Thread: I pilot or not??

The Standard I-Pilot has spotlock. If it comes with the heading sensor puck it will have spotlock jog.

Rickie

I recently went to an Ipilot with the puck. For the way I fish it is great. I did not get the link.

I’m in my first season with an I-Pilot Link motor. Well worth it to me. I got an Ultrex because I also bass fish and wanted the pedal feel and I’d have needed a sliding mount to but an Ulterra or Terrova on my boat. Personal preference there for most people. For crappie, other panfish or catfish, an Ulterra or Terrova would be fine.

I find myself fishing from the floor of the boat or even the back deck. Easy to control the motor from anywhere. Hook a fish or see something on sonar and you can stop and stay there while you land the fish. Very nice! Also very handy if you need to re-tie or do something else distracting.

It’s not a “must have” but it is really nice. Two disadvantages I can think of: First, you have to watch your line because the motor has a mind of its owner and will come and get it. Second, any time you add complexity you increase the odds of a breakdown.

I have been fishing i-pilot link for a number of years with a Terrova and recently with an Ulterra and both have been great. That being said it will depend on how you fish. For crappie fishing I do things similar to CatFan.
Follow the contour will let you move along and cast, then spotlock when you locate fish. Note: must have Humminbird, i use a Helix 7 and Helix 9and a map chip for this
Spotlock will let you leave the anchor and rope in storage
The jog feature of spotlock will let you move the boat in 5 foot increments any direction from you current spot. Handy if the fish move slightly
Autopilot is nice for just cruising along and looking for fish. You can steer the motor to a slightly different direction will using

Good luck in your research. Minn Kota has lots of videos on the web site for more information (no affiliation just a happy user)

catfan wrote

First, you have to watch your line because the motor has a mind of its owner and will come and get it

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Perhaps this idea may help.

Just found it on another site and going to add one to my Terrova.

Seems simple enough.


https://www.walleyecentral.com/forum...d.php?t=733080



For multi species fishing I have been using Terrovas with the IPilot link features.

May eventfully go with a Ulterra once I am no longer fishing on the Great Lakes.

I purchased an Ultrex with ipilot last year when my Powerdrive V2 died,and its a really nice motor.I went with the regular ipilot because I use a Garmin graph on the bow and as far as I understand,the Garmin will not work with the extra features the Link model provides.