Rizzo

thanks for the replies. I gotta be honest, I knew nothing about the different types of trolling motors when I got the boat. Have always just had a minn kota powerdrive. First time I put that motorguide in the water I nearly flipped myself out of the boat. With the chop on the water, it was literally impossible to keep the boat going straight and fish standing up at the same time...maybe if I wanted to sit while I fished I could do it...but I don't want to sit!After a bit of internet searching, looks to me the w55 would be the motorguide version of a "powerdrive" other than it is wireless. Think I will make the switch.

I believe it is the pro series motorguide...maybe on the foot pedal I can tighten it down some how. I actually told my buddy I may blow up 2 balloons and put them under the pedal to hold the dang thing in place. How's that for Macivoring it? I guess guys (like me before last week) who have never used a cable drive don't realize what I'm talking about. I guess for certain types of fishing (flipping jigs??) this might be a good trolling motor, but if you want to be standing, watching your lure come in as you creep along, it is not the right motor.

Mike I'm like you. Lots of the time barefoot, occasionally in crocs

By on the move I've got it on cruise control at a super slow speed on a calm day. At that speed with my buddy on board we definitely get a number of casts to the same spot....even hit the open water behind us. But I don't want to stay at that spot forever. I want to slowly creep along, and not have to worry about the trolling motor spinning around if my foot isn't on the pedal. And I also need the motor for is windy days (ie blowing you away from the structure, or blowing you right into the structure). Just a way to maintain being 100 feet away, and slowly creeping along. With my last model I could do this. With this new one it seems very sensitive and has a mind of its own. So my question is, would the w55 accomplish this or am I wasting Clarence's time? If it operates like a powerdrive, then I think the switch would be a good one.

I'm not too worried about delay, I just want to use it to keep me 100 feet away from the weeds, so there is no precision really needed. If I end up 90 feet away or 110 away its not a big deal. I can gradually correct this.What I want to avoid is the constant demand to have my foot on the controls. How the flip do you cast out bucktails, crank em in and do a figure 8 while you're foot is on the pedal?

So the new boat came with a "cable" guide trolling motor which I found very high maintenance to operate...always had to keep my foot on it or we would be doing donuts. Clarence from Bay City Marine has been kind enough to offer a swap for the Motorguide W55. Will this solve my problem? Don't know much about this unit but I'd like something that once you point it in a certain direction it just heads that way (something like the minn kota powerdrive unit on my last boat).Something you don't have to pay constant attention to. Is the W55 going to be more to my liking?

you never know what you'll get out there...we got a small hammerhead once!

my guess would be that was not allowed, but if this person is your neighbour I don't think you will have very good neighbourly relations should you turn them in!

haha Lew the eyes say it all.

I know me keeping the pike I get won't make much of a difference...but if every angler did it certainly wouldn't hurt (the musky)

Would musky be open there as well starting this week-end? Maybe a later start?

wow that sucks

sounds like a great day. Not excited to hear about the pike you caught though. Although I generally don't eat fish, a Balsam pike never survives me catching it. Luckily my buddy will eat anything

great video! Lots of nice fish

my 3 year old son (who should be in bed) just peered over my shoulder while I was looking at your photos and said "hhheeeyyyyyy that guy is fishing in OUR boat" (and now he's bugging me to scroll back to the picture)

...looks great Rob! Glad you got out and that all went well. A real nice look with your tow vehicle.

oh ya...very excited. Taking a 3 day trip the week after opener. Already counting down the sleeps!

note to self...never swim in that pool

gross...no offense, but gross. Not sure I could even touch one of those

I've actually caught more pike on figure 8's than muskies! I've even had pike wait for me at the side of the boat while I put the lure back in the water and start it moving again...dang silly pike. Long story short...I figure 8 both species (as apparently some other guys here do...and here I thought I was the only one!)

Thanks Ron. I was definitely more tentative than I would have been in my last boat, you don't know how it will respond. A couple of times I accelerated faster than I wanted and other times I bogged down rather than just popping up on the take off.

hey bigmac. In a brand new boat I gotta tell you that was a white knuckle ride heading out from the marina! At times the finder was reading 2.5 feet in the channel! The 90 Yamaha on the back of the boat is super heavy too so when going slow I sit pretty low in the water. I had it trimmed up pretty good but that thing is one BIG engine. Once we got out of the channel everything was ok. We were probably a km away from the xe2 marker though mainly in 8-10 feet

...I can see it now...go to figure 8 a fish and the boat itself will start doing figure 8's. I'm hoping it can be tightened up otherwise I see a lot of trolling in my future

yes cable operated

I've always had a minn kota in the past, and when I pointed it somewhere and put it on cruise you could pretty much leave it alone while you fished, with the occasional tweak of the pedal to stay on course. When I used my new motorguide yesterday it seemed incredibly high maintenance. If I wasn't constantly on the pedal the thing was doing 360's...very inconvenient. I'm assuming there is a way to kind of "lock" the foot pedal in place? If I have to constantly have my foot on the pedal I'm gonna go nuts. Before I go read through the instructions I hoped someone here would have a quick answer like "yes it will lock" or "nope, you're screwed and your new trolling motor will drive you insane requiring your constant attention"