Trolling motor directional navigation and Thrust Vectors

[NeoBrew]

I’m wondering if anyone has advice about trolling motor navigation on my 210 FSH sport.

I have a trolling motor with the iPilot features which overall are great and make trolling a lot more hassle free. One thing I’ve noticed is that the boat pivots around the trolling motor quite a bit, especially in gusty winds. While the overall course of the boat works, it can tend to be less than ideal for lines dragging behind the boat.

My theory is that the lack of a true rudder or lower unit mean the my boat is much more susceptible to being pushed sideways by the wind.

Does anyone have experience with Thrust Vectors for this problem and if they add any forward stability for a trolling motor? I’ve not felt like I need them at all for low speed maneuvering as I’ve pretty much mastered the slow speed handling, but if they helped with trolling I might consider installing some.

Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[fatboyroy]

I just ordered Minn Kota with iPilot, from my understanding, if you hit spot lock/anchor mode. the boat pivot depends on current/wind and will stay in place eventually in place, if you are in small spaces like river etc, you need to position it so it doesnt have to be moved to much by wind/current. Like when I want to anchor, I always look at other boat where they are facing and i would put the bow in the same direction so boat doesnt have to pivot later when i drop anchor.

 

[NeoBrew]

Understood. With the Spot lock I anticipate the. Oat swinging around. Very similar to anchoring.

I’m asking about trolling forward on a bearing or a prerecorded track.

 

[fatboyroy]

Ah ok you probably need setting 10 to overcome wind and current but I’m not sure as I haven’t installed mine …I already have thrust vectoring installed so I can check for you when I install my trolling motor… good luck

 

[HangOutdoors]

I have the minn kota with iPilot and will be testing it on Sunday in the same type scenario

 

[NeoBrew]

I'll be interested to hear what your experiences are.

To clarify my question a bit more. I have plenty of power to move the boat. I've been in 20 knot+ winds and waves. I've not had to go over speed 9 to do what I needed. This is about the boat swinging around when a gust of wind changes direction and speed. For the most part the boat stays on course, it's just swinging back and forth behind the motor. The question I'm trying to figure out is how much the thrust vectors tend to keep the boat true as the motor pulls along. As I said, my theory is that because the keel is not very pronounced and there is no rudder or lower unit to drag the back end of the boat on line, that it tends to swing around more than most conventional boats would.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I have cobra jet fins on mine. Your challenge is what I have thought about after talking with someone else with TV's on their boat. I will be either in Lake St. Clair or Lake Erie and there will be chop, current and 10-12 gusting to 20 mph. Will let you know how it handles.

 

[ididntdoit]

tow a small drogue just behind the boat - could also try a bucket, anchor or even a heavy piece of chain depending on how fast your trolling

 

[Evil Sports]

I have been running a Minnkota for 8 years, infact most of the time my boat is in the water its running on electric. Much of our fishing is on the CT river, common wind is from the south and the ass of my boat gets blown all over the place. Out boats are not ideal for this because as someone said no out drive/keel to stabilize the ass. There have been days where I get way off course from ass maneuvers and have to reset the direction. Its still gets us out there and I would say 80% of the time its not an issue.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Make a small sea anchor.

 

[Dumbassbass]

Keep in mind the wind velocity makes all the difference in the world. When you set the ipilot on the Minn-Kota the trolling motor "is" the heading, no matter what the wind is doing with the boat. Similar to an anchor situation the attitude of the boat is proportional to a stronger wind speed. The sea anchor sounds like it may help if its on a short enough line but you may have trouble keeping lines out of it.

 

[NeoBrew]

That's what would worry me about the sea anchor and the suggestion of a chain.

...which is why the thrust vectors seemed like something more attractive if they did the trick.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I have the same issue as you sometimes…. The boat skids, especially when there is a abeam or rear quartering wind. I’ve also wondered about what effect the JBP thrust vectors would have.

What I end up doing if the wind gets too strong is to stow the troller and use the engines to troll with. Ive found that I can split the throttles, one forward the other reverse, to help keep the boat straight. Or I’ll just run downwind and troll into the wind for better control.

I‘ve been reticent to put anything on the boat that hangs down that my lines could get caught on. Just the other day I had a pretty feisty fish that made several runs under and around the boat and my lines never got hung up.

@HangOutdoors how‘d it go on Sunday?

