As someone looking to purchase my first boat, I’m trying to assess the need for both an electric trolling motor (bow mounted) and gas ‘kicker’ motor (stern mounted).
I hope to purchase a 18-19’ aluminum boat for primarily walleye fishing on Minnesota lakes.
If a guy wants to troll spinners or crank baits for walleye, is the use of an #80 electric bow mounted motor sufficient most of the time?
What are the specific concerns / situations when the use of a gas stern kicker clearly better?
I run a 17ft9 tiller. No kicker and I troll all the time. If the current or wind is to strong I just use my big motor. But 80 percent of the time my 80 lbs motor guide does the trick. Kickers are nice to keep hours off main motor. But to me I could care less about the little trolling hours I put on my e rude
What are the specific concerns / situations when the use of a gas stern kicker clearly better?
I don’t have a kicker and troll with electric often. The reason I want a kicker on next boat is just to have a backup for places like Voyageurs or if I took it somewhere remote in Canada.
An 80# electric may work just fine trolling spinners all day when you’re moving less than 2 mph I’m not sure it’d work very well to troll cranks at 2 mph or faster all day. It depends on wind and current also. You can never go too big with an electric trolling motor.
I have a 20 ft. Alaskan and I troll cranks alot. I’d never be without a kicker for trolling cranks.
I steer with my 112# Ultera (an 80# thrust would work fine for steering too) and push with my Merc 9.9 Pro Kicker to troll cranks.
There are different way to do it, but I think the the ultimate way to pull cranks is to use i-Pilot Link with a gas kicker pushing and an electric motor steering the boat automatically as it follows contours.
i have a kicker and i rarely use it for trolling. main reason i got it was just for what Reef mentioned – to have as a backup in case the big motor has problems
^ This is some great insight folks!
I can appreciate the peace of mind having a kicker can provide on big lakes. Paddling out of Voyagers or across LOTW would be horrible!
The approach mentioned of running both the electric and kicker simultaneously is interesting. I’m sure this would both allow fine-tuning for speed and additional boat control in wind/current.
Great stuff!
I’d say your on the edge of underpowered, especially for a 19′ boat with a windshield. But you could offset that if it’s a 36v (do they make 36v 80 lbs TM?), or with lithium batteries I’d think.
If it’s a tiller you are probably ok.
I had a 1775 ProV side counsel with 80 lbs TM and as long as the batteries were good and fully charged I’d be fine for most, if not all, of the day. Wind and current can change that quickly tho, so I’d probably just go bigger on the TM. If you plan running cranks all day, a lot of the time, get a kicker. So basically I agree w/ Karry, read that after I wrote this lol
Do you have an expectation for the lifespan of electric trolling motors? Do these systems keep a running total of hours used?
I know the batteries may need to be changed. I’m asking about the power head.
You’re going to be underpowered to pull cranks with your trolling motor.
To me, the whole perk of pulling cranks is to really cover water. It’s rare for me to pull cranks under 2.4mph, with average speeds around 3.0 – 3.3 mph. There are times in the late summer where I’ve caught fish pushing 4mph. Spinners, 3 ways, bottom bouncers you may be fine depending on conditions.
I’ve got an 80# trolling motor on a 17′ fiberglass single console Tuffy…and there’s no way I can pull cranks with just the trolling motor except when I’m going with the wind. If I am by myself, I generally use the main motor for thrust (115hp) and have my trolling motor down with remote to either steer or fine tune the speed while messing with rods and swapping baits. If I have guests with and am trying to just put them on fish, I stay at the console studying the graph, waypoints, track, and adjusting speed and direction with the wheel while instructing them what to do with the rods.
You’re going to be underpowered to pull cranks with your trolling motor.
To me, the whole perk of pulling cranks is to really cover water. It’s rare for me to pull cranks under 2.4mph, with average speeds around 3.0 – 3.3 mph. There are times in the late summer where I’ve caught fish pushing 4mph. Spinners, 3 ways, bottom bouncers you may be fine depending on conditions.I’ve got an 80# trolling motor on a 17′ fiberglass single console Tuffy…and there’s no way I can pull cranks with just the trolling motor except when I’m going with the wind. If I am by myself, I generally use the main motor for thrust (115hp) and have my trolling motor down with remote to either steer or fine tune the speed while messing with rods and swapping baits. If I have guests with and am trying to just put them on fish, I stay at the console studying the graph, waypoints, track, and adjusting speed and direction with the wheel while instructing them what to do with the rods.
Your boat is much heavier then a 18ft aluminum
Go with the 112 trust me it will not work well with cranks, or in wind not at all. I have a deep V aluminum with an 80 and wish I would have gone with the 112.
Go with the 112 trust me it will not work well with cranks, or in wind not at all. I have a deep V aluminum with an 80 and wish I would have gone with the 112.
112 would be nice for me on the river. But on a lake my 80 lbs motorguide x5 does 3.5 with out wind. For me that’s more then Sufficient 80 percent of my day. But I find pulling cranks to be pretty boring so it’s a very last resort
Same on the boring part and my last resort also. We were trying to troll a rock wall in wind and had a hard time keeping away from danger for me when going into the wind. Most times the 80 is plenty, just when first buying it it does not cost much more but does if you swap later.
