Needed a new trolling motor and the Terrova w/ I pilot caught my eye. Ponied up the money and ordered one last week. Got it installed yesterday. I went out yesterday evening and this morning. My initial thoughts are:

1. Spot Lock: I am a little disappointed in the function of the spot lock. It seems to wait to long to ramp up and then gets in a hurry the further from your mark that you get. It was windy as heck today but more than once, the motor started "ping-ponging" back and forth, over shooting the spot more than once. It would have been nice if you could limit the max speed which the motor could use to reclaim the spot. I think this would help the problem. It will hold you over the top of a big brush pile though. You just don't want to be down in the brush or you are looking at hang ups.

2. Advance Autopilot: Awesome. Compensates for the wind and waves and trolls you in the direction that you want to go. I slow trolled a bank line today and was able to set a speed and go with it. I was able to pay way more attention to my rods than I have been able to in the past.

3. Record a track: Haven't tried it out yet.

Overall, I am pretty happy with it. I thought the spot lock would hold me tighter than it does. It may have something to do with the way my boat rides the water. It seems to carry momentum TOO well. Hopefully, I can get better at operating it and increase functionality.

Exact same thoughts...Spot lock is good if you're working a big open flat and the fish can be anywhere.

Thanks for the input. I have been eyeballing those myself.

What kind of boat do you have it on?

+1 thanks.. also looking at them

It works best with the big engine set straight ahead.
It might not hold on a single tree or condo but it will hold within 10'.
It is best to be nearly stopped before you engage the spot lock feature.

Mine is on a 22ft Triton center console

lucas was yours on a riptide?

Mine is on a 21' Kenner.



I will agree with that but the ping ponging is an issue. Eventually, you will be hung up in that tree or condo.

I wasn't impressed with the Spot Lock either. It made it hard to vertically jig. My circle sometimes was as much as 15 feet. It was awesome if you wanted to swim your jigs over the brush, but do not get in the brush as mentioned above. I liked the AutoPilot feature. I did not like the slow response of the mechanical steering motor when around a bridge or fishing in trees. I sold mine and went back to cable drive. I will wait for the next improvement. I had a Terrova 80 60" with I-Pilot and USB on a 2008 Champion Elite 183.

Yes a riptide

Spotlock is teh bomb diggity.....don't know how anyone could complain. Try moving your GPS puck from your fishfinder right beside the TM. This will keep you much tighter. If you have your GPS puck 10 feet from the TM GPS, you're never going to stay on top of your waypoint.

I'm putting in a switch to run two GPS pucks. One on the front by the TM, and one on the back by the transducer.

One thing I have noticed about SL is that it works best with just a slight breeze. When there is no wind at all it tends to over-correct itself. This is understandable seeing as there is very little friction in water and there are no brakes.

I am not spot locking a waypoint. I am spot locking a brush pile that I know right where it is. Its 20' from the bank. Not sure what a GPS puck has to do with anything?

Then spotlock the brushpile with your front end directly over the brush. It's got to be a pretty small brushpile not to be able to stay on top of it.......

/shrug. It works for me just fine.... Maybe I've just got lower expectations. Try fishing directly off the front where the drift is at its smallest.

The GPS on the Spot Lock is built in the trolling motor head. I don't think it makes a bit of difference if you have a GPS puck or not and surely not where it is located because it ain't connected and fire can't jump that far.