Anyone troll with their bowmount?

This question relates to my boat restoration. I'm trying to decide how and where to set up my batteries.

If you do any trolling with a bowmount, what pound thrust and how long do you get out of your batteries? All day? 12V or 24V? I mainly bass fish. I would like to do some lake trolling for trout and such from time to time. A kicker motor is not in the budget for a while. I was planning on getting a bow mount with the ipilot.

As a result of my plan, questions are coming to mind since I never had this sort of boat. If I have a 24V trolling motor, should those batteries be designated only for my trolling motor only (no accessories fed). If that's the case, should I have two more batteries? One for cranking the motor and one for accessories? Is four batteries excessive? Need some input. Thanks to all.

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

For example, I have a 17 ft bass boat with a 70lb trolling motor. I can easily troll all day with my group 30 (I think) Delco batteries. I have 3 batteries. 2 for the trolling motor only and everything else goes to the starting battery. Never connect electronics to the same battery as the trolling battery.

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

Thank you Admiral, excellent info. I do believe I have a plan now. I should have added, my vessal is a 17' aluminum. I decided to go with 4 batteries. 2 for a 24V 70# Minn Kota Riptide w/ iPilot. 1 battery for cranking and 1 battery for accessories/emergency backup. Unless someone can talk me out of the 4th battery.....there it is. Thanks for responding.

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

The only way I troll is using my bowmounted Minn Kota. I actually sit in the back seat, stretch out and control the motor with the 20 foot cord. As mentioned above, make sure you don't hook other things to your deep cycle you use for trolling as it may interfere.
I have a 21 foot aluminum Crestliner and can troll non-stop for 6 1/2 hours on a single 12 volt deep cycle using the 55# new Minn Kota Terrova. It's a great way to relax and troll silently.

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

More support for my plan. You just closed the case for me rndn.

......now if I can fix that !@#$% leak, the dream will be in stage 2.

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

I have a Motorguide wireless 55 on a 17' Tracker deep V and can troll continious for 20 hrs. (2 1/2 days) at speeds from 0.8 - 1.2 mph on one 12 V deep cycle battery.

The key fob remote is really the cats arse! I sit at the console and watch the GPS for speed and the sonar for fish and listen for a rod to go off.

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

I have an older 41lb motorguide on a 85 17' tracker and have gone all weekend trolling with 2 group 27 deep cycle batteries with no problems. As for your leak my boat does the same and after this fishing season I'm gonna remove all my decking and carpet and use a paint on bedliner inside the hull to stop the leaks. Stupid riveted hulls always seem to leak.

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

I've trolled many hours with only a bowmount. The best way I found to stay on a straight course was to leave my main motor in the water, acting as a sort of rudder. When I was trolling in that style I was using a 36lb motor 12v and getting maybe 6-8 hours of trolling time, depending on speed.

I will also ad that using a bowmount to troll is far from ideal, IMO. I have a kicker now and it's a world of difference.

In terms of your batteries. I would have dedicated batteries for my trolling motor and definitely you need to have a seperate cranking battery for starting.

Four batteries IMO is a lot of weight, depending on the size of your boat and engine. My boat and engine are both small (16.5' & 45hp), I have 3 batts, and I think it's a little too much weight. I'm actually going to get rid of my bowmount (I have a 67lb 24v Motor Guide Brute now), but keep the deepcycle batts as a power station for lights, cooking aparatus, and other accessories (I like to camp on my boat).

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

Guthookd said:

I will also ad that using a bowmount to troll is far from ideal, IMO.

Click to expand...

That really depends on where you're fishing and what you're fishing for, it also depends on what kind of bowmount you have as well.

I troll man made reservoirs for Crappie with my bowmount. I troll some very skinny water (2-4' deep).

The only noise from my bowmount is a very quiet hum and there aren't any exhaust fumes to choke on either.

Turning is much easier and more responsive with a bowmount.

If will agree that if you have a weak bowmount with just a cabled foot control it can be a real chore being a slave to a foot pedal... but if you have a Minn kota I pilot or Motor guide Wireless that can be controlled from anywhere in the boat, it's a piece of cake!

I long line/flat line troll water from 2-30' deep depending on the time of year. I never have to go faster that 1.2 mph and most of the time it's 1.0 mph or slower. The presentation I use will catch many different species, I know this for a fact because I catch just about every darn thing in the lake... except Carp, but I'm still waiting.

I plan to use this presentation for Walleye and other species the next time I'm up north... even if I am limited to just 1 or 2 rods.

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

Good point jigngrub. I troll mainly for Coho in much deeper water and I have yet to own a wireless, but that does sound convenient.

Re: Anyone troll with their bowmount?

I have a 16FT Princecraft Starfish deluxe with a 55lbs thrust Motorguide Wireless and 2 batteries and thats enough for me. I have a battery selector switch which I can interchange either battery and can troll all day long, When I run my main motor I then charge both batterries on board. 4 cells might be an overkill but more the better, I am running 2 optima's which keeps me trolling for long time.