I switched to Terrova from Fortrex a few months ago and I love it. Yes there is a learning curve from the cable to electric motor steering and you do have to be more proactive than reactive. But I have been in and out of the same tight areas as before. Mounting it was a bit of a challenge and installing a transducer on the bottom was a pain in the arse...but it all works great. I can certainly understand you hard core tourney guys not trusting it so it's really just a matter of how you're gonna use it and your preference. Feel free to PM me and I'll share my phone # and I'll go into more detail about the pros and cons.

how many guys on the Elites run them? Probably a reason why.

Jersey Dan, Talk with Jay Greishaw. He's using a Terrova now .

I talked to him on the phone last night about it. He agreed the components are not as strong as the Fortrex but there is nothing to hit at Falcon so its fine down there.

Good point.

Here is the other issue I see. How is this supposed to fit in a recessed tray.

For Falcon you can't touch it for other lakes it's a different story. I know where you fish and the least of your worries should be stumps. You should be concerned about the 4 footers:)

I could see the uses while culling, unhooking, checking fish, re-tying while out in open water.....all while staying on the spot you want to be.

Nothing like catching a fish in 20mph winds, unhooking, putting in livewell and re-tying only to troll for 5 minutes to get back on spot (all while another guy moved in on your spot! LOL!)

Sounds good, but if you look at what all the pro's are using, they are not using the I-pilot. The idea of anchor lock is sweet, but if it is not within a few feet it is not a benefit. 20ft and your not fishing the same spot anymore; or worse, you may be on top of it. If it were a very big advantage to bass fishing, every pro would have one on the front of the boat. And it has been out long enough for every pro to take a look at it.
My theory is that the route memory, anchor lock, all of the real advertised features are just too far off. If nothing else I think it would frustrate me and make me angry that i spent the cash.

Good points. I'd be pissed if that 20ft accuracy range dumped me on top of the spot. Guess I will just have to wait for 20ft power poles.

Buddy of mine looked into it to help promote beer drinking. The pedal won't fit in a standard size TM pedal tray. I think the idea is cool but execution/implementation needs a lot of fine tuning.

it isn't 20 feet it is a 5 ft radius

Valid point and there's no doubt I look to the pros for tips and techniques, but I don't have to use the exact same equipment they do to have fun and catch fish. Most of the PGA golfers laughed at the long putter and hybrids when they first came out too!

I'm not sure why you don't see a few on pro's boats, but almost all of the walleye pros are using them. They fish open water and no stumps but at times lots of rocks.

I have used one for 2 years on Fork and can say the mount is not as strong as a Fortrex. I have hit many stumps with it and did break a shoulder bolt that holds the latch system together. I fixed it for about $3 about 6 months ago and have had no issue since.

The spot lock feature works good and usually holds you to within 5-8 ft. The more consistent the wind the closer it will hold. I was on Fork on Friday and the winds on the main lake were about as strong as I have seen them and it had no issue holding me on spot to fish deep water as water was coming over the bow almost every wave.
The deployment and stowing is what is a pain especially when fishing in waves where you have the motor extended all the way down.

My new boat came with a fortrex and I thought about keeping it on there but that only lasted a week when I realized how often I use the features of the Ipilot.

There was a company that has made a competing TM to the Terrova I seen at the Classic in Shreveport and their mounting was much stronger looking than the terrova called Rhodan Marine Systems. They said they would have a pedal that worked like a cable system out this year. I would call them as some of the features looked like an improvement to the terrova.