I run a bass rig, no kicker. Outboard is too fast at idle to troll. I troll for walleye when up on northern lakes, and on the Mississippi River using my bow mounted trolling motor. This boat has a 36 volt 109 lb thrust. I am troll for many hours in slack water. In current less time. Years ago I ran an 18’6 aluminum bass rig, no kicker. Outboard at idle too fast as the above deal. With the aluminum rig I trolled with the bow mounted trolling motor also. 24 volt, 80 lbs of thrust. Hope this helps you out. I will say this, if trolling was something I did more, like my main focus, I would have a kicker or smaller outboard for that. But, I would never be without a bow mounted electric.
If you like pulling cranks a lot I’d recommend getting a kicker.
If you only plan on doing it a handful of hours a day here and there, you could live without one.
There’s some tricks to help save battery power when you do.
Number one: Trim up your main to reduce drag.
Number two: if you have a full windshield, keep the glass closed when trolling with the wind (to act as a sail), and open it if you’re trolling into any wind
Number three: When trolling into a decent wind/waves, use your main engine. If it’s too fast, toss out a small drift sock. You can also have your trolling motor deployed and turned sideways (off), the added drag will slow you down a few tenths.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
You’re going to be underpowered to pull cranks with your trolling motor.
To me, the whole perk of pulling cranks is to really cover water. It’s rare for me to pull cranks under 2.4mph, with average speeds around 3.0 – 3.3 mph. There are times in the late summer where I’ve caught fish pushing 4mph. Spinners, 3 ways, bottom bouncers you may be fine depending on conditions.I’ve got an 80# trolling motor on a 17′ fiberglass single console Tuffy…and there’s no way I can pull cranks with just the trolling motor except when I’m going with the wind. If I am by myself, I generally use the main motor for thrust (115hp) and have my trolling motor down with remote to either steer or fine tune the speed while messing with rods and swapping baits. If I have guests with and am trying to just put them on fish, I stay at the console studying the graph, waypoints, track, and adjusting speed and direction with the wheel while instructing them what to do with the rods.
Your boat is much heavier then a 18ft aluminum
-A 2022 Alumacraft 185 Competitor weighs 1500# dry
-A 2010 Tuffy Osprey 1760 single console weighs 1500# dry
The fiberglass runs through the water with a little less resistance and sits lower too. I’ll stick to my point that the original boat would be underpowered to pull cranks with the 80# trolling motor on all but the calmest of waters. As soon as you add in a chop or some waves, a trolling motor’s capabilities really start to diminish without a 36v high thrust system.
I will pull cranks with my 80# electric when I’m up under 10′ of water long lining. That’s really the only time I feel that fish are truly spooky from the motor overhead. Once you are out in ~15′ of water and the noise of current, other boats, and so on on the river with minimal water clarity…reactionary strikes don’t seem to change with the big motor vs electric.
It has been said very well already basically if you troll a lot get a kicker if occasional get a 36 volt trolling motor where if you go with a kicker 80 will work fine.
For me kicker all the way many a day of casting morning and evenings on structure and trolling the rest of the day might be 6-8 hours. There is no way just a trolling motor would hold up. Figure casting structure using spot lock constantly, then asking it to troll for 6 or more hours not going to happen..
If you can afford it, get both. If you have to make a choice, get a 112 because you can use it for a lot more applications.
I run a Ranger Reata with a 175 Yamaha, no kicker, and a 112. I have rarely had to use the main to troll but it works if needed.
I think you can also get troll control for the main where you can idle down in small increments. I’m not really familiar with it but that’s an option.
It has been said very well already basically if you troll a lot get a kicker if occasional get a 36 volt trolling motor where if you go with a kicker 80 will work fine.
For me kicker all the way many a day of casting morning and evenings on structure and trolling the rest of the day might be 6-8 hours. There is no way just a trolling motor would hold up. Figure casting structure using spot lock constantly, then asking it to troll for 6 or more hours not going to happen..
I ran the 112 for almost 11 hours yesterday on spot lock and trolling upstream and down. Used 50% of the battery. They will last but might not always be the best option.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Tom P. wrote:</div>
It has been said very well already basically if you troll a lot get a kicker if occasional get a 36 volt trolling motor where if you go with a kicker 80 will work fine.
For me kicker all the way many a day of casting morning and evenings on structure and trolling the rest of the day might be 6-8 hours. There is no way just a trolling motor would hold up. Figure casting structure using spot lock constantly, then asking it to troll for 6 or more hours not going to happen..I ran the 112 for almost 11 hours yesterday on spot lock and trolling upstream and down. Used 50% of the battery. They will last but might not always be the best option.
There again you are right it all comes to to how fast you need to troll, if I am trolling .7-.1.3 my 80 lb will last the better part of the day. But kick that speed up during summer or on the river during spring high water where you might be running 3+ MPH or fighting high currents spotlocked isn`t going to happen.
Rainy Lake backup was a consideration, when I bought a 18′ Alumacraft with a 115 Yamaha and 9.9 kicker with 80# Terrova, and did houseboat with just my wife and me. Besides that, 80# motor on high will go backwards in high spring flow on the Mississippi. I adjust the kicker to just slip in current, then steer with the Terrova. If I was to buy a boat today. As I fish by myself 90% of the time now. No longer fish in storms. And fish with a group at Rainy
. I would drop to a 1650 with the new Yamaha lighweight 70hp, maybe a tiller. Would go as fast as I need, troll nice and be great on fuel. All from one motor. With my 115, I would have to change props or drag a sock to slow enough to troll with it.
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