Need help. I have a Lund 1675 Impact and tired of getting blown around. Currently have a 70# trolling motor and looking to upgrade to a 80# Terrova. I mainly spider rig with two people sitting at the bow. If one gets up the boat catches the wind and goes nuts. I like the boat but getting frustrated. Would upgrading help or other suggestions is appreciated.
Would a drift sock help slow your movement down?
I mainly go into the wind but have one 48” sock. It does slow the boat when going with the wind. Main issue is going with the wind is fine until a person moves in the boat and shifts the weight. The boat then moves erratically.
Are you running the TM on Autopilot or on Follow the Contour, or manually steering it? With the wind, into the wind, or crosswise to the wind? What’s your trolling speed? How high are the winds when you normally fish? Is your outboard down or tilted up?
Your new boat will also do that unless you have a trolling motor with autopilot. I would go with the new trolling motor and make sure it has autopilot, spot lock and the other newer features. Bet you’ll like your boat again.
Don’t some of the power drive Minn Kotas have a spot lock now?
Mainly fish into the wind but occasionally do have crosswinds which pushes the stern of boat (read somewhere about filling rear livewell to combat this). The trolling motor is a 2011 V2 and I added the iPilot. Spot Lock is useless and manually steer. Not setup for following contours although I wouldn’t mind getting setup to do that. Trolling speed while spider rigging is .5mph and occasionally 1-1.2mph trolling cranks. The higher speeds the boat seems fine. When cranking I fish from middle of the boat. I’m in southwest Missouri and the wind blows about everyday. Wind speed is normally 10-15 mph with occasionally gusting 20-25. Anymore than that I don’t go. I always troll with the big motor down.
Sounds like you need a glass boat. Extra weight would help. And a drift sock like others have said. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say spot lock is useless before….. 
There are others on here probably more knowledgeable than I but…
I know of friends who have to change their trolling motor because they bought too short of shaft on it, and in wind/waves the prop would come partially or completely out of the water or would stay in but was so shallow it did not “bite” as well as it should have.
Could this be what you are experiencing?
I cannot speak to the change in performance from 70-80 lbs thrust and if yours is a 12 volt vs a 24 volt like the Terrova you mention.
I remember reading a Minnkota help center article on how to select a correct length of trolling motor shaft.
For comparison I have a 2020 Alumacraft Competitor 175 and the Terrova 24v 80lbs 60 inch works just fine in all conditions.
Hope you get it figured out w/o having to buy a new boat.
Yeah the spot lock is the $300 add on offered by Minn Kota years ago. It will not keep the boat locked on a spot, would spin and wrap cord up etc.
You need more weight in the bow or a bigger boat. The TM upgrade will definitely help but even with autopilot that boat is too light in the bow to deal with gusts. I had this issue with a Lund 1700 angler and that was a substantially deeper and larger boat than an impact.
If you can get both batteries up front and have one guy sit in the bow I’d upgrade TM. Big leap to upgrade the boat.
Unless you are looking for an excuse to buy a new boat!
Yeah the spot lock is the $300 add on offered by Minn Kota years ago. It will not keep the boat locked on a spot, would spin and wrap cord up etc.
Ah, now that makes sense.
@Matt. Thanks for idea. I have a hardware store that sells sandbags. Would you recommend 50-100 lbs? Both trolling batteries are upfront under the middle rod locker.
I’d try 100#….we used to throw a 5 gallon bucket full of rocks in the nose of an old 16’ Crestliner I had to help it track better. It helped and the boat planed out faster with the weight.
Sandbags would be a cheap experiment to try.
I don’t think you can go wrong with a TM upgrade…they are so much better now especially for how you use the boat. But, you are still dealing with a boat that’s so light up front the nose is like a sail in the heavy wind.
My buddy runs a 16’ jon on the river and have an 80# ulterra on it. That’s lighter than your boat but also lower profile. In heavy wind it struggles to troll and even on spot lock it gets blown around.
Boat,with a new trolling motor.
