Wednesday, Jan 30, 2008 at 21:34
Hi Lyndon. Like Willie, I have a 3.75m Quintrex Dart. Outboard is a 20 HP Yamaha. I have a 55 lb thrust Minn Kota bow mount. We cart the lot all over the country and will be heading back to the Gulf (NT) in March, hopefully for a few months this trip.
I totally agree with Willie that electrics are not designed for getting from A to B. The only place I do that is on Hinze
Dam (
Gold Coast) which is electric only for Bass fishing. When we do that, we run the 55 lb on bow and a 40 lb on the back and take two batteries. Otherwise it is a slow process covering a lot of ground. If not going far, the elec is OK, but for any distance you want the outboard. The only reason you might need a rudder is if you don't have the outboard on and there is a cross wind (outboard acts as a rudder). But I wouldn't bother. Just rely on the elec motor to keep you pointed the right way and to maintain position.
I swear by the elec motor. We do mostly lure flicking for barra up North, or in the Qld dams. Outboard gets us from A to B, sometimes 35KM or so on the water to fishing spots (when up in the Gulf). I then use the elec motor to move around the snags, hold against the tide / wind, or to establish a slow 'drift' along a bank so we can flick lures to the snags. Without an elec, this sort of fishing can be a real PITA.
I have the 'older' model Minn Kota (though it is only about 12 months old). It has cable from motor to foot control. The new model is wireless, though a bit more expensive I believe. Cable is no problem to me.
The auto pilot is good, but a fairly simple device. When on, all it does is keep the boat pointed in the same direction as when you last touched the motor control. I find it very handy as my fishing partner (my wife) can not cast back hand. I therefore have to keep the boat pointed in the right direction so she can cast to the target. It is also very good when setting a drift with a running tide. I fiddle a bit with motor speed to slow the drift and point the bow upstream. The elec motor controls the speed of the drift and the auto pilot keeps the bow pointed the right way (a real advantage when there is a bit of wind). An occasional tweek on the foot control and you just keep fishing. Wind can take you off course though, if it is from the side, so every now and then you need to adjust position and reset. Not perfect, but a lot better than than anchoring or starting outboard all the time.
When I first got the bow mount (used to have only a transom mount Minn Kota), I thought I'd never get used to it. I was all over the place like a mad woman. But after a couple of trips and some practice you can thread a needle.
As to batteries, we run one 90 AH AGM and never a problem. We occasionally troll with it, but mostly use it as described above. The newer Minn Kota's use a bit less power as they have a 'pulse' power saving feature. Also, we only ever run on full power for short periods. Full power is what sucks the juice.
I've never had a 24 V, but for your use, I'd go a 12 V. Run with one good deep cycle (AGMs are perfect, as are your Gells) in the small boat and use two of the same in parrallel in the big boat.
I have two 120 AH AGMs in the CT and used to pull one of them out, but I now carry a separate 90AH for the boat.
Best fishing and boating
forum I use is Ausfish:
Ausfish link
Hope this helps.
Norm C
!MPG:25!
AnswerID:
284607