I'm planning to purchase the 15 foot version of the pontoon boat shown here Pro-Tatch.com. It is a little 5 x 15 foot, 4 pontoon boat. My wife and I mainly fish on fairly shallow, local, big ponds / small lakes (3 - 20 acres). We might infrequently go out on a local lake that is around 1,800 acres. We mainly fish for bluegill and bass. I would appreciate recommendations for the following...

Fishfinder: I don't want to have to spend days figuring it out or tuning it. Shallow water performance (in 3 feet of water) around the boat is VERY important as I'll almost always be in water from 1 foot to 20 feet deep and don't really have any need to see what is more than 30 feet deep (especially in ponds not that deep!). I don't anticipate that the GPS features would be of much use to me either as it'll mainly be used on small waters that I know well. I'd like to spend $500 or less; but could go a bit higher if performance warranted. Any recommendations?

Trolling motor: I'd like the maximum feasible thrust on a single 12 volt battery. A 42" shaft is long enough. I'd like bow mount. Thinking either foot pedal or remote. Not sure. Not sure if there is a choice. I'd like to keep cost to $1,000 or less. Any recommendations?

12 V Battery: Any recommendations? Are the Optimas worth the price difference?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I would suggest the humminbird 565. I bought mine, right out of the box it was fine and didnt need any tuning. I also fish some very shallow water and it seems to do just fine.


Hope this helps.

fishinman

Thanks for the response Fishinman91!

Update:

The boat has been ordered. I'm semi-set on the following for a trolling motor.

Terrova 55 AP/US2 1366150 YES YES 55# 12V 48" $938.27

The price is a bit higher than I had in mind; but the Terrova appears to be pretty popular here and the options seem to be endorsed pretty heavily.

Does this trolling motor influence fishfinder choices?

Does the recommended Humminbird 565 work well with the built transducer on this trolling motor?

Would a little more money get me a bigger screen or better shallow water resolution?

I'm leaning towards the Optima batteries. Any negatives besides price?

Thanks in advance!

1K for a 12V Tm is HIGH to me. I would get the cheapest bowmounted model in 12V, should run less than $500 and go with a FishFinder 320 on sale at academy for $120 last time I checked. This will be all you need. I had the yellow top batteries but for less than $100 Interstate has a GIANT DEEP CYCLE ACID battery that is truly one of the best batteries I have had.

__________________

www.crappieguru.com

Mini Kota good choice for a electric trolling motor. Any brand on batterys are good choices as long as they are Deep Cycle. The more you pay for your battery the better Quality it is. Longer lasting cycle.

I've had mine for 2 yrs and very happy with it. Their a little pricey but I'm a happy camper so far.

I assume this is the boat model you're looking at: Fish N Sport 510 Pontoon Boats Mid Mini Pontoon Boat Compact Small Aluminum Marine Inflatable Rescue Bass Crappie Catfish Fish Trolling Lake Front Pond River Fishing Fisherman Private Personal Looks to be an awful stable platform to fish from if that is your major concern. However, at 60" wide, pretty much any boat will be. Before you buy, consider the resale value on a boat like that. If in your area, something like that is pretty common, that's one thing. However, around here, I think you'd take a beating if you decided to sell.

That being said - Any of the following will give you the performance you want in shallow water. Don't think you'd be disappointed in any - Black and White - Eagle 320 or 480. H'bird 565 or 575 or if color - Eagle 500C, H'bird 585C. Any of these will do, but as you get more expensive, the resolution is better (more pixels per square inch of screen) giving you a less grainy picture of what's down there. If you jump to color, you'll get a good quality pic, but you'll also be able to tell the bottom composition a little easier as the color is a little easier to read in that regard at least to me. This can be pretty important if you're searching for brim beds.

On the trolling motor, before I went with a 12volt motor, I'd ask the factory. I'm sure in most situations, you'll be fine in that boat, but those pontoons are gonna have a lot of drag, so I wonder if the 12V will propel it at a good speed and just how long a good battery would hold up especially in the wind. At the very least, I think you'll need 2 batts wired for 12V to be able to fish for as long as you want, especially after the batts get a little age on them.

The TM you listed has the universal transducer. You can get an adapter for any popular fishfinder like has been mentioned for something around $20.

On the trolling motor, I assume you've decided you want remote and wireless steering. However, it seems to me that with that set up, you'd be just about as well off with a hand control as 80% of your time is going to be spent in the fishing chair right in front of the trolling motor mount. On top of that, you could get a 24V Maxxum 42" hand control in the neighborhood of $520 or even $360 remaned from here: New Page 1. You might want to check the recommended shaft length from the factory though. Looks like a 42" would be fine from the pics, but I'd double check that from the factory.

As far as batteries go, I've always heard good things about Trojans and AC/Delcos, but never owned any. My most recent battery was an Interstate and seemed to be holding up good, but I just sold the boat, so I can't comment on the longevity after only having it for 1 year. Other than that one, all I've ever owned were Wal-mart Specials or parts house specials.

Anyway, just some food for thought. Hope you enjoy your setup.

Wannabe...

Update: The boat is being delivered tonight. Good point about resell; but will probably keep for a long time and stability is a big issue (neither wife or I swim and she's a little gun shy about the water). I am going with a big deep cell Interstate battery. Will probably go with a cheaper trolling motor and fish finder. Thanks for all the advice! :-)

Update: The boat is being delivered tonight. Good point about resell; but will probably keep for a long time and stability is a big issue (neither wife or I swim and she's a little gun shy about the water). I am going with a big deep cell Interstate battery. Will probably go with a cheaper trolling motor and fish finder. Thanks for all the advice! :-)

Congrats on the new ride. Neither can swim? Might want to take the savings on the TM and finder and invest in a pair of auto inflatable life jackets. Sure would give her AND you some piece of mind.

I was pretty happy with the Interstate battery I had. They can be had all the way up to a Group 31, but be sure that size will fit in the battery tray if it has one, or you'll have to modify the tray - which, on that boat shouldn't be too big of a deal.

Hope you enjoy it for many, many years.

Wannabe...