Spot Lock Trolling Motor

[elway1983]

What am I looking for in a spot lock trolling motor? Thrust, wiring, mounting etc. will be for 17 ft. aluminum boat. Thanks

[HenryPF]

Two things:

 

How it steers - there is full electric, (Terrova, Ulterra, Force), electric assist, (Ultrex) or cable drive (motorguide tour pro).

 

How it deploys- Terrova vs Ulterra vs normal scissor mount (force, ultrex, mg tour pro, etc.)

 

The actual spot lock feature is the same on all motors pretty much.

[gim]

The electric steer models have flatter foot pedals, longer cords, and are compatible with a remote.  The cable steer model like an Ultrex have a larger foot pedal like the previous non-spot lock cable drive models such as Maxxum and Fortrex.

 

Another item to consider is the shaft length.  A 24 volt with 70 pound thrust will be plenty adequate for a 17 foot aluminum bass boat.

[Jig Man]

Spot lock is great but spot lock jog is the bomb, especially on windy days.

[padon]

6 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

Spot lock is great but spot lock jog is the bomb, especially on windy days.

im planning on buying one if theyre ever is stock again . please elaborate.

[TOXIC]

You also need to know which units pair with which sonar brands.  It makes it possible to automatically navigate to waypoints, retrace a trail and other options.  The jog feature allows for pre measured moves with one push button on the remote.  

[gunsinger]

I'd love to upgrade to a TM with Spot Lock but there's so much expense when upgrading from a 12v system.  First the cost of the TM, then all new batteries, a new onboard charger and, possibly re-wired.  

 

Common powerball.

[Deephaven]

All electric models from MK & MG are useless as normally trolling motors IMO.  The amount I abhor them is beyond almost anything else in a boat.  The thin pedal is nice, but the lack of control SUCKS.  All that being said, I am a shallow water, dock, tight space fisherman and need one that responds.  If you only use it to follow contours and don't use your foot much you may be fine with it....but just don't try to use it to eloquently place your boat in tight spaces.

[gim]

On the pedals, if you're used to the cable steer compared to an electric steer, or vice versa, going from one to the other can take some time.  For the longest time before I had my own boat we used an electric steer powerdrive on my family's Crestliner Fish Hawk tiller.  My Father still has that boat, but I went to a cable drive Maxxum when I bought my Ranger.  As @Deephaven stated, the pedal is flatter but the response is pretty awful when you turn and steer, whether you are using the pedal or the remote.  Even if I had a remote for mine, I don't think I'd use it much, as I need both hands to cast.  The electric steer models have their place but if you do most of your bass fishing from the front deck then the cable steer Ultrex is the best model available IMO.  The pedal does also sit up higher on the floor but I think most put them in a recessed tray.

[Jig Man]

2 hours ago, padon said:

im planning on buying one if theyre ever is stock again . please elaborate.

Spot lock jog on my Ulterra allows me to point the boat into the wind and fish.  When I want to move the boat I can do it with a touch of the remote.  The right arrow moves it 5 feet to the right, the left arrow 5 feet to the left, the + arrow 5 feet forward and the - arrow 5 feet backwards.  Pushing a particular button more than once will move it in 5 foot increments, absolutely fantastic.

[Deephaven]

33 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

Spot lock jog on my Ulterra allows me to point the boat into the wind and fish.  When I want to move the boat I can do it with a touch of the remote.  The right arrow moves it 5 feet to the right, the left arrow 5 feet to the left, the + arrow 5 feet forward and the - arrow 5 feet backwards.  Pushing a particular button more than once will move it in 5 foot increments, absolutely fantastic.

5' is way to coarse.  Glad that makes you happy, but it would madden me.

[Jig Man]

1 hour ago, Deephaven said:

5' is way to coarse.  Glad that makes you happy, but it would madden me.

I don’t follow your logic on course.  Where I fish docks are not allowed so I have almost 300 miles of open banks to fish.  5 foot jogs are normally not enough because of what I have already covered.

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, Jig Man said:

I don’t follow your logic on course.  Where I fish docks are not allowed so I have hundreds of miles of open banks to fish.  5 foot jogs are normally not enough because of what I have already covered.

Deephaven and I both fish Minnetonka, but different parts. Docks are a dime-a-dozen here...a 5' jog won't put you from one side to the other.

