Every year I get a bunch of people asking me for suggestions on setting their boat up, or basic requirements for reasonable outings on trolling motor only lakes around the twin cities metro area.
All of these lakes have good quantities of fish, many of them harbor good numbers of trophy fish in different species… I cant blame people for wanting to pursue them on their own wheather its for a meal, or for a opportunity of a trophy.
The worst thing I commonly run across is people unprepared, or under-prepared with their boat for fishing these lakes. They come out with a big, heavy boat and an undersized trolling motor that does them just fine on most fishing trips where the outboard is being used to get from point A to B. Either the trolling motor is underpowered, or they have 2 little group 24 batteries and one of them is a starting battery and a trolling motor that would do a great job as doubling for a wind tunnel fan with 1000# of thrust.
Overall, my biggest suggestion is to invest into a good Transom mount trolling motor, and a pair of good group 29-31 batteries to power that trolling motor. I recommend at least 50# of thrust for the lightest boats, and at least 65# thrust for 16’+ boats that are decked out and heavier. Why a transom mount? Becuase they are more efficient pushing the boat tha they are pulling the boat. A lower power setting will give better results when going across country, or full power will usually get you an extra mile per hour(which is considerable when your motor will only run for 2 at full throttle, thats 2 extra miles).
After determining the weight of your boat, the power of your trolling motor, the weather(wind hurts).. take into consideration what your fishing tecniques are going to be. If you plan on doing some trolling, especially high speed trolling, your 2 batteries on hand are going to last from 2-5 hours depending on the efficiency of your boat/trolling motor package, and battery life. If you plan on fishing all day, plan on having some backup batteries in the boat.
Pack light.. every pound you put in that boat is going to slow you down and eat more juice. If you have a smaller boat, go as far as taking off the outboard motor and remove the gas tank.
Be conservative.. Keep in mind the higher power setting, the less run time you are going to have on the water. If your launching at lake Calhoun and intend to focus most your energy on Cedar lake… your far better off running at 1/2 throttle and pulling a shad rap that you are to blow across lake of the isles and the channels at full throttle and eat a ton of juice.
It comes down to keep your boat as light as possible, and keep your speeds down. If your speeds have to be fast(trolling for muskies), be sure to have extra batteries on hand because you will need them. There is nothing worse than an overweight, or overloaded boat with dead batteries! The smaller the boat you can use, the better.
Myslef, I am usually rigged with 2 trolling motors, a bow and transom mount. The bow is obviously better for casting, the transom is better for traveling, trolling, and getting the boat on the trailer! If something does happen where a motor fails, I have a spare. For batteries I run 2 group 29 batteries that will take care of most of my trips(up to about 6 hours) even if I am trolling shad raps around 1.5 mph. I have 2 group 24 batteries for backup that are rarely needed, but do get used on windy days, or when I get adventurous.
It sounds expensive and a hassle, but its worth it for fishing the lakes in the back yard full of fish. For most of us, a $500 investment would put a good transom mount trolling motor on the boat, and take care of the extra needed battery supply.. It could obviously be more depending on the motor you choose to purchase, but its nothing compared to the price of a kicker, and can be used in place of a kicker for trolling applications on other outings when outboards are allowed.
. Thanks for the info, I’ll probably have to try it some time. 