55lb thrust

[anchor man]

I'm picking up our new 1700 Lund Fisherman with 150 hp. It comes with a 55lb thrust power drive from Minnkota. Will this be enough thrust for this boat. I'll use it mainly for jigging and pulling lindies, not so much for cranks

[Deitz Dittrich]

As long as its not too windy, 55 should be fine... If you were battling some wind it might be tough!

[gspman]

I'd go 65# minimum and would go 74# if I had the dough to spend.

[styx]

I have the same boat and 55# thrust motor. The boat rides high and catches wind easily. You'll be ok if it's not windy. I would go higher if you can afford to.

[Mark Christianson]

55# is gonna be bare minimum for that boat.

I'd go bigger.

I made the mistake of going with a similar motor. Now I am looking at the Maxxum 65 or 74lb.

[jerkin'm]

As mentioned, any wind for any amount of time is going to eat your battery in no time. High sided boats like that catch a ton of wind, next thing you know, no juice. NOTHING worse than running out of battery power. I have the maxxum 74# on my boat, always have plenty of juice to get through the day. Even when my feet are getting rinsed by every other wave. Don't even think 55# of thrust unless you like bringing 2 or 3 backup batteries.

[92python]

The dilema is you will be faced with is having a big main motor that won't troll real well with a smallish trolling motor.

If you stick with the 55 bow mount you will not be able to troll at the speed you want to in all conditions.

What about if you want to pull bottom bouncers or cranks in the wind?

Sell the 55 and get a bigger 24 volt bow mount and good batteries.

[Mark Christianson]

Pull cranks with the trolling motor??? Now thats interesting.

Fire up the big motor for that.

[zelek]

Hey now....lots of people use a trolling motor for pulling cranks. It's the ticket after the sun goes down and the walleyes are up shallow--especially if it's calm out.

[dfv87]

I use the trolling motor with cranks alot. At night, shallow, and when it may be like glass. Allows you to have a conversation without yelling. Yeah, I know I need a 4 stroke!

[Mark Christianson]

You answered my question.

I have a Honda Tiller. I have forgotten what it was like with the 2 strokes....

I was trolling walleyes one day, and one boat was around me. After a while, the guy says "I was wondering how the heck you were trolling when the electric motor wasnt even in the water. You are using your big motor????"

[92python]

I try to use my electric motors when I can. I have a 24 volt system. I get 3.3 MPH on the GPS if I want to using my bow mount.

Reasons to use electrics include.

1) Doesn't use gas.

2) Less noise and smoke.

3) Both graphs will work when using the bow trolling motor so everyone can see how deep it is and we have 2 graphs to look at.

4) My Merc 75 gets at least 8 hours of trolling per week already when it is too rough for the electrics.

The real issue from the original post is being able to cover all speeds in most conditions. I can do that with a tiller 75, a tiller electric and a bow electric. If you have only a 150 HP and a 55lb bow mount you might need something in the middle like a kicker. A kicker on a 17 footer with a 150 puts a bunch of weight in the back.

I say get a big bow mount 24 volt with a 54 or 60 inch shaft and call it good.

[NWBuck]

anchor man,

I assume you have the 60" shaft?? That is also an issue. I have an 1800 Fisherman with a 65# 60" AP. It works OK most of the time, but I'll be upgrading to the 74 soon. It's a big boat, and I'd try to get the 24 v. system if you plan to fish alot. Don't know what 150 you've got, but I got the Yamaha on mine and 2-2.5 mph is about as slow as it gets. You'll use your electric alot.

[Lund4ver]

I for one have a 1700 fisherman, with a 135 Merc, also a 9.9 fourstroke kicker, and Minnkota AP 65. I have never really trolled with the bowmount, but use it more for sneaking in on the shallows, and getting around when i am fishing shoreline.

The guys are right, at times a bigger bowmount would be nice, but the majority of the time it has been enough for me. I also am running the 24v system for mine, so it has a long charge, and just charge it during the night when I am sleeping with the on-board charging system.

Depends on what kind of lakes you are going to fish, and what kinds of weather you are going to fish in. Just my two cents.

[anchor man]

I do a lot of fishing on Tonka and mostly use jigs for walleyes and will also cast for some bass. I prefer to work points, breaks and some weedlines, and I don't usually make long trolling runs. I have spent the last few years with an 90hp motor and an anchor, so any trolling at all will be better than I'm used to.