Minn Kota i-Pilot

[silver]

Took the boat out in the tweed River last weekend. Looks like a good spot and FAR less crowded than the Broadwater up here on the Gold Coast. Caught about 10 flathead, 4 legal around 40-42cm and found lots of nice shallow spots that, as usual, nobody likes to fish.
I am going to look into a Minn Kota 55lb RT/ST with i-Pilot. They seem like the bees knees and was wondering if anybody uses one and what do they think.
https://www.minnkota.com.au/about/trolling-motors/saltwater-bow-mount/riptide-st.html

 

[silver]

Picked up the new motor yesterday and will have it fitted on saturday.
Need to cut down the length of the starboard bow rail to get the mounting plate on.
I bought a Minn Kota Quick Release Plate which makes it easy to take the motor off for travelling or for when i store the boat.
Looks the goods with the GPS. I can store tracks and as long as i am within 400mtrs of a stored track i press the button and it will take me back to the point and then retrace the selected track.
Also has Auto Pilot (which does not use GPS) and Advanced AP which lays down GPS points ahead of you and than takes you in that direction and takes into account wind, current etc.
Also has 'Spot Lock' which uses GPS points to keep you in one spot.
It's all controlled by a hand held remote unit.
It does other stuff but i reckon it will take me a while to sort it out.
They are not cheap but i got the quick release plate and the motor for close enough to $1,900.
Better catch some bloody fish for that price!!!:lol:

 

[mr turbo]

That Auto Pilot sounds like a great tool.

Regards
Mr Turbo

 

[silver]

Finally got to test out the new Minn Kota yesterday. So far.....excellent
Once i got used to what to do...up to a point that is...it was great.
'Spot lock' is great! A press of the button and you can hold a spot and have a cuppa and a smoke and then get back to fishing! It moves a bit and then brings you back to the spot but within reason you stay on the spot. It was quite windy yesterday on the Tweed River and there is a fair bit of current from the tide movements but all up it worked well.
The best feature to me is the track saving. You set up a track and manually steer the boat wherever you want to go. By manually i mean using the remote control. When you have finished you press the 'end track' and it is saved.
It can only hold 3 tracks and will automatically overide an old track at A,B, or C.
We did this and on the way back stopped about 100mtrs away and pressed Track A..Start. It will do it from up to 400mtrs away.
we were at the finish of the track and means it will take you to the 'start' of track A.
It's quite weird to see the motor turning by itself and off it went. We fished for about 1klm and did not have to do anything. The little motor just took us long. Bloody fantastic.
Once i get a bit more practice i am sure it will seem even better.