 

[HangOutdoors]

I tested out the trolling motor this weekend. It did great. There is some swaying in the back end. The nice thing is that once you get the hang of it, it isn't too bad.

Wind was 5-8mph, but the chop on LSC was 1'-3'+ from boat traffic. I lowered the unit more in the water and that helped tremendously. I could actually control the back end of the boat a fair amount by the steering. To vary our trolling line I was moving the wheel right and left a bit which would zig zag the boat a bit without me having to move the Minn Kota. I have Cobra Fins on it, which I think the design helps. I could get up to 3.1mph at setting 10. In the heavy chop and going into the wind I used the engines. All in all very pleased with the trolling motor. The LiFePo4's held strong. 6 hours of trolling, off and on, and barely made a dent. Recharged to full at house in less than an hour.

What was really nice is that we went into an area that had reeds everywhere, 2' or so off water and with the trolling motor just cruised around getting used to it. Great place to bass fish. Would never take the boat in there with the main engines on.

People where just staring....

The custom mount I built and put on didn't move at all while underway hitting the waves in the chop.


As far as TV's, Not sure how they would do or help.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I tested out the trolling motor this weekend. It did great. There is some swaying in the back end. The nice thing is that once you get the hang of it, it isn't too bad.

Wind was 5-8mph, but the chop on LSC was 1'-3'+ from boat traffic. I lowered the unit more in the water and that helped tremendously. I could actually control the back end of the boat a fair amount by the steering. To vary our trolling line I was moving the wheel right and left a bit which would zig zag the boat a bit without me having to move the Minn Kota. I have Cobra Fins on it, which I think the design helps. I could get up to 3.1mph at setting 10. In the heavy chop and going into the wind I used the engines. All in all very pleased with the trolling motor. The LiFePo4's held strong. 6 hours of trolling, off and on, and barely made a dent. Recharged to full at house in less than an hour.

What was really nice is that we went into an area that had reeds everywhere, 2' or so off water and with the trolling motor just cruised around getting used to it. Great place to bass fish. Would never take the boat in there with the main engines on.

People where just staring....

The custom mount I built and put on didn't move at all while underway hitting the waves in the chop.


As far as TV's, Not sure how they would do or help.

Sounds awesome!

 

[Dumbassbass]

I've personally never run the engines while using the Minn-Kota. Allot of the charter captains use a kicker and a Minn-Kota ipilot for the direction hold here on Lake Erie.

@HangOutdoors - glad to hear your happy with your set-up, I absolutely love mine!

 

[HangOutdoors]

I didn't run the engines while using the trolling motor, when I did run them I had the trolling motor up and locked in place.

 

[Dumbassbass]

I'm very much a novice in the trolling world, I do ok, but I'm planning on doing a charter before seasons end #1 so I can learn what trolling techniques they use with the kicker from behind and the trolling motor steering without fighting each other. And #2 so I can learn what and how they're using their plainer boards and dipsey's, lures etc.

 

[NeoBrew]

I've personally never run the engines while using the Minn-Kota. Allot of the charter captains use a kicker and a Minn-Kota ipilot for the direction hold here on Lake Erie.

@HangOutdoors - glad to hear your happy with your set-up, I absolutely love mine!

I ran a day on Lake Superior using the main engines as a booster. I would run on engine on the first or second detent and then switch engines about every hour. The Minnkota seemed to deal with it pretty well. You had to run it at a little higher power than usual, but that was fine as we wanted more speed in the first place.

 

[props2you]

I fish a LOT (4 - 5x per week), granted not in my Yammie, so I'm pretty familiar with the fishing and the trolling systems. On my fishing boat, I have a fortrex and use the Minn Kota 15ft Talon (shallow water anchor), I will tell you right now, that Talon is a game changer and worth every penny if you're willing to splurge a bit. The talon coupled with spot lock on windy days is your ticket. Loading and unloading by yourself is not even a question with a talon, I find myself using the talon constantly, more than I thought I would. Not so much on the trolling days, then it's deeper water with drift socks, or straight trolling with riggers and boards.

I can also say that on windier days, with my outboards in the water fully trimmed down, trolling, my stern does get blown out of line from time to time. That will unfortunately be the nature of the beast with the drive on the bow and the mass in the stern, speed is the only way to negate that and keep your stern inline. I'm at an 80# thrust and the tail wants to wag the dog from time to time in gusty winds!

Hope you find this helpful!