anybody have any experience with the co-pilot on the minnkota power drives?.

[joshb]

i'm thinking of getting the co-pilot for my powerdive, i have bench seats in my boat so it makes for a difficult time when i try using the foot pedal. anyway, if anyone has used one of these it would be great if you could share your insite on this topic.

thanks, joshb

[Paul Rohweller]

I've got the cordless powerdrive on my boat, overall its pretty good but I wish the control was easier to use. It's hard to tell if its rightside up or wrongside down in your hand and the buttons are too small for my taste, I've heard the corded copilots are better? Anyone? Maybe minnkota will come up with bigger remote and an instant reverse for its vantage motors..
Paul

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Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387 home
701-261-9525 cell
[email protected]
N.P.A.A. 425
Quality Bait and Tackle, Detroit Lakes Mn
www.scenictackle.com
North Country Outdoors Radio 99.3 fm
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie

[Bushwacker]

I have the co-pilot and I love it. It is one of my favorite parts of my boat. The drawback is the guy I fish 90% of the time with sits in the bow the whole time and I have to fish from the back of the boat because I can steer from there! I think it works great, I use the cordless one and strap it to my wrist. I also have an extra remote so if we are really on the fish I can give the person I am fishing with the extra and they can keep us on coarse when I am in a battle. I would definitely buy it again if I had to do it over. I recommend it.

[Guest]

I have the co-pilot and used it all year last year and would not trade it for anything!! Yes the drawback is having someone sit in the bow where you can not see it but that would be an issue if it has a cord or not. I have a mount on every rod I own and whether it's crappies to muskies it's plain awesome in my opinion. Mine is on the Power Drive.

[RonT]

I bought the co-pilot last summer and very pleased with it. I am a bit "foot challenged" which makes boat control with the foot control a bit of an experience. I have much better boat control with the co-pilot and can control the boat from anywhere. I also proved to my son that I didn't have to be in the front of the boat to out fish him.

[mrkastni]

I just picked up mine this winter and installed the co-pilot, new trolling battery, and on-board charger this weekend. I haven't had the rig in the water yet, but I sure like the fact that the corded foot controller is stowed nicely under my steering console, NOT out in the area that I stand fishing.

Seems to be very responsive in the garage. I hope to be able to offer a report on actual "wet" use very shortly.

Mike

[leechlake]

You'll love it, only drawback is the buttons are too small. When it's cold out and you have some sort of gloves on, especially neoprene the buttons are too small and too close together to avoid hitting the wrong buttons. The majority of the time though with no gloves it's just great. I like wearing it around my neck, the remote floats too so if you drop it overboard you can get it out of the drink.

[joshb]

i picked one up last thursday and i think it is gonna be great on the river this year.....i definatly think the buttons could be much bigger. i'll be on the rainy next weekend so i'm looking forward to fumbling around with gloves on!.....but at least i got rid of that dang foot pedal, man i hate that thing.

thanks for all the info, joshb

[This message has been edited by joshb (edited 03-17-2004).]

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I put the add-on CoPilot on my Auto pilot last spring and love it!
As the others have said, the buttons are too small and too close together if you have gloves on.
I also had a faulty unit that failed, but Minkota replaced it at no cost.
The batteries also do not last as long as they say they do. I bought new ones and a spare at Radio Shack for around $3.00 each.
I also wear my control around my neck on a lanyard. Much handier for me that way.
Cliff

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Cliff's Guide Service
CliffsGuideService-LakeVermilion.com
Lake Vermilion
Phone: (218) 753-2005

[This message has been edited by Cliff Wagenbach (edited 03-18-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Cliff Wagenbach (edited 03-18-2004).]

[rmrakt]

Highly recommend it. Mounted my remote on my rod handle and it works slick. Word of caution though....A "friend" of mine bought one at the same time and we got a free extra remote at that time.

Lake of the Woods trip this "friend" of mine programmed his extra remote to MY Co-Pilot while I was in the shower. Everyone up there was in on it.
Took me 2 days to figure out why my nice new trolling motor / Co-Pilot randomly shot off in different directions at a high rate of speed (always when his boat was near mine). Almost cut the "friend" up as bait that day.

[Chris-Neises]

I used mine a couple of days ago while fishing Red Wing. I couldn't believe how great it worked. I heard others drifting by and their units were beeping, so I'm guessing they sold quite a few of them.