Trolling Motor for Lake Fishing

[smithmal]

The reason the Minn Kota rep indicated 55lb might be overkill was specifically due to trolling speed. He thought 40/45 and maybe 50 could keep the boat slow enough for decent trolling speed but @ 55lb, it would have too much power to throttle down to a trolling speed. What have you found with a 55lb? I'm a big believer in going bigger than you'd think you'd need, but if it wouldn't perform decently as a trolling motor due to my boat's weight, that may be a problem.

[bignose]

If you go with the variable speed Endure Max, the speed is kinda irrelevant, you can set it however you want.

With either the 30 lb. thrust or the 55 lb. thrust motors, the top speed, (which comes in with quite a jolt), is used only to get from one point to another as quickly as the canoe can go safely.

Trolling would be done at one of the slower speeds. It's just a matter of finding which one works best....the wind can influence this. Trolling into the wind may have to be done at a higher setting, than trolling with the wind.

I seldom troll anymore, BTW. I have done this in the past, but keeping track of two or more rods, while keeping the lines free and clear of the motor (which is on the side of the canoe), got to be more trouble than it was worth. Getting braided line wrapped around your motor's shaft will make you rethink this technique.
I'm more inclined to dock hop and fish targeted areas instead of trolling.
To each their own.

If you are fishing Liberty are you planning on trolling? It is primarily a bass and sunfish fishery, not the usual trolling species.
They do have a resident population of landlocked stripers in Liberty, but I am not aware if they are targeted by trolling.

[smithmal]

BG,

Thanks for all the great responses you have given me in this thread. I really appreciate it. You are correct that I'll be fishing at Liberty and mainly fishing for bass. According to this link, trolling for bass can be quite effective. Thoughts?

https://bassfishing-gurus.com/fishin...ques-trolling/

In terms of tangles in the motor, I can see that being a huge problem. What are your thoughts about bow mounting the motor? That would keeps the weight of the motor and battery up front which better distributes weight across the boat. It also gives you better control and fixes the line tangle issues.

I know that bow mounting motors are usually done with larger boats and rarely done with canoes, but...

smithmal

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[bignose]

I don't think bow mounting is a good idea.
Hard to reach and lift, and I like my hand directly on the tiller. The motor is going to be in the way, one way or another, no matter where it is located. The Bass guys want theirs up front because they are standing on the front deck and the big motor is in the way in the stern.
But they aren't trolling, either.
Trolling for bass? Eh, maybe..........
You'll need to be able to till it up when landing and to avoid obstructions, getting up and reaching the bow doesn't strike me as a viable option.

I am left handed and have the motor hanging off of the right side about 18" from the stern. HJS is right handed, and has his motor on the left side.
With the extention handle out, reaching slightly back from where I sit seems the best option.
The trolling motor isn't heavy enough to need any significant counter balance, just set the battery on the opposite side of the midline.

Be aware, since the motor is offset to one side, the boat will steer differently to each side.
With my motor located on the right side, right turns are not as sharp as left turns. Sometimes trying to turn into the wind results in the canoe skating sideways unless you have a keel. I don't think that your Nova Craft canoe does. That may be one of the only advantages of those heavy old aluminum canoes. Most of them had a substantial keel to provide stiffness.

I use an Old Town motor mount, very heavy duty 1/2" bar stock aluminum. YouTube has a lot of canoe / kayak DIY motor mounts to look at.
I compensated for the weight distribution by placing the battery up front (I needed heavy 6 gauge cables to extend this).

My seating position is about 2/3 of the way back from the front. Any further back and the bow is raised and swings like a weather vane in the wind. To achieve that, I removed the front passenger thwart and run the canoe backwards. I think HJS sits on the passenger thwart facing the "stern" as well. I try to keep the weight balanced to maintain trim.
It's a symmetrical hull so it doesn't really matter which end is the "front."

Don't make the common mistake of trying to sit in the normal stern seat to solo, your bow will be sticking up too high. If you combine that with the motor and battery back there, if that is your operating position, the stern will settle even lower when you go to full power and you you could potentially end up with the stern dangerously close to the water, or at least a very difficult craft to control.

[smithmal]

BG,

Good deal. Thanks for all your responses. I really appreciate it.

smithmal