Pluses and minuses for electric trolling motor

First off, I am moving back to Portland!!!  Can't wait to getting back to fishing after living in California for the past few years.  I love fishing Columbia and Willamette, along with coastal estuaries and lakes.  My kayak is a Feel Free Lure 11.5 with a rudder and I have a Scotty rod holder mounted on a Ram and track system.

A lot of my fishing will be trolling. I am considering an electric trolling motor set up. Any tips or ideas for mounting, which motor, battery selection, etc.  I've tried trolling for trout while paddling in lakes and it just seems challenging with wind and maintaining course and speed. Doing this with salmon gear and currents of the river and other boater will be even more difficult.  Open to ideas.

Thanks!

Be careful saying it's too hard to paddle and troll for salmon or you might get the "Full Spot Smackdown" with photos.
Remember if it has a motor it will have to be registered as a boat with the marine board and have letters on it.

Be careful saying it's too hard to paddle and troll for salmon or you might get the "Full Spot Smackdown" with photos.
Remember if it has a motor it will have to be registered as a boat with the marine board and have letters on it.

And not to mention that's why lots of us get a kayak, to get away from motors and such. You need a heavy battery and then the motor. If you want a trolling motor get a boat. It's no trouble to trolling for trout.just get used to your equipment.

A lot of my fishing will be trolling. I am considering an electric trolling motor set up. Any tips or ideas for mounting, which motor, battery selection, etc.  I've tried trolling for trout while paddling in lakes and it just seems challenging with wind and maintaining course and speed. Doing this with salmon gear and currents of the river and other boater will be even more difficult.  Open to ideas.

Thanks!

Have you read any of the kayak fishing reports on this site? Thats exactly how we fish, trolling with man power using heavy weights in heavy currents,  catching right in front of the boats. Thats what id advise you to do & yaktastic makes a great point; you want a motor get a boat or just get used to the equipment. Welcome back to Portland, now man up & learn to pull some weight trolling for these prize fish. It's a great workout & cheaper than medical care in the longrun.

Hey folks, I agree that paddling is best next peddling but when you get to almost 80 years old I need my Torqeedo to make sure I can get Home. Please don't shit on my parade. Most of the guys and gals Iknow will tell you I fish fair, pay my entry fees but don't participate cuz of the motor, so ifa fella has a reason for extra power
To continue this great sport don't put him down. Super man shit will leave us all at sometime and anything that gives us a few more hours on the waternshouldbe accepted. my 2 cents, Art

You make a good point, Art; we shouldn't assume Fish mojo is a younger guy.  Then again, we shouldn't assume he's as old as me, either.   

My brother picked up a Predator XL Minn Kota because he's just not that in to paddling and peddle kayaks cost just as much or more. Here's some second-hand observations.

Pros:

In the right circumstances (slow, calm water & easy launch point), he can cover a lot of water with minimal effort (once on the water).
It costs about the same or less than a peddle kayak, but your prop is a lot more sturdy then those $$$ flippers that can shear off.
It's super wide, which means it's super stable.

Cons:

His kayak is silly heavy, even when completely unloaded--98lbs or so? He roof mounts it on a truck, but that takes two people or a scary roll of the dice.
The removable motor console is also heavy and takes up a lot of/almost all of what would be your workspace.
The marine-grade battery is another lead brick you'll have to pack around (and can be expensive).
It's super wide, so when not using the motor and/or motor console, it's sluggish, non-responsive, and excessively tiring to paddle.

+/-

Trying to register it can be amusing. To paraphrase: water vessels with motors (including trolling) need to be registered. However, Kayaks do not need to be registered. See the issue there? The standard gov't employee won't be able to wrap their head around that, and you may get passed around from person to person, while exploding heads.

TLDR

All together, I think his rig comes in at almost 140 lbs when fully loaded (98 kayak, 25 battery, 15 console with motor)? It's a boat, really, and it needs to be trailered.

He actually picked up a second kayak (70lbs; paddler) for when he doesn't want to take the barge out (read: doesn't have someone to help him load it). But under the right circumstances it can be a great purchase (IE, if you trailer it and treat it like a small boat).

