Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Completely off topic!
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Hvalross
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by Hvalross »

Digger wrote:I ordered a bow mounted Watersnake trolling motor for my boat this morning.

I had almost $200 in BCF gift vouchers so there was my deposit.

I have a domed bow on my tinny which makes mounting awkward but my mate is a "gun" welder and he's going to fabricate a bracket for me. I've had a transom mount for 3 years or so and it's been great but as some of you advised, the tinny will be less susceptible to the wind if the "leccie" is up front. Having a trolling motor has totally changed the way I use my boat and made fishing sooooo much easier.

Gonna kick some arse this season!
Dunno who said that bow moint makes the tinny less suseptable to wind....my Jabiru had a Mercury Thruster on the back for fishing Mulwala and the mess of timber that is , used it for about four years for personal and charter fishing. Back then trllong was 95 % and only just a few were starting to throw lures.

Same boat rebuilt Tournament style today with a big bow mount Minn Kota is a bloody dog to troll, forever bending the shaft to near breaking on buried timber that cant be seen in the murkey water or after dark Whereas with the rear drive the trusty keel an bow told me quick smart to back off on the rear drive thruster

IMHO the only place bow mount has any benefit at all is if you have an iPilot unit operating on auto in winter on schooled up Bream in an estury. Otherwise an expensive liability and a pain in the ass to constantly drive via a foot pedal....and before some smart young turk tries to tell me how its becsuse I am older and less adatable to learning new tricks feel free to bow smoke up your own ass before you try mine thank you very much!!
Fortunately the old Thruster 55lb is still operational and will be my no 1 go to option from now on. With the minn kota for back up when finesse is required casting at bank snags only.....or the odd long drift on the bemm or its like.
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Digger
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by Digger »

Hvalross wrote:
Digger wrote:I ordered a bow mounted Watersnake trolling motor for my boat this morning.

I had almost $200 in BCF gift vouchers so there was my deposit.

I have a domed bow on my tinny which makes mounting awkward but my mate is a "gun" welder and he's going to fabricate a bracket for me. I've had a transom mount for 3 years or so and it's been great but as some of you advised, the tinny will be less susceptible to the wind if the "leccie" is up front. Having a trolling motor has totally changed the way I use my boat and made fishing sooooo much easier.

Gonna kick some arse this season!
Dunno who said that bow moint makes the tinny less suseptable to wind....my Jabiru had a Mercury Thruster on the back for fishing Mulwala and the mess of timber that is , used it for about four years for personal and charter fishing. Back then trllong was 95 % and only just a few were starting to throw lures.

Same boat rebuilt Tournament style today with a big bow mount Minn Kota is a bloody dog to troll, forever bending the shaft to near breaking on buried timber that cant be seen in the murkey water or after dark Whereas with the rear drive the trusty keel an bow told me quick smart to back off on the rear drive thruster

IMHO the only place bow mount has any benefit at all is if you have an iPilot unit operating on auto in winter on schooled up Bream in an estury. Otherwise an expensive liability and a pain in the ass to constantly drive via a foot pedal....and before some smart young turk tries to tell me how its becsuse I am older and less adatable to learning new tricks feel free to bow smoke up your own ass before you try mine thank you very much!!
Fortunately the old Thruster 55lb is still operational and will be my no 1 go to option from now on. With the minn kota for back up when finesse is required casting at bank snags only.....or the odd long drift on the bemm or its like.

Thanks, I feel much better now having just ordered one....Grin~

I've used my transom mount predominantly every trip out in the last 3 to 4 years, however long I've had it, some days I don't even start up the outboard at all.

It's made a huge difference to my fishing in lakes and estuaries!

With it mounted on the stern and with a a light boat with high bow even a slight breeze has my boat blowing around in circles and fishing becomes impossible!

I'm not fishing areas with timber usually and have selected a shaft length that doesn't allow the prop to sit much below the boat.

Haven't tried a foot pedal but have ordered a model that also has a remote for hand use, so can't comment on that function yet.

Perhaps I'll let you know what I think of it after a few trips out?
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Digger
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by Digger »

Babylon wrote:
Digger wrote:I ordered a bow mounted Watersnake trolling motor for my boat this morning.

I had almost $200 in BCF gift vouchers so there was my deposit.

