Why do people in FL use Hand Cont Trolling Motors on the BOW?

[Tpayneful]

A buddy of mine moved from Virginia to Vero Beach Florida.  He fishes in a 15 boat club and 13 of them have a hand controlled trolling motor on the bow.  I have fished in Florida each of the last 4 years and I see tons of boats with the hand control on the front.  This isn't common in Virginia where you might see 1 in 100 with hand control.  Why do people in Florida use a hand control trolling motor on the front?  I find it hard to fish with one hand on the trolling motor ;D

[Catt]

I prefer hand control but in answer to your question what you're see maybe salt water versions which only come in hand control.

[tkite16]

We noticed this at Lake Fork last  weekend as well. We couldnt come up with a good reason why either.

[SenkoBasser]

Maybe its because they are like me and too broke to spend the extra $$.  ;D

[BillyBob]

Older fisherman can't stand on one leg all day, and their kids learn from them.  

[CFFF 1.5]

I'm from florida and don't pay too much attention to it but I have never used a hand controlled TM. I agree it is hard to fish with one hand on the TM, although my legs do get tired from standin on leg all day when fishing tournament. I will be using a Hand Control this coming weekend for the first time. I broke my steering cable on my TM and it is too old and Minn Kota no longer makes the parts for it, so I am going to rig my transom mount TM to work with the bow mount. I am probably going to use some kind of styrofoam to hold it in the bow mount, turn the head around and hopefull it will work ok. I guess we will see.

[Tpayneful]

Many years ago I mounted a hand control trolling motor on the front of a couple of my boats.  When I had the cash I upgraded to a foot control so I understand the economics of the hand control.  The thing that is surprising is the percentages.  It was a really high percentage compared to the bass boats that I see on the Potomac.

Catt, I think only about 25 percent were salt water versions.  It was just different than what I am used too.

[btcprince]

curious...what kind of boats are you noticing this on? you said bass boats, but like jons or what?

[Olebiker]

I don't see that in North Florida.  I've always wondered why Bill Dance uses one.  I was watching him today and got to thinking that I never see him standing in the boat.

[Catt]

Why stand on one leg when you can stand on two?

Hand controlled are a lot easier to operate than a foot control and no you do not need to keep a hand free to operate it. I install two Foot Switches by Big Foot® on each side of the deck to turn the motor on/off, tighten the knob under the trolling motor head which stops the motor from moving easily. Point the motor in the direction I want to go hit the switch when ever I want to move and adjust with a slight touch of the knee. As far cost what you save with the hand control you can afford to buy a motor with more thrust.

Both hands free and both legs free  

[BassinDave]

i'm also from Florida and prefere a foot controlled tm. I like having both hands free to fish with. It just seems easier to use your foot and if I have to i'll lean against the pedistal seat. Just my 2 cents.

[M-Gunner]

How do they mount a hand control transom TM to the bow of a V-Hull ?

[Tpayneful]

btcprince, I have fished on Lake Weir, Lake George, St. John's River, Ocala Lakes, Stick Marsh / Farm 13, Ansin / Garcia and the canal around Okeechobee and have seen hand controls on full up fiberglass bass boats. Ranger, Skeeter, Nitro, Gambler, Bullet and Stratos. I saw a few also on Trackers and various bow riders. (Only saw one Triton and it was on the side of the road for sale)

Catt, I can do the same thing you do. Point my trolling motor in a direction with my foot and take it off and the boat will go in the direction I selected. I can tap my foot on the control from time to time to correct the course. Other than that my feet are not on the control. I have a MinnKota Power Drive which allows me to do it I can also fish with both hands!

Grunt, You can buy a hand controlled trolling motor with a Bow mount.  (See.....another guy from the Mid-Atlantic that this surprises)

[South FLA]

I am willing to bet most of those motors you see are motorguide "Saltwater Series" or Minn Kota Riptide motors.  If you notice most of the Motorguide and Minn Kota Saltwater Series/Riptide  are hand controlled and no they aren't cheap some of the hand models are more than their foot controlled freshwater models.

Why do saltwater guys like trolling motors that are hand operated?  Not sure, but I know that when I fly fish off a flats boat I don't want my strip line getting stuck on anything such as the foot control pedal.  So that is one theory.

The other is in saltwater fishing you don't need as many minute adjustments while fishing as you would in freshwater so an occasional movement of the motor with your leg or hand is no big deal

The last theory is if your in a bay fishing and its starts rocking do you really want to be standing on one foot?

Forgot to add the saltwater being tough on cables as posted below,oops, that's a biggy.

Just my 2 cents.  Born and raised in Florida here.

[fishn bear]

If they are using there boat in both salt and fresh water then they will use a hand operated motor because salt water does a number on the cables in a foot operated.  I have always hard that Bill Dance uses a hand operated motor because when foot operated trolling motors first came out he had the cables in his break in a big tourney and he never used one again.

[cart7t]

There was a time back in the late 70's - early 80's on the BASS trail when the pro's were switching from foot controlled to hand control.  They had the bigfoot on/off switch and crazy extension handles.  The reason given was more precise control of the motor.  I'm betting it had more to do with the rather flukey nature of cable controls of the day that had a tendency to break at the worst possible moments.  

I think Jimmy Houston still uses one as does Bill.  I got one for awhile in the late 70's and hated it.  Sold it and got another foot control.  

[njpaulc]

A lot of it has to do with fishing heavy cover.  You can clean weeds off of a hand controll by running it in reverse.  It also changes your casting angle, allowing you to use more of the front deck.

[Willzx225]

I have noticed this alot in and around regions that have a lot of grass.  I just saw one two weeks ago on Guntersville.  I never see anything like this around NC/VA areas.  Always thought it was strange.

[jhoffman]

Im in the market for a bow mount myself, infact Ill prob order it this week. I was doing some research and one of the reasons I ran across people using those is that the cables and such can be dangerous, especially on a small deck. Maybe they are a afraid of going for a swim. I however, will take my chances.

[Tpayneful]

The vast majority (75%) were not white saltwater versions only about 25% of them were.  Most looked like this one that is readily available at BPS:

[GLADES]

Ive got a MinKota 80# tiller motor and it works great on my 17 procraft.

Lots of thrust, throws a nice wake

The bow floor space is somewhat limited, and I stand 70% of the time.

The only time i think about a foot control is when the wind kicks up and I am forced to constantly adjust my position.

[JayW]

I've had both. I still prefer a hand controlled motor. I use an extension and have a foot controlled on/off button.

And yes, it's a flats boat with a Great White 82# on it.