Question:
I made modifications to my Hobie Float Cat which might prove useful to
other
pontoon boat owners.
Those - and Frank's mod - sound great. What is the
rating of your trolling motor and where do you put the
battery for it ? The two together have to add a good
60 - 70 lbs, don't they ?
Answer:
The motor is a light weight one, factory reconditioned but has the battery
saver feature. I've never fully depleted a deep cycle battery on the water
and have fished up to 4 days without recharging. Battery and motor are over
70 pounds. If the lake is away from parking area, it takes three trips to
get everything to water. First ole Hobie, second battery and third motor.
The motor is not so heavy but the length gets it hung up walking through
brush, briars, tundra, vines, etc. that reach out and trip you up. The
battery fits nicely between the clamps that mount the motor and behind the
seat. I double strap the battery to the rack. Don't want that puppy to
move around. It's hard for me to reach behind my back and do anything while
sitting and floating. So I pay attention to keeping those cables from
coming loose or grabbing fly line. I use wing nuts on the battery to keep
cables tight and turned out of the way.
A major consideration of trolling motors is weeds. The plastic prop is
supposed to be non-fouling. I guess it is somewhat. I bought one of those
weed b-gone-devices that mounts to the motor keel. But I never mounted it.
It adds weight and extends the motor below the boat. It's hard for me to
keep the motor in ole Hobie from churning the bottom. Rocks ding the prop
so I usually lean the motor forward when getting into or out of the water
depending upon where I'm launching Hobie. But that gives me something to
hold onto while doing the Dumbo Dance getting in or out.
The injection-molded Hobie pontoons have a seam that runs through the
middle of the pontoon from front to back. Fully loaded I sink down to the
seam with the front tipped up 1-2 inches higher than the back. In top
speed, it plows forward hydraulically fine (but it never hydroplanes )
and does not affect fly casting. As I tell my wife, since I sink so low in
the water the wind does not blow me around so much. The wind does bother
me. Especially waves. Not from a danger point but cold water white caps
whipped upon me so I always carry a waterproof jacket. I just don't like
the wind. I haven't caught fish in heavy wind even just trolling because
the bouncing up and down probably makes the fly unnatural. Wind is not my
friend. I head for shore or the lee when it starts white capping..