I have a domed bow on my tinny which makes mounting awkward but my mate is a "gun" welder and he's going to fabricate a bracket for me. I've had a transom mount for 3 years or so and it's been great but as some of you advised, the tinny will be less susceptible to the wind if the "leccie" is up front. Having a trolling motor has totally changed the way I use my boat and made fishing sooooo much easier.

Gonna kick some arse this season!
Looking forward to reports mate.Cheers Babylon :thumbsup:

Thanks Jim, as always, the perfect host!
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Hvalross
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by Hvalross »

Hey Digger not trying to steal the fun out your new toy thats for sure . I got similar advice but found it not to be the case. Sounds like your scinario is like estury on bream that is open water.
Staying on the spot with foot pedal in wind is not fun and thats my point. Even pushing in to banks to retrieve lures is a pain with bow mount as the prop must be the low point in front avoiding damage means having to pull it up before you get into the shallows defeating the whole purpose before you start!! Rear drive does not have that sort of issue and thats all I am trying to convey.
My boat is set up tournament style so I am standing right next to the motor getting a clear view, not looking over the bow of a tinny!! and not even that helps a lot of the time.
When all else fails........read the instructions!
Studies have shown that people who have more Birthdays tend to live longer...
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Digger
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by Digger »

Hvalross wrote:Hey Digger not trying to steal the fun out your new toy thats for sure . I got similar advice but found it not to be the case. Sounds like your scinario is like estury on bream that is open water.
Staying on the spot with foot pedal in wind is not fun and thats my point. Even pushing in to banks to retrieve lures is a pain with bow mount as the prop must be the low point in front avoiding damage means having to pull it up before you get into the shallows defeating the whole purpose before you start!! Rear drive does not have that sort of issue and thats all I am trying to convey.
My boat is set up tournament style so I am standing right next to the motor getting a clear view, not looking over the bow of a tinny!! and not even that helps a lot of the time.
My Kestral has a full floor and casting deck Andrew and that's where I fish most often but of course retrieving with the prop spinning up the front requires care i imagine, though at the back it seem to catch my line anyway.

There are certainly pros and cons but the bottom line is that right now if a breeze comes up, I go home!
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Hvalross
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by Hvalross »

Well when the breeze gets up I just get to swearing a lot more :lol:
When all else fails........read the instructions!
Studies have shown that people who have more Birthdays tend to live longer...
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Tim399
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by Tim399 »

Picked up a glide tech kit to install before this spring rolls around, new cables for the drive and a few kgs of mantis shrimp :)
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laneends
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by laneends »

Tim399 wrote:Picked up a glide tech kit to install before this spring rolls around, new cables for the drive and a few kgs of mantis shrimp :)
I think I picked up some of them up last year when i was at springvale market without actually taking note of what they were, other than funny looking prawns. Anyway they proved a gun bait. Pity springvale is way the other side of town for me too.

If anyone knows of other sources maybe a seperate topic in which to post them up would be handy.
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by Jenko »

Digger wrote:
Hvalross wrote:Hey Digger not trying to steal the fun out your new toy thats for sure . I got similar advice but found it not to be the case. Sounds like your scinario is like estury on bream that is open water.
Staying on the spot with foot pedal in wind is not fun and thats my point. Even pushing in to banks to retrieve lures is a pain with bow mount as the prop must be the low point in front avoiding damage means having to pull it up before you get into the shallows defeating the whole purpose before you start!! Rear drive does not have that sort of issue and thats all I am trying to convey.
My boat is set up tournament style so I am standing right next to the motor getting a clear view, not looking over the bow of a tinny!! and not even that helps a lot of the time.
My Kestral has a full floor and casting deck Andrew and that's where I fish most often but of course retrieving with the prop spinning up the front requires care i imagine, though at the back it seem to catch my line anyway.

There are certainly pros and cons but the bottom line is that right now if a breeze comes up, I go home!
Hey Dig, best thing I ever done was piss my stern mount leccy(40lb) off and put a bow mount 55lb MinnKota. Because the bow mount is pulling the boat you don't veer every where or "do the circle thing" when there's a bit of wind. I only have a foot control as I mostly stand when I fish but I've thought about getting a remote ...not a 100% sure yet as I've never used the one I had on the last Bow mount (Hazwing 55lb)
Cheers Gary...
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Digger
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Re: Bought Something new wanna share it? Post it here

Post by Digger »

Good to hear Gary thanks.

I'll come back here and let you know how it works out when it's up and running.
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