Will The New Minn Kota Ulterra Trolling Motor Become Popular On The Tournament Circuits? 2024
tcbass reply :
It has automatic stow and deploy which would save tournament anglers time and energy. It also has automatic trim and it will deploy it at the same depth you had it set last time. It also has all of the important motor controls on the foot pedal control, something the Terrova does not.
I just wonder how you deal with bringing it up to take off weeds.
Will The New Minn Kota Ulterra Trolling Motor Become Popular On The Tournament Circuits?
Koofy Smacker reply :
The only thing that matters is that its an electric foot pedal. So ultimately the answer is no
Wayne P. reply :
It may for walleye and redfish tournaments.
Scott F reply :
I'm not a tournament guy but I've been looking into upgrading my trolling motor. This is one I'm probably going to buy.
wordfactories reply :
From a marketing perspective it might be smart for Minn Kota to attempt to have one or a few of their pros swap out to an Ulterra for one of the bigger lakes that see primarily offshore fishing like St. Clair or Erie. Primarily for features like Spot-Lock.
I would like to see how that could work out.
I think it would be tough to get any of the FLW Tour or Bassmaster Elite guys to abandon cable steer outright, though it would be interesting to see some more trolling motor diversity aside from MotorGuide Tours and the Minn Kota Fortrex.
.. actually this guy Michael Murphy swaps out a Terrova & Fortrex (he just recently fished an Elite event, with what, I don't know):
WIGuide reply :
Honestly I don't think it's going to happen. For one, it's electric steer still which although has gotten better over the years, it's still not as fast or responsive as cable steer. I can't tell for sure if this one is the same as their last attempt at an auto stow and deploy tm, but it looks like it. If it fails when it's down, there is no way to get it back up without taking it apart. The last attempt had an issue with failing while in the down position so the only way to even be able to take off would be to remove the bow plate and hope you can get the nuts off to completely remove the tm from the boat. I don't think we've reached the pint yet where you'll see them on the front of pros boats.
Tim Kelly reply :
Like the Terrova, they'll be great tools for deep water fishing, but less good for shallow water and weed fishing. They have a definite market but generally not for shallow water bass anglers. Be great to have both options and a quick change plate so you could swap systems if you were ledge fishing one day, then the next day beating the bank.
Hi Salenity reply :
I doubt it becomes popular, however I love my Ipilot!
200racing reply :
just more things to break.
Fishes in trees reply :
A few years ago, didn't Minn Kota have an automatic stow feature on their Genesis model? Anyway, where is that model now? I don't tournament fish, but I know that I wouldn't switch from a cable steer to an electric steer. Where I fish, it just doesn't respond quick enough. In less stumpy places it might work though.
I remember in the early 90's (pre FLW) I got an advertisement in the mail from some people who bought the old Red Man mailing list. Anyway, they were pimping an auto deploy system. It worked great - until i† didn't. It could short out or you could just bump the button and while you were going down the lake it would deploy while you were on plane. Several guys had that happen to them - not good.
I'm old enough to remember that (although I wan't a boat owner at that time) so I probably wouldn't get auto deploy on any trolling motor I'd buy. My current trolling motør is 12 years old and so I will probably be buying a new one next spring. When I do, I'll probably go with proven cable steer technology rather than electric steering and auto deployment.
I don't see that the time saved would be worth the headache when it breaks.
Sam reply :
Only if the pros get them for free.
scrutch reply :
I have a Terrova iPilot and wouldn't trade it for anything. I fish in stump fields effortlessly, there is a learning curve, but it works great once you figure it out.
The only thing I DON'T like about my Terrova is stowing and deploying it. It looks like I might be looking into this ulterra. It's basically a Terrova with auto stow/deploy... Perfect!
Slade House reply :
I spent about 5 or 6 hours with the new Ulterra trolling motor at iCast this year, and that thing is amazing. I wish i hadn't bought my ipilot terrova so i could have bought that one. So how is this, you go up to the launch ramp, launch your boat and let it float out a little bit. hit the deploy button, then hit GPS spot lock. go park the boat. walk down to the dock, steer the boat over to you jump on board, sit down hit the stow button and fire up the engine and youre gone. as for the shallow water fisherman? well you can automatlically adjust the height of the propellor on the go.
As for the ipilot, you have to forget what you know about trolling motors and learn how to use it. I use the foot pedal most of the time and i rarely use spot lock even in heavy winds.
Slade House reply :
also , the new one has the GPS spot lock on the foot pedal
Slade House reply :
as for responsiveness, that's what the rabit button is for . hit the rabbit button and you automatically get full "10" maximum power to get you out of tight spots. here's a tip , if you hit the rabbit button once it blasts you up to 10 power, hit it again and it will take you back down to your original speed. so you can rapidly press it and pulse your trolling motor.
David Williams reply :
I think it will be great for us older guys that fish alone. Should make it a lot easier to launch by yourself.
