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#27 ·


My first boat! Maiden voyage about 2 weeks ago was successful!
(Pain in the ass to register a homemade trailer in IL)



95' Skeeter SS90
One of the 'smaller' bassboats but its more than enough for me and a friend or two!
 
#34 ·
FloridaRigger said:
Traded in my Alumacraft for a new Lund on Saturday.
2014 Lund 1650 Rebel XL SS
Merc 60HP 4 stroke
Minn Kota 80lb Terrova with I-pilot
Humminbird 788ci's on the console and bow
Click to expand...
Very nice & congrats. Please DO report on your experience with the i pilot.

Boat #1:
My Lowe roughneck 1752 VPT, 70hp evinrude 2-stroke. Boat has sat the last few as its been time to repower. The motor is beat. Just a little conflicted as to whether to re-power this 1, or wait to upgrade to an 1860 boat of similar style, or just move to a jet-outboard/tunnel-hull setup. Short on refinement but it fishes very well and beating the crap out of it it is relatively guilt-free!
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Boat #2:
Basstender 11.3. Bought this for canal fishing in southeast FLA & brought it back home with me. Great little boat for electric only & ramp-less water.
Front deck makes it nice for pitching docks, trees, etc, & plenty stable for 2 to stand & fish.
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#36 ·
Very nice FR!!

Cletedius - I-pilot is worth every penny. I absolutely love mine. The only thing is I have the powerdrive I-pilot, not the Terrova. The Terrova lets you use both the footpedal and remote control at the same time, where I am pretty much stuck with only the remote. The only time I wish that I had the footpedal is when really getting tight to flip docks and maneuver around them quickly. A little bit of a pain with just the remote, but I've made due. I'm a big musky fisherman, so the auto-pilot feature allows me to get a lot more casts in throughout a day on the water.
 
#37 ·
irish bandit said:
Very nice FR!!

Cletedius - I-pilot is worth every penny. I absolutely love mine. The only thing is I have the powerdrive I-pilot, not the Terrova. The Terrova lets you use both the footpedal and remote control at the same time, where I am pretty much stuck with only the remote. The only time I wish that I had the footpedal is when really getting tight to flip docks and maneuver around them quickly. A little bit of a pain with just the remote, but I've made due. I'm a big musky fisherman, so the auto-pilot feature allows me to get a lot more casts in throughout a day on the water.
Click to expand...
IB- I have been thinking about the Terrova vs Fortrex lately. What is it that you like so much about the I-Pilot? Do you follow contour lines? I plan on having a Talon so I don't really need the spot lock unless I was in deep water. I just wonder if I am ever going to use the other features that the I-Pilot offers that justify the cost. Plus, a cable is much better than the wire for close quarters fishing. Interested in your thoughts.
 
#38 ·
autopilot is a must have for me and only available on the electric steer trolling motors. i-pilot is more of a luxury with the spot lock and record a track. follow the contour requires the i-pilot link, attached to a humminbird with a lakemaster chip that supports it. my terrova supports I-link but I havent dropped $250 yet for the ethernet switch to use it.
 
#39 ·
Ted - It really all comes down to the way you fish and what you fish for. Look at the Bassmasters Elite series, or any other big series bass guys. You won't see an I-pilot hanging off the front because of a lot of close quarters fishing. On the other side of that, those guys make a living on their boats and are amazing with their boat control and being able to man the foot pedal and fish better than us "recreational fisherman."

So, what is it that I like so much about it? No, I do not use the I-pilot to follow contour lines, mainly because I have the older model without that capability. However, that'd be incredibly handy out on Lake Geneva or any other time you're working deep weeds or breaks. I found that when I had the foot pedal I was spending too much time in a spot because I like to nose the boat into the wind when possible on spots. Let off the pedal for a few seconds and you start drifting either backwards or angling side to side causing this extra time. I love that I can set the auto-pilot to a specific speed, .1 MPH differences, point the head where you want to go and start casting. Working slow baits, .3-.4 mph, working fast .6-.8-.9 mph depending on how you want to cover the water. I like the fact that you aim the head where you want it to go and it will keep auto-correcting itself until the boat is pointed directly towards where you told it to go. No spinning around in circles! If you ever decide to troll, you can use the trolling motor for precise speed control. When I night troll on Geneva and Delavan, I'm only running the I pilot. I use the spot lock quite a bit if we land a fish that needs or deserves attention so we don't keep running down the spot, but like you said the Talon will take care of that in probably 75% of your applications. I don't use the track feature all that often, but when we set-up milk runs musky fishing up north, we'll save a couple tracks so it the boat just runs it's course.
 
#40 ·
irish bandit said:
Ted - It really all comes down to the way you fish and what you fish for. Look at the Bassmasters Elite series, or any other big series bass guys. You won't see an I-pilot hanging off the front because of a lot of close quarters fishing. On the other side of that, those guys make a living on their boats and are amazing with their boat control and being able to man the foot pedal and fish better than us "recreational fisherman."

So, what is it that I like so much about it? No, I do not use the I-pilot to follow contour lines, mainly because I have the older model without that capability. However, that'd be incredibly handy out on Lake Geneva or any other time you're working deep weeds or breaks. I found that when I had the foot pedal I was spending too much time in a spot because I like to nose the boat into the wind when possible on spots. Let off the pedal for a few seconds and you start drifting either backwards or angling side to side causing this extra time. I love that I can set the auto-pilot to a specific speed, .1 MPH differences, point the head where you want to go and start casting. Working slow baits, .3-.4 mph, working fast .6-.8-.9 mph depending on how you want to cover the water. I like the fact that you aim the head where you want it to go and it will keep auto-correcting itself until the boat is pointed directly towards where you told it to go. No spinning around in circles! If you ever decide to troll, you can use the trolling motor for precise speed control. When I night troll on Geneva and Delavan, I'm only running the I pilot. I use the spot lock quite a bit if we land a fish that needs or deserves attention so we don't keep running down the spot, but like you said the Talon will take care of that in probably 75% of your applications. I don't use the track feature all that often, but when we set-up milk runs musky fishing up north, we'll save a couple tracks so it the boat just runs it's course.
Click to expand...
I hear ya IB. I'm knowledgeable about the pros and cons of each motor. It's just that I both largemouth fish in tight quarters and also fish smallies in open water so there are times when each motor would be ideal. I've just been finding out how others use their Terrova to see if it justifies an extra $600+ over the Fortrex. I've already got my Hbirds linked so I can just steer to a waypoint. AP would be nice but I have gotten by without it for 14 years. Still in the fact-gathering mode.
 
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