Tiller Boats.....Bowmount Trolling Motor or Not?

[LMITOUT]

How many of you who have a tiller boat also have a trolling motor on the bow? If so, do you use it much? I'm trying to decide if I really need one on the bow or not if I get a new boat.

[caseymcq]

I have a tiller and I have a bow mount. I have a Minkota with Auto Pilot, Universal Sonar and Copilot. It is extremely nice to have for muskie fishing. With the Auto Pilot you point to boat in the direction you want to go and it does the rest. You may have to make minor corrections along the way.

The Universal Sonar is nice to have a fish-finder up there and not have to run a ton of cable to a transducer in the back or to have to monkey with mounting a transducer to the bottom of the trolling motor housing.

The Co-Pilot is nice for muskie fishing because you can steer the boat from anywhere. If you are fighting a fish or if someone else in the boat is fighting a fish up near the bow you can stay back and out of the way.

[PerchJerker]

Really depends on how you fish. I've had bowmounts on all of my boats, even though when I ran tiller boats I mostly backtrolled with them. But a bowmount in some situations is better (or as good as) a tiller motor for livebait fishing, and if you're casting you pretty much need a bowmount.

[Borch]

LIke others have saif it depends how you fish. For me fishing eyes with livebait or pulling cranks I wouldn't use it much. However there are times where it would be very handy. My next rig with have one with the quick mounts so I can use it when I want to and get it out of the way when I won't likely be using it. Sure is nice for pitching jigs or baits.

[LMITOUT]

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to debate....how much I'll actually use the thing when I have one in the back. I don't really cast a lot and usually troll or live bait. Typically by the time the season starts (walleye) it's tough to pitch anything shallow with the weed growth already emerging, but we have had some mild winters lately too that haven't helped that much either. If we could get out in April I'd probably already have made up my mind on a bowmount, but thats not the case in this state. It seems like by the time the opener comes I'm finding fish just outside the weedline already with only a lake here or there that I can get inside without too much trouble with the weeds. Gotta love livin' below the 94 beltway where the crop runoff makes these lakes green as goo.

[PerchJerker]

Those green weedy lakes have walleyes up shallow -- real, real shallow -- all day long, especially over rocks and on inside weedlines. Pitching jigs and throwing cranks are great ways to catch walleyes when you can find them shallow. Great situation for a bowmount!

[eyepatrol]

I don't know anything about transom mounted electric trolling motors really, but one of the things I love so much about the bow mount is having the foot pedal to steer the boat. Don't have to grab a handle to turn to keep the boat pointed in the right direction. My hands are always on the rod, casting, jigging.....fishing. One other thing I plan to get for my bow mount this year is the co-pilot. Will increase my manuverability and fishability in the boat even more. When the wind starts to kick up to more than 15mph, then I switch to the main motor (or kicker when I get the money for one).

[196thDLR]

The bowmount and transom mount are indespensible for fishing boats. In choppy cold water periods, your hand does not have to be near frozen because you have to backtroll. Smallmouth fishing, it is all I use.

[Rost]

If you like to cast jigs and cranks, you'll want a bowmount. I have a Maxxum and really like it.

However, if you like to troll open water, consider an autopilot with Co-Pilot. Simply point your kicker straight ahead and steer with your CP. My buddy has this setup and it works awesome!

[fdr01]

hey guys,i am getting a 16' alumacraft circa 1972 w/25 hp merc and transom mounted minnkota trolling motor dont know how old it is and i am planning on hitting inner city lakes alot this year so i am wondering where i am going to want my trolling motor since i cant use the merc on any city lakes.this is my first boat so i dont have a clue what would work better any and all suggestions would be appreciated thanks, fdr

[marine_man]

As others have said, it all depends on how you like to fish... if you are 100% a backtroller I don't think you'll need it.

When I used to run a tiller boat I like to backtroll, but when it got too choppy I would run a bow mount since it's easier to follow contours from the front (presuming you put a locator up there) than when you're 17 feet behind the front of the boat.

Good Luck!

marine_man

[Ray Esboldt]

For me, I can "hover" a boat over something much better in wind with a bow mount than I can with a transom mount. I use a Minnkota Maxxum (cable steering). Plus, I fish a lot of bass and panfish. A bow mount just fits that fishing better.

If all I did was troll, I wouldn't want to use a bowmount. That's just too much trolling motor for the purpose.

[PerchJerker]

fdr01 --

My first boat was a 14 footer with an 8 hp outboard. I had a transom mount trolling motor on it, but depending on how I was fishing I would sometimes move the transom mount motor up to the bow and mount it over the gunnel. I had two pieces of 1x lumber strapped together so one hung on the outside of the boat and the other hung on the inside of the boat, and I clamped the transom mount motor to them as close to the bow as I could get it. Very versatile and effective.

[Willy]

If you do any pitching, casting, vertical jigging or fishing in rivers I would say you DO need it.

I use my transom mount probably more than the bow, but there are definitely times that I would be lost without it.

Living near Hutch, you should have lots of weed walleyes that are just begging you to pitch jigs and cranks at em!

[federline]

Perch - that is exactly how I do it. I reversed the head on the transom mount troller and did the same 1x under the clamp at the bow gunwale deal.

[Chuckster]

I have a tiller and a bow mount. I just purchased a 55lb PD with universal sonar. Alot of the lakes that I fish in the spring are very clear and in shallow water it seems like the tiller scares the fish a little. On very calm days or evenings I like to kick the motor in and out of the breaklines and cast occasionally into the shallower water. It just all depends on what kind of fishing you do as well, if you only fish walleyes, you can get by. But if you are fishing other species that involve casting and moving around in shallower water you will definitely want some kind of trolling motor.