[senile1]

I have the Ultrex with the option to use the cable steer and I do use it a lot in tight places, but you might be surprised how often a jog of 5 feet is just what you need.  An example would be if you are moving fast with the trolling motor and come into a spot a little too hot and when you hit the spotlock it isn't exactly where you intended to be.  The spotlock allows you to adjust and continue fishing at the same time without worrying about fighting the wind and current with your foot on the pedal.  Once a productive location is found it allows you to move only slightly between trees and brush to hit another spot on the other side of cover, etc. 

 

Jog doesn't cover every situation, but it is useful in many where you need to pick apart an area.  I have found it useful around docks, whether it was to pick apart each stall or to move out to the side to get an angle where my cast would go behind a back corner.  If I didn't use the jog for this, I would be doing one of the following:  Using the cable steer, or shutting off spotlock to move and then resetting spotlock.  If I am just moving to make one or two casts or on a continuous track then maybe using the cable steer is the way to go, but if I am in a productive area or I need to make quite a few casts to cover a small area, then pressing one button to move 5 feet, or pressing it two or three times to lengthen the move while staying in spotlock seems like a better option to me.  If I need to move a great distance, then yes, I will shut off spotlock and move without using the jog.

YMMV

  

[padon]

4 hours ago, Jig Man said:

Spot lock jog on my Ulterra allows me to point the boat into the wind and fish.  When I want to move the boat I can do it with a touch of the remote.  The right arrow moves it 5 feet to the right, the left arrow 5 feet to the left, the + arrow 5 feet forward and the - arrow 5 feet backwards.  Pushing a particular button more than once will move it in 5 foot increments, absolutely fantastic.

ahh gotcha thanks.

[Jig Man]

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Deephaven and I both fish Minnetonka, but different parts. Docks are a dime-a-dozen here...a 5' jog won't put you from one side to the other.

I wouldn’t know about that since docks aren’t there.  They don’t even allow lake side resorts on this lake.

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

They don’t even allow lake side resorts on this lake.

Lucky - we got million dollar houses with extensive dockage lining most of the lakeshore. Some house's docks have 3-4 'bays'...one for a wakeboat, one for a cruiser and one or two for jetskis...all for one residence. This is what we put up with for shoreline on Minnetonka.

[Bluebasser86]

I couldn't imagine trying to use one to weave through the standing timber and stumps on some of our lakes ? 

 

 

My buddy tried with his, can't remember which model it was, but I remember he got to find out how good his warranty was ?

[NHBull]

14 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Deephaven and I both fish Minnetonka, but different parts. Docks are a dime-a-dozen here...a 5' jog won't put you from one side to the other.

You can hit it multiple times for greater distance with a double tap. I seldom bump 5' but 10 is commom

[Jig Man]

12 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Lucky - we got million dollar houses with extensive dockage lining most of the lakeshore. Some house's docks have 3-4 'bays'...one for a wakeboat, one for a cruiser and one or two for jetskis...all for one residence. This is what we put up with for shoreline on Minnetonka.

They have that at Table Rock and that is why I don’t go there until late fall and leave in the late spring.

[Junk Fisherman]

I guess it comes down to what you are used to.  My electric steer Motorguide Xi5 steers plenty fast for me.  It moves faster and quieter than my old Powerdrive that I used for years.  I find that navigation in tight quarters is made more difficult by the size of my boat and waves more so than how fast my trolling motor turns.  

 

And the jog feature can be incredibly useful.  I often use it in heavy wind where I have the spot lock on and just want to move 5' to 10' as I move down a shoreline, breakwall, or weedline.  I either put the motor on a very slow autopilot setting or if the wind is coming from a side direction I will use spotlock and creap along slowly with the jog feature.  The motor really allows for picking apart structure in the wind much, much better than a non-spot lock motor.  Being able to fish in the wind is one of the biggest improvements that has led to more fish in the boat I have made over the last 5 years.  

[TnRiver46]

On 7/1/2021 at 1:05 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

I couldn't imagine trying to use one to weave through the standing timber and stumps on some of our lakes ? 

 

 

My buddy tried with his, can't remember which model it was, but I remember he got to find out how good his warranty was ?

I was going to say that just means it cost a lot more when you hit one