Brian the boat guy reply :
WIGuide hit the nail on the head in my opinion when he said:
"Honestly I don't think it's going to happen. For one, it's electric steer still which although has gotten better over the years, it's still not as fast or responsive as cable steer. I can't tell for sure if this one is the same as their last attempt at an auto stow and deploy tm, but it looks like it. If it fails when it's down, there is no way to get it back up without taking it apart. The last attempt had an issue with failing while in the down position so the only way to even be able to take off would be to remove the bow plate and hope you can get the nuts off to completely remove the tm from the boat. I don't think we've reached the pint yet where you'll see them on the front of pros boats."
I was just discussing this topic with a customer of mine outfitting his new rig. I said about the same thing WIGuide said above. Best choice would be the Fortrex. The lift assist makes it so easy to deploy and retrieve. Great TM!
Long Mike reply :
Those who have a Terrova, and know how to use it, know that it will perform as well as those using cable steer. I have a Terrova and fish in stump-filled lakes on many occasions, e.g. Toledo Bend and Lake Fork, and have never had any problem navigating through stick-ups. Yes, there is a learning curve, but once you master it, it's a piece of cake - just like learning to use cable steer
I have been waiting for the Ulterra to finally appear on the market for months. As said in an above post. the only thing I don't like about the Terrova is that it is a PITA to stow and deploy. At my age (68) this becomes more of an issue, so the Ulterra will be the answer for me, and I want to be one of the first to own one. As for the comments above about being unable to retrieve the motor if it failed in the down position, there is now a fail-safe way to retrieve it.
Gotfishyfingers? reply :
I would say NO for bass tournaments.. IMO, I don't think it is faster to stow away then a manual ones either.
S Hovanec reply :
I don't care about the auto stow and deploy, but my next TM will have iPilot. I fish offshore too much to not have it.
tomustang reply :
On 1/27/2015 at 9:35 PM, Gotfishyfingers? said:I would say NO for bass tournaments.. IMO, I don't think it is faster to stow away then a manual ones either.
Seems a lot faster to push one button and do anything you want while it's stowing itself.
I could throw on a life jacket in that time and be ready quicker...
Though who really cares about seconds for trolling motor storing?
tomustang reply :
On 8/20/2014 at 2:01 AM, Tim Kelly said:Like the Terrova, they'll be great tools for deep water fishing, but less good for shallow water and weed fishing. They have a definite market but generally not for shallow water bass anglers. Be great to have both options and a quick change plate so you could swap systems if you were ledge fishing one day, then the next day beating the bank.
I didn't see this last year, but what do you mean?
Tim Kelly reply :
Cable steer units can be driven by touch, no need to look at the unit to see which way it's pointed, and the speed of steering make cable units ideal for shallow water. Easy to lift up to spin weeds off them too.
Spot lock and autopilot are great tools when you're off shore and want to fish precisely. You're not likely to bump into anything and the interface with the fishfinder allows the motor to fish a contour or spot more easily than you could with a cable drive.
tomustang reply :
On 1/28/2015 at 5:23 AM, Tim Kelly said:Cable steer units can be driven by touch, no need to look at the unit to see which way it's pointed, and the speed of steering make cable units ideal for shallow water. Easy to lift up to spin weeds off them too.
Spot lock and autopilot are great tools when you're off shore and want to fish precisely. You're not likely to bump into anything and the interface with the fishfinder allows the motor to fish a contour or spot more easily than you could with a cable drive.
Once you get use to electric, just like cable, you learn how to read where the unit is positioned, I really don't have a problem knowing where the direction is, far more easier using the remote too. Far as turn speed goes, cable is definitely faster but I don't see where the electric isn't good enough.
For the weed build up I've learned to reverse the unit and kick full speed on for a second, it blows off most if not all the slop. This is of course when I'm plowing through slop.
Tim Kelly reply :
Either motor will work in either situation, but it's not necessarily the best tool for the job.
Trent Wilson reply :
Roommate has one. I can't get enough of just sitting in the boat and watching it do all the work (not that I'm incompetent). And I can see it happening if there's fishing a specific bank. I see the FLW guys when they come up fishing the bluffs and at the pace they move, it'd be worth it. I know his is set up to follow a specific trail on his HDS12. Like Ronco, just set it and forget it.
TommyBass reply :
The advantages of an electric steer with i-pilot are starting to outweigh the advantages of cable steer. They turn plenty fast enough, I've owned a Terrova for 6 years after always tournament fishing with cable steers. I'll never go back. The only disadvantage of the electric steer in my eyes is that you cannot 'feel' the position of the motor. It requires the occasional glance to see head positioning and direction. Other than that, spot lock, auto pilot, and just about everything else make it hard to compete with. You'll see lots more Terrovas and Ulterras in years to come.
Long Mike reply :
There will always be diehards out there, but electric steer motors, their GPS capabilities, and their growing ability to communicate with sonar units is the wave of the future - and it's only going to get better.
Redlinerobert reply :
That technology isn't new. Back in 1999 on my new Ranger boat I had the Gator mount which worked great. I don't understand why it was discontinued.
Crappiebasser reply :
I have always been surprised the pros aren't using terrovas on the deeper off shore lakes anyway. Deep cranking KY lake or drop shorting Oneida would be much easier with spot lock.
soopd reply :
How do these handle current like on Pickwick?
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