the same amount of time. The 24 has more power but no more reserve.

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"I know exactly where the fish are. I marked it on the bottom of me boat!"

24V 70 lb ipilot on my 16 fot lund rebel does the job very will and can take some wind and still function well.

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lets go fishin!

Simply for your peace of mind, go 24 volt and put an end to worrying about whether you'll be okay.

Only way to go, Bud. You'll thank yourself so many times it will almost drive you crazy.

Just suck it up, and get'r done. You'll only hafta do it once, and then TRY to stop grinning.~

Rgds, Wordpecker.

Get an onboard 12 v charger. Charge your batteries while your trolling. Batteries will last all day if your just icing it to help steer.
I have this system in my boat. Works well.

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"I know exactly where the fish are. I marked it on the bottom of me boat!"

Whichever road you end up taking I wouldn’t recommend the terrova with lift assist. I put a 112lb thrust 36V terrova with lift assist on my Baron Magnum 2150 3 years ago and the darn thing pops out of the steering notch with a 1ft chop when trolling into the wind. It’s very frustrating (especially after having paid around $3500 for it!)as I use it for steering when trolling into the wind, but when it pops out of the notch you lose all steering and the boat is almost instantly turning in circles. I have reached out to Minn Kota on two separate occasions for this issue and didn’t even get the courtesy of a response. I understand the older terrova’s locked into place but the newer ones with lift assist just rely on the weight of the motor to remain in place. Pretty big design flaw for such an expensive motor.