I have a 17′ Yamaha G3 angler, I am looking at a Ultrex 80 lb. 24volt with a 60′ shaft. The salesman says the head of the motor will sit too high and I will be hitting my rod on it, he recommends a 52″ shaft.Any opinions?
I have a 17′ Yamaha G3 angler, I am looking at a Ultrex 80 lb. 24volt with a 60′ shaft. The salesman says the head of the motor will sit too high and I will be hitting my rod on it, he recommends a 52″ shaft.Any opinions?
You can always lower the bow mount farther into the water.
Something to keep in mind here is that the Ultrex has a fairly large foot pedal. Unless you have a cut out in the floor, it sticks up pretty high.
Best way to improve boat control with a trolling motor is to add a Lee Lock Skeg.
Had the same issue on a 17ft tiller. Older model powerdrive v2 with the ipilot add on. Buy a new motor. It is night and day difference as far as GPS goes in the board on them. I spot locked nose to the wind in some fairly turbulent water considering the boat and I did not move an inch. My new one also does not have the oversteer/over correct problem that sometimes would dang near throw you over. If you don’t already deff upgrade to a 24v. Terrova would be the way to go if you can swing it but I didn’t and just went with a new powerdrive and believe me it is 100% night and day difference. Worst case try a new motor if you aren’t satisfied and want a new boat you already have a new motor
Yes it was night and day difference for me and I had a tiller so even lighter than your setup and I was actually kind of impressed. New models are 10x better than old models
60 inch shaft is really freaking long. I got a 52 inch with my new Ultrex last season and I had to raise it last fall with how low the water got. Keep in mind this is on a bass boat and I fish shallow water frequently. On a regular V hull I think 52 would be perfect. Unless you’re fishing big water and big waves regularly I don’t think you’d need a 60.
My original post did not seem to “stick but….
Most have already mentioned it.
I have an #80 with Lund 1775 – works fine.
60″ shaft – usually adjusted about halfway up so prop is under water about 12” max.
Big motor down 90+ % of the time unless very shallow – helps steer.
Big waves, the trolling motor will ride out so when on bigger lakes I always have it set as low as it can go to help reduce this issue.
Spot lock is the BEST – have follow the contour but hardly ever use it. When the contours get tight and lots of angles it gets confused too easily.
Get the longer shaft – can ALWAYS raise it up a littel if you need to.
My original post did not seem to “stick but….
Most have already mentioned it.
I have an #80 with Lund 1775 – works fine.
60″ shaft – usually adjusted about halfway up so prop is under water about 12” max.
Big motor down 90+ % of the time unless very shallow – helps steer.
Big waves, the trolling motor will ride out so when on bigger lakes I always have it set as low as it can go to help reduce this issue.
Spot lock is the BEST – have follow the contour but hardly ever use it. When the contours get tight and lots of angles it gets confused too easily.
Get the longer shaft – can ALWAYS raise it up a littel if you need to.
There are two threads going on about this I posted to the other also. Agree I would rather have the longer shaft and raise it up rather than with I could lower it more and can’t
There are two threads going on about this I posted to the other also. Agree I would rather have the longer shaft and raise it up rather than with I could lower it more and can’t
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Same, I went 60 and never regret the extra length. A 54 would do fine but on bigger lakes I love the extra length
The trolling motor is a 2011 V2
V2 is your issue. I had an 80# V2 terrova on an 18.6 foot glass boat. It was all over the place on spot lock, and constantly wrapped the cord around the head. We called it spot wander. Upgraded to a V3 last year and now it keeps me pinned. World of difference.
18 Foot crestliner 60 inch shaft. Usually when the prop comes out of the water it’s usually time to head in . Fished a few times though where she’s chopping in the swells ha.
I have a 2011, 1675 impact sport. I went from a 12v to a 24v 60″ shaft 80# Terrova I-Pilot link. The 60 inch shaft is really helpful in any wave action that gets the boat bobbing up and down. Most functions work better with the main motor skeg in the water. The spot lock works better when the shaft is down and the TM wake clears the hull.
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