xi5 remote vs foot pedal

I originally got my xi5 with just a remote as I mainly walleye fish. However, come the dog days of summer in the metro area I find myself bass fishing more…or should I say fish fishing for anything that will bite. In doing this it would be nice to have the pedal.

Also jigging two rods on the river with the remote gets a little tricky and it may be nice to have the pedal here.

I was close to pulling the trigger on just buying the wireless foot pedal but thought I would ask what people think of it.

Opinions?

Can you use both the remote and foot pedal at the same time?

I will say in regards to bass fishing with my terrova, I use the foot pedal when fishing visible structure. I’ll always use the remote when fishing structure on the graph or if I’m trolling.

I like to use the foot pedal for casting shorelines and such. If it’s a somewhat straight stretch I’ll just use autopilot.

I have had the xi5 for two years and have only turned the foot pedal on when I installed the unit. I only walleye fish though, so my experience may not be that helpful

I have started to use mine a lot this year since I can keep my hands free. All things being equal, we all know that he with the most casts usually boats the most fish.

PM me if your interested in a NIB foot pedal

Yes you can use the remote and the pedal at the same time. It has a spot lock button on it as well. Easy to turn on and off. Hold down anchor lock til it beeps once and that’s on, hold down again and beeps twice to shut off. I’ve used mine since this spring and bass fish a lot and haven’t had to change the batteries out. I personally wish it was more sensitive or touchy when you push on the pedal to steer but that’s just me. Oh, right tab is prop on and off, speed adjust is on a circular dial, and lastly the gas pedal on off for the prop is the right tab on top corner. The speed adjustment on the pedal works so so when I try to adjust it but I have my pedal on the wood bench seat so it’s a little slippery. The speed of your trolling motor switches to whatever wireless device you’re using. For example, if i turn my trolling motor on with my remote and turn it to its top speed, shut it off, and turn it back on with the pedal, it will go the speed that the pedal was set to. Same goes with the remote. If it’s on high adjusted by the remote, and I turn the prop off, if I turn the prop back on with the remote again, it’ll resume to high again. Overall I’ve had no issues with mine, including the wireless not having range, but I do fish in a little 16′ lund so it’s never that far away from the trolling motor. Hope this is somewhat helpful in your decision on buying the pedal.

I have only had my Xi5 this spring and didn’t have a bow mount for about 15 years before that, but I too think there is a time and place for the foot pedal. I really like the hand held remote, but there are times the foot pedal would be a bonus.

If I had your money Evan I would most certainly get a foot pedal

Thanks guys.

Tonka, awesome recap that is exactly what I was looking for. Do you ever have issues with the trolling motor not receiving the pedal signal if anything/anyone is blocking the motor?

Bullcans, PM sent.

Sticker, I know you enjoying spending my money…that is no secret… wanna go to cabelas today ?!?!

Right now fishing shorelines I have been using anchor lock and then just jogging in the direction I want with the remote. It works but I pedal would be a little easier for this application.

My xi5 came with a foot pedal. I didn’t know you could get it without one.
The foot pedal has been used twice. Not a fan of it, but I don’t fish the way you do often.
If the pedal was more flat and not a rocker style I think I would use it much more often. That is my ONLY gripe about the motor is the foot pedal.

i use my terrova pedal when bass fishing. it was a must for me.

CaptainMusky wrote:

My xi5 came with a foot pedal. I didn’t know you could get it without one.
The foot pedal has been used twice. Not a fan of it, but I don’t fish the way you do often.
If the pedal was more flat and not a rocker style I think I would use it much more often. That is my ONLY gripe about the motor is the foot pedal.

Mine also came with both foot pedal and remote. I had never used a remote before, as I had a cable steer with my my old trolling motor. I have to admit, I have only used the foot pedal twice now. Seems like I use the remote more and I basically bass fish ALL the time. I mostly use the course setting lock button and just adjust on the go. Even on family vacation two weeks ago, my son and others who have never used a trolling motor before found the remote easy enough to use. Point it where you want to go and hit the course lock, then adjust on the fly. I don’t know that I will use the pedal much now.

I got the Xi5 this year and just use the remote. I like that the foot pedal is wireless but that’s about it. I use the heading lock (auto pilot) that along with the cruise control feature so that it will adjust the speed accordingly to stay on course.

I really like that you can record up to eight different routes, each with a maximum distance of four miles.

So I got my foot pedal from bullcans. Thanks a bunch by the way!

NIB, and installed the batteries and went out to use it last night.

I turned it on, then synced it by pushing both the anchor and constant prop on until my motor gave a tune.

It would then work for about 3 seconds, then stop working for about 5 seconds, then make a beep and work another 3 seconds, then stop for another 5 seconds. I kept doing this whether I had the pedal inches from the trolling motor or in the back of the boat.

I shut it off and then re synced it 2 more times and the same result.

I also have a remote synced up but was not using it well trying to get the foot pedal to work.

Any idea what is going on here?

Were the batteries any good? I would swap out the batteries for some different ones and see what happens. You shouldn’t need to re-sync it.

The batteries were off brand, but they were still in the plastic shrink wrapping. That is a good idea, they could be bad batteries.