n the past, when I thought about fishing gear I was only thinking about reels, rods, soft baits, crank baits - basically hook line and sinkers. But now after I have owned my boat for over a year, I find there is a lot more involved with fishing gear.
I have a 16 foot bass tracker and it is around 20 years old and the original equipment had a 28# foot control trolling motor. This unit worked great but when the wind picked up I would just have to stop fishing or drift fish because I had little control in high winds. So after a lot of consideration I decided to upgrade to a 50# trolling motor.
When I looked at the recommended installation instructions I found that I had more to do then just bolt the unit on to the bow and plug it in. First if you are replacing an existing trolling motor that was installed by the boat manufacturer install the new one in the old location. But if your boat never had a trolling motor installed locate the trolling motor as close to the center of the bow as possible; it's always good to look at another installation before you start. The old trolling motor like I mentioned was 28# and the new 50#, both 12 volts, so the original wiring was not large enough to supply the current the new unit required. So my first job was to mount the new unit; this was the easiest part of the job since I used the same brand of trolling motor - the mounting holes matched. The next step is to run new wiring, in my case 6 gauge to meet the current requirements.
I ran new wire and left the original wire intact because it is good for 30 amps and I may add a power anchor at a later date. But back to running new wire, I was able to fish the line up to the console through a protective conduit; this covered about half of the wire. Because the other half of the wire run would be exposed; a wire wrap was purchased at the local hardware store for very little money to help protect the wire. I also purchased a 1 foot section of plastic tubing to protect the wire passing through the wall of a small compartment at the front of my boat where I mounted the new higher current plug. You can purchase stay cons (wire connectors for your batteries). I found the new plug for the unit is a little costly but a friend suggested that I could use a standard 120 vac plug and receptacle with water proof cover made for outdoor use, I used a 20 amp unit; this has worked with no problems. Also make sure you add the proper size breakers or fuses to protect your investment. A battery switch was also added to my system so all I need to do is turn a switch to use my spare battery; this is definitely worth the 25 to 35 dollars.
Just one more item as a safety note; it's a good practice to always leave the trolling motor unplugged until you have it in the water this protects you, the unit, and your boat from damage.
M. Kilby along with his father are avid fishermen offering quality Trolling Motors [http://www.bluelaketackle.com/trolling-motors-c-84.html] from Blue Lake Tackle, LTD
