Needing a new trolling motor I've never seen the ipilot in action but it looks like its more for deep water. How would it be for all applications of bass fishing as in shallow fishing, stumps, grass etc?

Also known as the Yoga Motor.

If you like a motor which operates on a 5 second delay when you tap the pedal, makes a constant robot noise when driving it, and requires you to perform labor intensive Yoga positions to disassemble it and lock it in place every time you want to fish another spot this is the device for you.

And you will hear people come on here saying well this motor is for "Deep Water / off-shore fisherman" haha please, I'm off-shore 96% of the time. I've spent plenty of time using this motor and it's junk... Truly takes the fun out of fishing.

Ask yourself this question. Why don't any Bassmaster Elite Pro's use it?

I agree. I had a client who wanted to fish in his boat so I could help him with his electronics. He had an iPilot, and that day ended any thought I ever had about buying one. Made it impossible to fish shallow water. Most of us run our trolling motors by feel. It's impossible to do with the iPilot. I'm pretty sure he's going to put his Fortrex back on his boat.

I have to agree with JD and Jason. A few of my boys have it....give it a 4 out of ten. the Spot lock feature is kind of cool and it's cool to have the unit automatically track to an area. It sounds cool but I like being able to to control your bowmount instantly and by foot..... isn't that what we want. who wants to have to use a remote?? that takes away from casting and running the bank lol. Cool Gadget...but just that. Gadget not a tool.

I have one and its a love hate relationship. I hate the mount, hate how noisey the turn motor is, and the remote is a bit too big for easy use.

But the spot lock is great, just push a button and you can do whatever you want to do. You can fish, retie a lure, respool a reel, sit in the back deck while waves crash over the bow (I've done that once).

At times I think about selling it and at times I think I'd be crazy to sell it. It's kinda like a wife, at times you want to kill it and at times you love it.

I love mine but I've never used a cable controlled motor. Maybe I'd have a different opinion if I used one but it's all I've known....and I never even knew I was using a piece of "junk"?

LOL

The spot lock is a great feature!

I've run a MK Terrova with iPilot since last fall and have been very happy with it so far.

Long ago gave up on TM's with cable operated foot pedals that you have to keep a foot on to turn-on and steer and cables that break.

Hand control was better for me but got tired of having to use a free hand to reach down and push/pull on the Pro-Kon-Troll handle to steer especially when windy - a real nuisance.

The iPilot system does have a learning curve and some getting used to using.

Use mine to both run the bank as well as fish off-shore. It's spot anchor is great for holding on a small area to fish or retie in the wind. Steer down a bank or thru the trees with the tap of a toe. No keeping my foot on a pedal or reaching down with a free hand to steer.

The response time on mine is fine - certainly not 5 secs.

That's what I figured I looked at it at cabelas and I would love to have the spot lock feature but not having a way to pull the tm up conveniently was a big concern my thought is I would want one that could be used in worse case scenario like when loading a boat on a trailer without the use of your outboard or getting a lure unhung right next to the bank thanks for the input

OldChamp is right on the money , I've run the Terrova with ipilot and foot control for two years I'm very happy also. If you spend the time to learn the controls before you start fishing you'll be happy to. If you start fishing before you learn the controls it can be very frustrating, you may learn it real fast or you'll be ready to put the old unit back on.

If you do get one here is a link on how to run a transducer cable down the shaft, it works great. link; http://www.crappie.com/crappie/fishing-e...ucer-mount.html

I just got mine in last week and will be mounting it this weekend. My buddy has had one for a couple years and I played with it several times before making the decision to get one. I think people saying you can't run banks or it has a 5 second delay is way off the mark. The only drawback that I have seen is it is a little noisy when turning, I plan on putting a hydrowave on it to help this issue. Other than that I think it's an awesome tool if you take the time to learn to use it. The main thing for me is I run a bass tracker 170, when the wind blows it gets blown around pretty good and fighting the wind all day runs my battery down and gets to be frustrating trying to stay on structure. Spot lock, record a track, cruise control and autopilot make it well worth if for me, I can spend more time fishing and less time fighting my cable control. When I catch one hit spot lock, CPR and I'm right there where I caught it. There are a lot of benefits but it is kind of like Chevy vs ford, some people hate em and some people won't fish without em. Do some more research, if it fits your fishing style and you think you'll like it you probably will, if you feel like it's a gimmick you probably won't.

I love mine- no 5 second delays and yes spot lock rocks. I do wish they would quiet the motor used for turning. I am totally able to run it by feel. I think the fortrex is a great product too, you really can't go wrong with either.

Would it be possible to put a spot lock on the conventional motors ?

I'm sure minn Kota could put the same features on other motors but I'm sure it's more of a money thing

you don't have to touch the remote at all. The foot control does all the stuff that a normal cable operated system does.