I – Pilot techniques

I’m just learning to use my Terrova with I-Pilot. I’ll bet those of you who have had them for a while have figured out some techniques to enhance the utility of the product. This is a simple one most of you would know already – When using spot lock in strong wind or current I found that by keeping my big motor in the water it acted as a rudder and eliminated a lot of boat movement. Please share different things you have done to take advantage of the I-Pilot features.

Though this is not new to the I-piliot…

I see a lot of fisherman not taking advantage of the auto pilot feature when pulling cranks. When using the big motor or kicker to achieve 2mph or so like so many of us do I like to drop the Terrova and use the auto piliot to steer the boat.

By giving the Bow mount just enough power to pull the front around, the locked direction will be maintained and you are free to move about the cabin. This makes the process of tending and setting lines effortless allowing more attention to be placed on fishing rather than boat controll.
-Mark

I have found that it’s much easier to use cruise control if you use the manual controls to get the boat moving at the correct speed first, then engage the cc. Otherwise it seems to take a lot of adjustment.
I also use spot lock in a different way. I like to drift. After I use my outboard to get to the start of my drift I engage the spot lock. That way I’m not halfway down the lake before I get the sock out and the lines in the water. I can disengage the spot lock and drift when I’m ready!!!

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I have found that it’s much easier to use cruise control if you use the manual controls to get the boat moving at the correct speed first.

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Same sort of idea for Track to Start/End in my experience. If you are way off course from your recorded track, you will get less erratic behavior if you get moving in the general direction and near the path before pushing the Track to buttons.

Problem I was having was when I was recording my trolling track I’d catch a fish. By the time I brought in the fish, reorganized and got going again I kept messing up my recorded track. I haven’t done this yet but a guide told me to put the trolling motor in the down postion, then raise it up in the air so the blade is out of the water. Hit the record button and use the big motor to run your track. This allows you quickly program a clean track into the Terrova. Works especially well for long / complex trolls. Looking forward to trying it.

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Problem I was having was when I was recording my trolling track I’d catch a fish. By the time I brought in the fish, reorganized and got going again I kept messing up my recorded track. I haven’t done this yet but a guide told me to put the trolling motor in the down postion, then raise it up in the air so the blade is out of the water. Hit the record button and use the big motor to run your track. This allows you quickly program a clean track into the Terrova. Works especially well for long / complex trolls. Looking forward to trying it.

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I like it! will definitely be using that on 1+ mile tracks. Thanks.

Fishing Chippewa flowage for crappies. Use my sideimaging to put down ways points on a line of cribs. Took the Terrova laid a track from crib to crib hit track return, as we went over each crib hit anchor lock fished it if no fish hit track again until next crib, worked great. We also did the same thing with the Marcum 825HD camera, that was cool. Seen Musky, Walleyes, Northerns, Sunnys and Crappies.