Hey folks, I agree that paddling is best next peddling but when you get to almost 80 years old I need my Torqeedo to make sure I can get Home. Please don't shit on my parade. Most of the guys and gals Iknow will tell you I fish fair, pay my entry fees but don't participate cuz of the motor, so ifa fella has a reason for extra power
To continue this great sport don't put him down. Super man shit will leave us all at sometime and anything that gives us a few more hours on the waternshouldbe accepted. my 2 cents, Art

Art good point.by the post I was assuming he was a capable, able bodied soul as nothing lead to any handicap  of any sort. My point was it seemed to me he was complicating it to much. Go fish for a while and get the hang of your gear.

have never met but I read all your stories and if your kayak fishing at 80yo you can pilot what ever you want lol. I hope to be as active as you at 80.my hats off you sir.

Yaktastic, Istarted this sport of ours around 1990 for excerzie and found myself in skinny water here in Tx that I always wanted to fish, been thru 14 yaks of all types. Caught more damned fish from the yaks than I ever did from PB. Tore my shoulder up at theshipwreck this fall and had to leave for home when I found I couldn't self rescue. If all works out after surgery I hope to beat bouy 10 early Sep. see y'all there. Art

Fish mojo, if motorizing a kayak trips your trigger, then get after it and have fun.  You'll probably spend more on a motor, batteries, and all the tinkering it will take to make it work than you'd spend selling your boat and buying a pedal-drive kayak.  If you really want to make a trolling motor work on your boat, just google it.  There are pages and pages of kayak trolling motor how-to's on the internet.  Be safe, have fun, and don't let all the nay-sayers wee in your Cheerios!

I've used an electric on my trident 13 when I went of shore a little ways for halibut. I just used a ratchet strap to hold a battery in with a 2 by 4 attached to it right behind the seat. The 2 by stuck our a few extra inches on one side and I hooked a small electric motor to it. It worked great! It's nice to have the backup incase your muscles cramp up on you when your 7 miles from the beach. I'm only 32, and not too proud, lol. Next year I won't get to use the electric because I won't be able to use it and win the AOTY at the same time[emoji6]


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I hauled a Predator XL we got donated to HOW up to Hoodsport for a Veteran with a high BMI. He had difficulty viewing and operating the throttle controls on the motor console. His pfd compounded the issue when he looked down. Glad he didn't have to purchase one to ascertain that model wasn't right for him. Where the throttle control is located is definitely something to think about. Also, the Predator has awesome dual kill switches. One if the motor rises out of the mount and a clip for your pfd if you dismount.

Yaktastic, Istarted this sport of ours around 1990 for excerzie and found myself in skinny water here in Tx that I always wanted to fish, been thru 14 yaks of all types. Caught more damned fish from the yaks than I ever did from PB. Tore my shoulder up at theshipwreck this fall and had to leave for home when I found I couldn't self rescue. If all works out after surgery I hope to beat bouy 10 early Sep. see y'all there. Art

True Grit, it's not just a John Wayne movie.

Fish Mojo, demo a couple of pedal kayaks.  You may decide that you don't need a motor.  Some of the advantages of pedal kayaks over paddle kayaks are (1) you have both hands free to fish, eat lunch, put on sunscreen, or whatever, while you pedal around, (2) you can cover more distance faster and with less effort in a pedal kayak, (3) when jigging you can pedal gently into the wind to hold yourself stationary over the bottom, which is tough to do in a paddle kayak unless you have three arms, and (4) you can maneuver effectively while playing fish in a pedal kayak.

I have a 13' Revolution and a 13' Trident. The Trident sits in my garage while I'm out fishing every weekend in my Revolution.  I only use the Trident for fishing shallow rivers and spearfishing.

I was thinking of switching to a pedal kayak myself, but I will lose the space in the front to keep 2 crab pots. I like to crab and fishing at the same time, so that will not work for me. I fished at Shilhole bay in the summer, and the current was really strong and I had a hard time fishing and getting back to the dock. So I decided to put in a trolling motor this winter, hope to see some of you guys out there in the summer.