Power Pole/ Talons VS. Xi5 Ipilot

[Kevin Guidry]

I am trying to make a good decision on which technology to go with Shallow water anchor or Trolling GPS.

I have narrowed it to Talons over Powerpole and Minn Kota Ipilot over Motor Guide XI5.

a set of talons would be around $3500 and the Minn Kota Ultrex Bow Mount Trolling Motor with i-Pilot Link US2 $2600.00.

I fish Toledo Bend and Lake Fork and San Rayburn, What are the pros and cons of these I need advice I can only afford to buy one. 

Let me know your thoughts.

 

[RichF]

I guess it depends on whether you fish mainly offshore in water deeper than 8 -10 ft or fish shallow.  Talons will only anchor you in up to 10ft.  The Ultrex can keep you on any offshore spot, more or less. Tough decision since you're fishing Toledo Bend.  The Talons would be great for sight fishing shallow in the spring and the Ultrex would be awesome for fishing deep structure in the main lake in the summer.  Get one, save, then get the other

[12poundbass]

If I could only choose one I'd have to say the Ultrex would be my choice. 

 

Minkota is coming out with a 15' Talon which is crazy, but deeper they'd be useless. Like Rich said 10' or so is more realistic. You can get shallow with you Ultrex and spotlock and be fine. The only way I see a shallow water anchor more useful would be bed fishing ( which I don't). 

 

Just like my opinion everyone has their own. It'll probably be close to 50/50 by the time everyone chimes in. You need to think about where you fish and how you fish. The weather conditions you fish I.e. a lot of windy days in relatively shallow water, Talons might be better. Fair to good conditions in varying depths probably the Ultrex. Good luck.

 

Disclaimer: I have neither

[12poundbass]

Another thing I forgot to mention which you may already know, is all the cool things the Ultrex can do when linked with a "fish finder" with GPS and mapping. Someone with an actual Ultrex might chime in and give better details.

[Russ E]

I debated whether to put power poles or an ultrex on my new ranger.

considering I rarely am sitting in less than 10 ft and the wind is always blowing here in Kansas, I went with the Ultrex.

I have I pilot, but don't have I pilot link for the hummingbird.

I don't use I pilot very often, but use spotlock constantly.

when using spotlock you have to pay attention to the wind/current and position your boat accordingly.

If you don't,the boat will swing around pretty quick, trying to position itself.

Also if you are in trees while using spotlock, you have to pay attention to the surroundings, or you may be bouncing off of trees, while spotlock is holding position.

 

currently my boat is in the shop because the steering cable broke on the Ultrex. waiting for parts.

should be back up and running in a day or 2.

sounds Like this was fairly common on the first Ultrex's. Mine was the first one Cabelas received here in KC.

 

even with the current issue, I would still buy another Ultrex. do not want to go back to fighting the wind manually.

[Stan Smith]

I know nothing about this sort of stuff. Well, just enough to get one in trouble. BUT, what if you bought an ultrex trolling motor and one talon anchor? Would this be a good team at keeping things nice and steady when used in tandem? Sorry if this is bad or something. Just thinking of different solutions

[fishballer06]

My father owns the xi5, so I can comment on it since I've spent a fair bit of time with it. 

 

Pro's of each:

 

Talon: Boat doesn't spin if you have two of them and good bottom contact

Talon: Easier on battery

xi5: Literally keeps you exactly on a spot, regardless if it's a river or 25+mph winds. It's amazing.

xi5: Has a key fab. You can control the motor from the back deck if you want, so from shore if you're forced to launch the boat by yourself. See con section for this as well.

xi5: Depth isn't an issue in regards to spot locking.

xi5: It has cruise. Point the head the direction you want and lock it. It will run and take you that way. Need to change course? Just bump left or right on the key fab.

 

Con's of each:

 

Talon: Adds weight to your boat, hurting your top end speed (tournament guys care about this)

Talon: If you fish with a buddy or co-angler, it makes casting from the back deck very tricky

Talon: Only works in shallow water

Talon: Doesn't work well in rocky bottoms. Your boat will scoot along until it can grab into mud or sand.

xi5: The foot pedal is absolute garbage. It works completely differently than a standard cable drive motor. It makes navigating around tight things like docks, islands, rocks, wood, etc. very difficult. You're better off using the key fab, which requires at least one hand to use. Which means to try to cast/fish is impossible with a moving bait that requires two hands on your rod/reel. My Dad and I have both tried for multiple days to operate that foot pedal, and now we don't even take it out with us because we find it that useless.

xi5: It keeps your trolling motor head in one spot, not the entire boat. If there is river current or wind, the back end of your boat will spin with that. Regardless of it doing that, the motor head stays at one spot. I've locked down next to a single weed stalk on a flat in 25 mph winds for an hour and fished the same spot. I never moved away from that single weed stalk.

 

Overall, I'd say the talon is great for shallow water, and bass fishing around tight spaces. The xi5 is good for open and/or deeper water. Do you want to lock yourself on top that school of walleyes on that 25 foot rock hump? Do you need to stay pinned over top a group of smallmouth on Erie when there's 3 footers? The xi5 is great for that.

