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Posts: 425
Location: Elkhart, IN | OK, Mr. King and Mr. Hulbert are making me jealous. I know they're catching down there but I was out saturday and sunday and had an absolutely terrible time with boat control, the boat wanted to keep turning on me in the wind. At the end of sunday's fishing I had turned the trolling motor down and turned it on constant and this seemed to really help. This is my first trolling motor and I'm still learning, so is this turning the motor on constant and then just steering the answer or is there some other secret to boat control when battling the winds and waves like we experienced this last weekend? |
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | I forget right now how it goes, but if you either turn your big motor into the wind, or away from it (agian, I forget), it helps with boat control. sorry, it's been a long winter, and I had a musky club meeting tonight. |
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| When in a blow, turn your big motor into the wind so that the front of the motor faces into the wind. This will tend to push your bow downwind more, which then you compensate with the trolling motor up front. It really does help quite a bit.
I have always found that leaving the motor on and adjusting quite a bit has been better for me. This is one of the reasons I like the autopilot feature of the minnkota motors....at times, you can set it and go, but it saves alot of the adjusting as well.
I think if Minn Kota came out with a depth track concept like pinpoint had, I'd get it in a hearbeat....for many places I fish, it would come in real handy. set the motor and go....
Steve |
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Posts: 34
| I've been told that Minkota is going to be bringing out a new GPS guided trolling motor that will be similar to the old pinpoint (follow depth contours), but will use the latest 1' contour maps and GPS to guide the motor at set depths. I've got to think this will be the wave of the future in trolling motors.
I'm not a sales rep nor do I work for Minkota so I can't say how reliable my info is, but have been told to hold out before replacing our pinpoint we currently have.
Ryan
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| I use my drift sock a bit too to help with a drift. Depends how fast I want to work the water, how fast the wind is blowing, etc. With the sock out, I make minor adjustments with the T-motor and this works well. |
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Posts: 32935
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Boat control is a personal pet peeve of mine. I am very fussy about my rig's position. The position of the prop of the gas motor is easier to describe.
I use a bow mount, so the control is done from the bow. If I wand to fish a shorline where the wind is blowing in I get upwind of the structure, point the nose of the rig into the wind, and turn the gas motor so the prop is into the wind as well. Then if one pulls the boat straight into the wind with a burst from the electric, it will steer to where it JUST misses turning the bow too far, and then drift back to the original position, just further down the structure. Basically, I'm using the side of the boat like a sail. If I want to stay on a small spot, I point rthe Auto Pilot into the wind and adjust it to hold, with the motor nearly straight behind the rig. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | i'm an old cable guy and my foot has been trained to make moves as second nature, time, time, time give you the experience. always have the big motor all the way down and i like to always be pointed into the wind. power in your trolling motor (can't have one too big) helps and then my boat is big and heavy and doesn't get pushed around so much.
also, attitude is everything. keep your head and don't get frustrated, just practice, practice, practice and it will become a point of confidence for you over time. |
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Posts: 1769
Location: Algonquin, ILL | A lot of folks raise thier motor when fishing, I like to keep it in the water to act as a keel to help the boat run straight
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Posts: 4266
| I have a bow mount and a transom mount trolling motor. When things are calm or I am following a distinct edge, I will use the bow mount. In fact I probably use it 85% of the time.
But when the wind is blowing and I'm drifting, I point the transom quartering into the wind and make speed adjustments to slow myself down and control the direction of my drift.
Beav |
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Posts: 1046
| Also make sure your rig is not out of balance, I see it alot and its so easy to correct. Comes down really to knowing your equipment well and a level boat! |
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Posts: 425
Location: Elkhart, IN | Thanks for all the advice. I know for a fact you guys are right when you say keep the big motor down, it can get really squirrely if you don't have that down. |
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Posts: 20260
Location: oswego, il | When it gets so windy you can't control the boat and fish effectively, the heck with the trolling motor. Set up a drift and do that. Repeat as necessary.
Dude, I need to get that pig from your son. I am really sorry I forgot to get it after lunch that day. |
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Posts: 170
Location: Valparaiso , Indiana | Those winds were a NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!! I had a hell of a time keeping the boat where we needed to be. What I did was set up a drift over our spot and used the trolling motor to slow us down as much as I could. Believe me it didn't help much! As soon as we drifted off the spot I started up the big motor and started the drift again. We did this about 1000 times that day! It SUCKED! There's not much more you can do in 30+ MPH winds with 3 -4 foot waves! |
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Posts: 425
Location: Elkhart, IN | Todd, it was more our fault for forgetting than it was yours, we'll hook up soon. Maybe I'll see you down there again soon.
JMUSKIEKING, that was pretty much what we was doing, setting up a drift. That wind was tough. You got to me mighty proud to persevere in those conditions the way you did.
Just another thought, in those conditions I almost think a drift sock would be a definate good way to go to slow that drift down. You'd launch a lure in front of the boat and by the time you got it back in it was coming from the back, that's what you call a fast drift. |
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| I have no control |
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Boat control