bout to spend a little

[outcast19v]

\r\n \r\n Depends on what kind of inshore fishing you are trying to do. If you are fishing a creek for trout then you will depend on the trolling motor. If you are drift fishing for flounder then not so much. I have a 80lb thrust on my 19ft skiff that does great. I think i paid about $2000 for it installed. Been several years ago so I cant remember.\r\n \r\n

[hopm]

\r\n \r\n flounder trout red sheep.....in that order...want to get more into sheepshead\r\n \r\n

[outcast19v]

\r\n \r\n I do use my trolling motor for flounder especially when fishing docks. You may want to get one with anchor mode to keep you in one spot. Really nice to have if you have a dock that is loaded with fish.\r\n \r\n

[ice cream man]

\r\n \r\n Trolling motor is essential part of fishing. Great & a much needed tool for finding fish on the flats, creeks & docks.
\nThe exception maybe be Sheepshead. We did use the anchor feature at the Jetty to find & stay on Sheepshead.
\nCome to thinking of it the TM was also used to find Sheepshead feeding at bridges.
\n
\nA mushroom anchor ( no chain ) is a good alternative for deeper water or if your TM doesn\'t have anchor feature.
\nHope this helps .....ICM\r\n \r\n

[trigger22]

\r\n \r\n Trolling motor is essential to inshore fishing imo. With a 24 foot boat, you’re going to need a 36 volt system with at 101 pound or better motor.\r\n \r\n

[bmac]

\r\n \r\n What kind of trolling motor? If it\'s a Minn Kota, take it to Thomas at 70 East Pawn in New Bern. He might be able to fix it. If not, he\'ll give you great advice on a replacement. He\'s the best trolling motor repair expert I know of in our area, but I think he only works on Minn Kota. Call in advance.
\n
\nAgree with Trigger that you\'ll need at least a 24 V system if not 36 V depending on the weight of your boat. Those motors ain\'t cheap, and neither are the batteries. And if you\'re going to do that, you should probably install an onboard charger system. I have a 20\' McKee which is a deep V CC and pretty heavy. I bought it used (on this site from ShawnB) with a 24 V Minn Kota (forget which model but think it\'s 80lb thrust). I barely even used the motor the first couple of years as most of the time I was trolling out in the ocean or chasing albies with a fly rod. But once I did start using it, it was like, "Wow!" Spot lock is a fantastic feature for bottom jigging or bucktailing for flounders on the ARs and rock piles and for holding off of stump fields and other structure in the Neuse for stripers. Minn Kota also marries up with Humminbird GPS/Sounders to allow you to save tracks and repeat them over and over again. Just like an auto pilot. That\'s an incredible feature too. Motor Guide has the same capabilities. You\'ll hear varying opinions on both Minn Kota and Motor Guide-' + '- either best thing ever to POC. I think a lot of that has to do with how they are installed and how they are maintained. They are complex devices. Water and electricity aren\'t the best of friends. Trolling motors can be invaluable tools for some fishing applications but IMO that value diminishes as boat size increases. It costs a fair amount of money to properly equip, mount and wire a trolling motor on a larger boat.\r\n \r\n

[lizard]

\r\n \r\n 2 words "Spot Lock" The cats meow\r\n \r\n

[HHarke]

\r\n \r\n I have a 21 ft skiff with 24v 80 lb thrust minn kota Rip Tide with anchor mode, go with the 36 v 110 lb thrust for a bigger boat. You will not hold a 24 ft boat in the high current at inlets and jetties with a 24 V system. You will want and will use daily the trolling motor on inshore and even on wreck fishing. Minn Kota has a new battery charger that can switch automatically from one battery to the other as needed to charge them. I keep my boat in a stack slips and have two 100 watt solar panels on a hard T top and have not had to recharge the batteries in 4 years. Zampro makes the only water proof controllers that I could find and you need them.
\n
\nAs for electronics, go with the Garmin 94SV 9" screen with down scan, side scan/clear vu and new ultra high HD transducer. That is about $900-1000 but well worth it. The 10" is about $1800-1900. Comes with their new G3/Navonics maps with reefs and wrecks in it already. Go with the touch screen by all means, so much easier. Garmin bought Navonics last year. Beware that you can find last years 94SV at about half off, But it does not have the new maps in it. Get the new model.
\n
\nStrongly encourage you to look at the Garmin Panoptix Livescope, which connects you the Garmin depthfinder/chart plotter system and has a dual forward and down looking live sonar to actually show fish along jetties, under docks etc for max 200 ft. That is $1500. No one else has anything like it period. It can be mounted on the trolling motor barrel of Riptides but not the shaft due to the way the trolling motor lifts up and deploys. It will only work on trolling motors that deploy full shaft and foot controlled, not like the inshore rip tides etc. "Fishing Specialties" makes a bracket/pole system ($150-200) that you can mount the livescope on and turn it just like the trolling motor. That way your trolling motor can be moving you slowly ahead while you use the livescope to look sideways under docks or the jetty walls etc. Bass guys have really latched on to the live scope. Sponsored competitors have been caught using the Garmin Livescope and hiding it until they get out where no one can see it, it\'s that good and game changing.\r\n \r\n

[hopm]

We have a 24' seark center console we use inshore. The depth sounder on it is unreliable and needs replaced. Trolling motor is terrible. Anyone with recommendations on either? Not looking to go to the end all be all with either but would want both to be functional.

On another note yet in the same line of thinking.....how many of you make heavy use of a trolling motor? My background being primarily bass fishing, I have been really surprised at my not feeling like I was completely dependent on a trolling motor.