[Russ E]

3 minutes ago, Stan Smith said:

I know nothing about this sort of stuff. Well, just enough to get one in trouble. BUT, what if you bought an ultrex trolling motor and one talon anchor? Would this be a good team at keeping things nice and steady when used in tandem? Sorry if this is bad or something. Just thinking of different solutions

thought about doing that on my boat. I was waiting to see how well the Ultrex works on its own.

everyone I talked to that has one power pole, wished they had two.

after using it I would think, the Ultrex would already have to be holding position before dropping the talon/power pole.

otherwise the Ultrex would fight the power pole. the Ultrex will run the motor wide open if it is having trouble reaching position.

In my opinion the Ultrex is not the best option if your boat is often sitting in shallow water. it will stir the bottom up trying to hold position. 

I rarely sit in shallow water, so it works great for me.

 

[12poundbass]

39 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

My father owns the xi5, so I can comment on it since I've spent a fair bit of time with it. 

 

Pro's of each:

 

Talon: Boat doesn't spin if you have two of them and good bottom contact

Talon: Easier on battery

xi5: Literally keeps you exactly on a spot, regardless if it's a river or 25+mph winds. It's amazing.

xi5: Has a key fab. You can control the motor from the back deck if you want, so from shore if you're forced to launch the boat by yourself. See con section for this as well.

xi5: Depth isn't an issue in regards to spot locking.

xi5: It has cruise. Point the head the direction you want and lock it. It will run and take you that way. Need to change course? Just bump left or right on the key fab.

 

Con's of each:

 

Talon: Adds weight to your boat, hurting your top end speed (tournament guys care about this)

Talon: If you fish with a buddy or co-angler, it makes casting from the back deck very tricky

Talon: Only works in shallow water

Talon: Doesn't work well in rocky bottoms. Your boat will scoot along until it can grab into mud or sand.

xi5: The foot pedal is absolute garbage. It works completely differently than a standard cable drive motor. It makes navigating around tight things like docks, islands, rocks, wood, etc. very difficult. You're better off using the key fab, which requires at least one hand to use. Which means to try to cast/fish is impossible with a moving bait that requires two hands on your rod/reel. My Dad and I have both tried for multiple days to operate that foot pedal, and now we don't even take it out with us because we find it that useless.

xi5: It keeps your trolling motor head in one spot, not the entire boat. If there is river current or wind, the back end of your boat will spin with that. Regardless of it doing that, the motor head stays at one spot. I've locked down next to a single weed stalk on a flat in 25 mph winds for an hour and fished the same spot. I never moved away from that single weed stalk.

 

Overall, I'd say the talon is great for shallow water, and bass fishing around tight spaces. The xi5 is good for open and/or deeper water. Do you want to lock yourself on top that school of walleyes on that 25 foot rock hump? Do you need to stay pinned over top a group of smallmouth on Erie when there's 3 footers? The xi5 is great for that.

I have the MG W45 and the foot pedal I hate as well! I've never used a cable steer but I imaging it's so much better. I got mine the year before the Xi5 came out and as soon as I saw the foot pedal for the Xi5 I said "uh oh". I'd guess the Xi5 is geared towards the walleye guys. 

 

Like you said the key fob is impossible too especially on windy days. I can't wait until I get a cable steer! 

[Russ E]

The Ultrex is cable steer

[12poundbass]

3 minutes ago, Weedwhacker said:

The Ultrex is cable steer

It's actually a combination of both.

[Chance_Taker4]

I opted for the Ultrex over Power Poles. I fish a lot of rivers and deep water such as Lake Erie and St Claire. The newest generation of spot lock will keep you in the same spot +/- 5 feet. I have also found the more current or wind the better it performs. It also works in Shallow water so not worried about shallow water anchoring. I can say that it'll eat up a battery if you are spot locked for the most of your day like what can happen to me in the water I fish.

[Russ E]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

It's actually a combination of both.

yes it is.

the point I was making is, it handles Like a cable steer, not a power drive.

from my own experience, if the cable breaks, you are dead in the water.

that is unless you want to use the remote control. then there is nothing stopping it from overtravelling, or twisting the remaining cable.

[webertime]

I'll echo that the Ultrex will eat up batteries on long spot locked days.  However personally I would buy an Ultrex before I went anchors.  I'd get 12ft talons next.  I've seen them hold in 11.5ft.

[.ghoti.]

Power poles are a major PITA for anybody fishing from the back of the boat.

[Glenn]

1 hour ago, .ghoti. said:

Power poles are a major PITA for anybody fishing from the back of the boat.

 

They can be until you get used to them being back there. Once you adjust, you forget they're even there.

[gim]

I bought my current boat in December 2015.  If the Ultrex had been introduced one year before it was (Sept 2016), I would have bought that instead of a Maxxum and a Talon.  So ya I'd go with the Ultrex given the option between that and anchors.