Further North

Fishnkamp gives great advice above.

That'll work... One thing about the pros: A significant part of their job is sell their sponsor's product. I always keep that in mind. I've seen fish unhooked from the lure that caught them and a sponsor's lure put in for the picture...I know of more than one who runs the competitor's electronics where they can't be easily seen...

The mounting plate idea would work. Lots of thing you could use to fill the holes (epoxy, fiberglass, liquid steel of various brands - QuickSteel, Permatex). Your problem is going to come in making the filler match the finish of the plastic. There's really only one way to do that, unless you get really lucky: Take it off the boat, fill the holes, paint the whole thing.

Chinese knock off...

They are there now...probably a problem on my end. If it were me, I couldn't get away from that boat fast enough...but I like to fish, not work on boats. For me, that's even more of a reason to run away...fixing that bot will require a boat expert. ...unless, of course, your goal is to become a boat expert in the process. Were you to take that on project, you'd learn a lot.

I know guys with bright red boats who catch buckets of fish in water so clear you can see a dime on the bottom of 10 feet of water. ...not sure I buy the yellow thing either. Caught plenty of fish on yellow baits/lures, including this guy: ...that's a 30" musky caught on a white and yellow Clouser minnow in 18" of crystal clear water that I was wading in at the time.

Not in my opinion.

You probably ought to get us some pictures, or a link...or something...

We think alike. Every fast car I've owned looked just about exactly like the "normal" variant, unless you knew what to look for. Most people - including law enforcement - have no idea. That kept people's - including law enforcement - focus on the extroverts who had to brag about and show off their fancy toys...and kept me under the radar.

Curious...how would anyone know what the HP of a modified motor is? ...other than the owner or the person who did the work?

Different strokes (knots) for different folks. Here's a fun one: I don't like tying the Palomar knot. I do it anyway, because it works great...but I don't like it..

To me, the trick is keeping tension on the main line...so I hold the line in my teeth and let the weight of the rod do the work.

I tie the FG on my boat the often. Heck, I've tied it standing thigh deep while wading a smallie river.

Also good to use a leader if you fish a lot of abrasive structure. Braid will get beat up on rocks. Depends on how heavy you go with the fluorocarbon leader. I've fished pike an musky all day on a 30# fluorocarbon leader. If I need to be stronger than that, I'll go to tieable wire leader.

With a boat that size I'd still stick with 36 volt.

First...those are really cool boats, I've always liked them. Second...no way I'd go less than 36 volt (101 ft. lbs. in the older Minn Kotas, 112 in the newer ones) That's a big boat and you're talking about using it in current...pretty heavy current, I believe. As a reference point I run a 112 Ulterra on an 1850 Crestliner CMV...I'd guess that I draw less water than you do (only a guess) and there are places on the Chippewa River and the Mississippi where I cannot make headway against the current. I used to have a 101 Terrova and had the same issues. I would guess (someone will correct me if I'm wrong ) that the weight of your boat on dry land has less to do with how well a trolling motor will move you boat than how much of it is in the water and what shape the hull is. I know a few guys with fiberglass boats that are much heavier than my Crestliner who actually get going a little faster than I do with trolling motors that have the same thrust. I am not a Power Drive fan...don't like the foot pedal or how they deploy. Motor Guide makes some comparative models as well, but I've been so happy with Minn Kota I've seen no reason to switch brands...Lot's of folks who prefer Motor Guide will have a similar position, from the other side...I'd listen to them too. With that relatively small front deck, you're going to want as little "stuff" in your way as possible. If there's one thing about your boat that is less than ideal, it'd be that really small front deck. Keep it clear of stuff on the floor if you can.

I'd check your batteries.

That's how I did mine with my Terrovas. But...I'd advise against it with an Ulterra. You can't manually deploy the motor and odds are that it'll hit the winch when it deploys...you don't want that... By the way...a not-so-technical friend had several of us install a Terrova on his boat...while we were at it, we all chipped in and bought an extra remote and linked it to his trolling motor. We'd keep it in another boat, often passing it from boat to boat during a trip... When we'd get close enough, we'd send his motor off in all kinds of directions, or start running it at top speed... Best thing was to wait until he wasn't paying attention...point the Terrova at the other side of the lake at about 2 or 2.5...he'd often not notice until he was 100 yards away from where he'd set his lock... At one time or another we had him convinced he needed to cover the motor with foil to stop solar flares from getting to it...another time we told him it was picking up satellite transmissions...we had him convinced it was interference from his other wiring...and his cell phone Bluetooth.

Happens here a lot...one of my favorite smallie lakes has a very healthy musky and pike population. I've moved to a leader-based presentation on a lot of rigs out of necessity, even on Texas Rigs...I tie in about 18" of tieable wire (I like Tyger Wire) with an FG knot even when just running a T-Rigged soft plastic...if I don't, I'm going to get bit off at least a few times a day...and honestly...I'd rather catch the toothy critters anyway... This 40" musky hit a T-Rigged Smokin' Rooster on a throw back cast after it followed a big fly all the way to the boat: ...I'd have lost that fish without that Tyger Wire leader. Here's the fly it followed: Here's how I T-Rig with Tyger Wire

I'm unsure what your fishery is like down there...but here in the land of pike and musky...if you don't run that Whopper Plopper with a leader you'll donate it to the fish gods, guaranteed. It's not "if", it's "when". ...I also think it'll fish better with a leader.

I have Gliss on one spinning rig...after a year...it's frayed and spooky looking...not sure what it is...lotsa rocks and rugged cover, even with a leader...It'll be getting replaced this season.

Cool!

Me too. That's max tested distance.

Both my Terrovas and my Ulterra work fine at 100 ft. YMMV, I'd suggest the test above...and I'd guess it varies with battery charge... With a Terrova, you launch the boat as normal but rather than tie it off to the dock, you deploy the motor, jump to the dock, move the boat off to the side and spot-lock it. Lets the next guy in line launch his boat while you park your vehicle.

I have a decent handle on most of my local water...but that's where I'd learn to use it so that when I go someplace like Lake of the Woods, I can use it to narrow things down a bit. In a place like LOTW the shear number of places that look good can distract you from getting on a pattern, or possibly from recognizing one when you encounter it. I plan on adding Smart Strike when I update my Hummingbird x98 equipment to Helix G2N units in March.