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Looking for feedback on a MinnKota Ultrex
Reply With QuoteIt works VERY well. I have one on my fiberglass boat and my father-in-law has one one his War Eagle Predator. We have used his more crappie fishing than I have used mine, but we are both in LOVE. The biggest thing to get used to is that the pedal takes very little effort. If you move the pedal slow, the head will move slow. If you move the pedal fast, the head will move fast. It just takes a use or 2 to get used to the small amount of effort it takes to make it turn. You still get "foot pedal position" feedback, so you can tell by if your foot is pointed up or down what direction the motor is aiming just like if you had a regular cable steer motor. With the electric steer styles, the pedal/button does not have this feedback. However, if you are used to a regular cable steer, you will not have the feedback of the "foot pressure" turning the motor. The electric steer kicks in as soon as movement is detected and makes it effortless to turn.
Spotlock on this motor is really good. We gave it what we considered a "tuff" test in a river one day with 15-25 mph winds, and gusts over 30. We found a good brush pile that showed a lot of crappie on his Helix. However, it was all submerged with nothing to tie off to. We hit spotlock, and was able to catch fish WITHOUT touching the trolling motor pedal. In these conditions, it did not hold us in the approx. 3 ft circle it advertises, but it held us close enough to catch fish without one person constantly fighting the trolling motor. When you hit spotlock, the motor comes to life and goes to work. The bow of the boat will always end up pointing either into the wind or into the current, so you need to think about this and set up accordingly. Under more normal conditions, 5-10mph winds, the spotlock holds really tight to that 3ft circle. With older versions of spotlock, people reported drifting 20 or more feet before the motor would adjust. That is not the case with this new version.
If you have humminbird equipment, the "Link" version may offer you more features that you could use with different fishing techniques like following a specific contour among other things. I have lowrance and my father-in-law has humminbird, but he still chose the "non-link" version because he would not really ever use the additional features. One feature I feel like I will get some use out of is being able to save a spotlock locatioin. Actually, you can save 16 locations with the "non-link" version remote. So say you were catching them on a good spot yesterday or a week ago..., and wanted to ease up on it.... Just stop the boat within 1/4 mile of the saved location, deploy the Ultrex, use the remote to recall and select the saved location (the remote tells you how far away you are from the saved locations) The motor will automatically kick into high and take you to the exact spot you were previously fishing. As you get closer to the saved spot, the motor speed will get slower and slower until it stops you on the spot and engages spotlock automatically. While it is taking you to the spot, you can be getting things ready and situated. You can also save 16 "tracks" up to 2 miles long which could come in handy if you were trolling or spider rigging.
Oh, and believe it or not.... it does not have a light or indicator on the top of the motor head telling you which way it is pointing for use in the dark..... yes really.
Hope this helps a little.
Joe
