I troll with a terrova 80 but it is limited. With the wind and 1.6 and below with spinners. Kicker will be more flexible. Don't know about steering.

 

I have a 18' starcraft. I have both a 9.9 and a min kota terrova. I will tell you this the best I can. there's days I can troll on Erie with just the terrova but not many. most of the time I use the two motor together. I steer with the terrova and push with the 9.9. if I had to pick for Erie I would say get the 9.9 first. and buy an assortment of drift bags to control your speed. the only thing that sucks is your going to have to steer the boat. I think the terrova makes fishing so much more enjoyable because I can fish with my friends not just steer the boat. eventually work toward getting both if I were you. if you want you can take a trip with me and see how I run them before you make a final decision

 

Do you plan to fish rivers and inland lakes? The reason I ask is, IMO, if the answer is yes, get a Terrova. The reason I say that is because you said you wanted to "try" trolling. It may turn out not to be your cup of beans. You can troll with your main engine by pulling drift socks, or, install a trolling plate, and, use the Terrova to steer, but, you can also use the Terrova to do many, many other things a 9.9 won't, and probably never will.

If you do decide you like to troll, you can look at getting a 9.9. In that case, it will probably be one of the least expensive items when you compare tackle, bait, gas, and lodging, as you'll learn. Until then, I'd get a Terrova, and you can fish almost anywhere. A 9.9 isn't much good for anything, besides trolling. I have both, and if I could only keep 1, it would surely be the Terrova.

 

I would go with a 9.9 and add the panther T4 so you can steer from the front or middle of the boat and be able to look at rods..

I just bought the panther t4 : $499.00

Kicker you can get for $900.00 if you look every day..

Good luck

 

Seems like an expensive "what-if," jumping to the top-of-the-line solution right off the bat, without even knowing if you'll like it or not!

Cheapest route would be to get a pair of these and hit the water:

https://amishoutfitters.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2&zenid=32e3df292fa0df5bb941fedd8699442c

Those will get your speed down to where you wanna be, but still leaves steering to be dealt with. If you've always got a buddy or two out with you, it won't be a problem... But it takes some MAJOR getting used to trolling solo, without some kind of autopilot; for me at least!!! I've got an I/O, but since you've got a tiller, you could probably just tighten up your steering tension... Seems like it would help immensely.

I just don't get out enough to justify a Terrova purchase, so I compromise. I've learned a bunch of little tricks to keep my boat relatively straight while solo setting lines, reeling/netting fish, changing lures/leads etc. BUT, with that being said, if I got out more, I would DEFINITELY get a kicker/Terrova combo!

Those bags will get you out on the water, ready to catch fish with your current setup. You can also use them to control your boat while drifting. But once you're out doing it, you can determine from experience, what will work best for your own situation... Or if you even have any desire to continue trolling Erie!!

 

Thanks for the feedback guys, and jj for the invite. I guess i should say that i have trolled the lake with big boards and inline boards and i enjoy it. Just not in my boat, or any tiller. Steering is my concern with a kicker and speed is my concern with an electric. Both are not an option right now

 

Also, i fear running bags with a two stroke becuase i dont wanna foul the plugs.

 

Also, i fear running bags with a two stroke becuase i dont wanna foul the plugs.

that's one of the good things about using bags. you get bags big enough that you keep your rpm,s up high enough that it don't foul your plugs. I use a trolling plate on my 16' boat with an old 115 hp inline 6 two stroke. but I have to give it a little gas to get up to trolling speeds and I've never had a problem with fouling out plugs. and a good set of bags will work better than a trolling plate.

I've been using plates for trolling for 30+ yrs and never had but 1 problem. I had the happy troller on my 21 ft cobia with a 315 hp 5.7 vortec engine and took off without bringing the plate up. it bent the plate back so far we couldn't get down to trolling speed. so we ended up perch fishing the rest of that trip. then I bought an easy troller plate which is hinged about half way on the plate and is spring loaded. so if you forget to raise the plate it will swing up and not bend back. then 2 yrs ago I found a good set of 36" trolling bags. so last yr we decided to give them a try. we think the bags are much better than a trolling plate. but either one will slow you down so you need to give your motor some gas which should keep from fouling your plugs.
sherman

 

I think you'll be better off running a 2 stroke with bags. You can run at a higher rpm and go slower with the bags...

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app

 

Thanks for the feedback guys, and jj for the invite. I guess i should say that i have trolled the lake with big boards and inline boards and i enjoy it. Just not in my boat, or any tiller. Steering is my concern with a kicker and speed is my concern with an electric. Both are not an option right now

Well since we now know you enjoy trolling, and have done it before, you won't have the problem of it not being your "cup of tea" later on! Here's what I'd do if I were you:

-Get a pair of big bags (I went with the size recommended for my boat on that link I posted, and wish I would've went one size bigger).

-Get the Terrova.

This way, you'll rid yourself of the steering problem right off the bat. This will allow you to fish MUCH MUCH more enjoyably until you can gather the scratch for a kicker!

 

get a kicker ,does a fine job and if you have problem withe big motor you can still get to the dock. theres a nice 9.9 on the market place now.

 

The things I have run into with an electric motor for trolling

A 2 foot wave will pull the motor out of the water, slowing and speeding up your troll

The life of a battery..charging it on day two?? ect.

Trolling into the wind seems to always suck

Over steering with an electric seems to be a problem unless the terrova is added..

I have both so I am telling you first hand info...have a 18' G3 with electric and a 25 foot grady white with the kicker...

 

Another thing about using bags. If you mount them on mid ship cleats, they help mitigate some of the rocking and rolling aluminum boats are known for. Because of this, sometimes I use mine, even with the 9.9.

 

Is the only difference between at powerdrive v2 and terrova the extra 10lbs of thrust? And 400 bucks?

 

Is the only difference between at powerdrive v2 and terrova the extra 10lbs of thrust? And 400 bucks?

No. They have different foot pedals. The Terrova steers a little faster, and the Terrova can use the foot pedal and the remote at the same time, while the PD is one or the other. The Terrova has an easier to use mount and it includes an automatic cut off switch for when the motor is stowed. The Terrova is available with a built in transducer that will work with most any brand of fish finder.

All that, plus the Terrova has a built in "maximizer", or pulse width modulator, and the Terrova has a 2 year warranty vs. the PD's one year. I've had both. Terrova, hands down.