Experience with Terrova Trolling Motor

I am considering adding the Minn KotaTerrova troll?ing motor to my boat for fishing Private Water Fishing lakes.  Do any of you currently use this motor?  Do you experience any difficulties with stumps and or weeds?  Does the spot-lock and I-control add to your fishing time or I am I setting myself up for technology frustrations?

Hey Bruce, i did have a friend that got the Terrova EZ stow trol motor and he took it back.. the thing he didnt like was the auto stow away.. he said if he fished nothing but open water it would have been great,, but he spends a lot of his time like me, in grass and weeds, thats where he had his problem, because he couldnt get the unit to just raise high enough to sling off the moss, or go up into real shallow water.. it was either up or down, no in between.. so he got a manual stow unit

 

Originally Posted by Bruce Bernard

Experience with Terrova Trolling Motor

I am considering adding the Minn KotaTerrova troll?ing motor to my boat for fishing Private Water Fishing lakes.  Do any of you currently use this motor?  Do you experience any difficulties with stumps and or weeds?  Does the spot-lock and I-control add to your fishing time or I am I setting myself up for technology frustrations?

Hey Bruce,

I have lots of experience with the Terrova iPilot on public lakes.  They are absolutely wonderful if you fish off shore.  The spot lock is great if you've got a honey hole in deeper water and the wind is blowing.  You hit the spot lock and get to devote 100% of your attention on fishing.  If you fish quite a bit of standing timber you might consider another unit without the electric steer.  I'll try to describe this as best I can so bear with me.

These newer electronic steering units (remote controlled) don't give feedback to your foot.  What I mean is, to turn left or right, you must first look down at the trolling motor to see which direction the arrow is pointed.  Once you know that, then you can press the toe or heel button (or remote control) to turn the motor and then hit the thrust.  A traditional foot controlled cable steer unit "tells you" which way it is pointed simply by the angle your foot rests.  You don't need to look down to turn, you simply push with your heel or toe or just hit the thrust to continue in the same direction. 

There is another flaw with the design of the iPilot and that is the mount but that is for fishing larger bodies of water in a bigger boat.  The trolling motor will jump up and into the water without any prompting.  You can imagine what that looks like at 60 mph zipping across a lake.  They equip the unit with a strap so that you can strap it down after each use but for someone who is moving from spot to spot and constantly stowing their trolling motor, most find this added step unacceptable.

 

Since I use a cable steer foot control unit and stand up the majority of the time I fish, I find the iPilot frustrating because I'm not used to looking down throughout the day to see which direction I'm going. I also weave in and out of standing timber so I like a cable steer which is more responsive as there's no delay in the response of the steering.

All things considered Bruce, many people absolutely love the iPilot and swear that these differences are easy to get used to and wouldn't trade away the spot lock for anything.  There are also new programs continually being released which allow your plotter to work in conjunction with your iPilot if you have compatible units.

Hope this helps,

Jackson

 

Thanks for your timely advice Phillip and Jackson!  Your feedback is much appreciated!

 

-bruce