Kicker or Bow Mount?

[Mossy]

If you bought a new boat, what would strap on 1st?  Seems a lot of people are going electric for trolling in the wind.

[PolarBear]

What are ya fishin' for?  My first reation would be a kicker.

[Dhoey07]

eastside or westside?

[Mossy]

steelhead, salmon trips once in awhile but mainly trolling lakes.  Bass fished a lot in my smaller boat.

[Mossy]

eastside or westside?

east side with maybe an annual trip to the westside

[Dhoey07]

How big is the boat?  Fishing steelhead at the snake/clearwater confluence i'd go with a good electric.  Fishing roosevlet for trout i would want a kicker in case my big motor took a $h1t on me.  Jigging for walleye i'd want an electric. 

If your big motor is really reliable, get an electric!

[Mossy]

18ft hewescraft sportsman with a 75hp Honda main.  Just having a hard time wrapping my mind around how much kickers are nowadays.  Eventually I'd like to have both.

[Button Nubbs]

Transom mount electric

[Camp David]

Start electric...get good batteries and keep them up to charge. You will know when you are ready for a kicker.

[lokidog]

From my experience back east, you have a lot more control when lake or river fishing with the motor in the front.  kind of like why a train engine usually pulls not pushes.  This is especially true with a bit of breeze.  If I was just slow trolling for walleye or trout, maybe a transom mount would be fine.  It is nice to have the hands-free functionality of a bow mount motor.

On both my 21' Trophy and my 19' Alumaweld, I can troll as slow or slower with the 15 hp or 9.9 hp kickers and it is a lot more comfortable sitting in the captains chair while steering.  It is nice to have that backup motor just in case, but on a lake, I personally would not worry about it.

[jordano]

steelhead, salmon trips once in awhile but mainly trolling lakes.  Bass fished a lot in my smaller boat.

if you are going to do more lake fishing and bass type fishing a solid 60 lb thrust Minn Kota will be awesome.. I think salt water/ Columbia River fishing would be better to get like a 9.9 Yamaha kicker... just depends on what kind of fishing you are going to do more is my opinion.. I fish in Eastern Washington for Spiny Rays a LOT or for trout.. don't fish salmon a whole lot or steelhead out of the boat.. so a bow mount electric is pretty awesome for me.. I feel it is the best way to control the boat..

[Mossy]

I'm leaning more toward a kicker. I know it's spendy off the bat but it's more of a piece of mind. Got a little tired of dealing with the batteries on my last boat.

[jeepster]

transom mount longshaft 8hp+ outboard..... no question about it. dont wanna rely on some whimpy electric to get you home if your main craps out and dont have a way to charge your batteries. an electric motor is only as good as your batteries and charging system. electrics are great for 12 foot aluminum boats on some pond..... but id never rely on one. thats just my thoughts................

[lokidog]

Those Yamaha high thrust 9.9's are awesome little engines.  They used to have an 8.  Of course there is nothing saying you can't put an electric on the front when you are river or lake fishing.  If you can afford a new boat, you should be able to afford both.....   

[Fish4Fun]

I would go with a kicker, it is also a back-up power source if any thing should ever happen to the main. More than once I have seen boats on the Lower Columbia get in on a kicker because the main died. I don't think they make the T-8 Yamaha any more, I think it was replaced by the T9.9 If I remember right the T-8 and the T-9.9 were the same engine block. Yamaha would be choice # 1 then a Honda would be # 2 for a 4-Stroke Kicker. As noted you can add the front elect later if it is needed. I have the T-8 on a 21' Weldcraft Inboard Sled and it works perfect.