Power-Poles are still the ideal tools for stealthily holding a
boat in place in skinny water when plucking largemouths off
beds. Smallmouths, which spawn in deeper water and gener-
ally are far less wary than largemouths when bedding, are
more approachable with Spot-Lock.
“Let’s say I’ve marked a waypoint on a bed in practice,” says
Dobson. “When I go back to the waypoint it could be off a little
depending what my error of positioning is on that given day.
With Spot-Lock I can lock down right on top of my waypoint and
walk all around the boat until I’m able to locate that specific bed.”
Foot-free control is also handy for scanning the bottom
using a bathyscope such as the Flogger. The Flogger has a
large cone, which is placed into the water large end down,
and a viewfinder that the angler peers through to get a look
at what’s under the surface. It’s best operated with two
hands. Minor trolling motor adjustments can be made using
the unit’s remote control.
“If I see something off the back, I can run back there and check
it out without turning my 21-foot boat full circle,” Dobson adds.
saving time
With Spot-Lock, a tournament angler doesn’t have to get
in a big hurry after he lands a fish. Instead of practically run-
ning back to the livewell to deposit a bass, the pro can walk
up to the trolling motor and step on the Spot-Lock button,
effectively locking in his position so he can cull, retie or tend
to other chores. Power-Poles work just as well in the shal-
lows, and the Spot-Lock fills in offshore.
When it’s time to fish again, the boat’s already in position.
“If you have a traditional trolling motor, a little wind or cur-
rent can cause you to drift way out of position, and it may
take several minutes to regain it,” says Lambert. “Do that mul-
tiple times over the course of a fishing day and you’ve wasted
a lot of time that could have been spent fishing.”
covering Water, reducing fatigue
Scott Dobson leans hard on his Ultrex to maintain boat position when
chasing big-water smallmouths.
mode at any speed. Previously, most bass pros would only fish
with the motor set to momentary mode. Ultrex brings the
continuous setting into play.
Lambert says the fact that the trolling motor doesn’t
torque left or right when you take your foot off the pedal
under power is a huge plus, no matter if you are covering
water down a shoreline, fan-casting a large grass flat or
creeping along a river ledge looking for the motherlode.
“You just set it the speed you want, point it the direction
you want to go and hit the ‘Continuous On’ button on the
pedal,” Lambert says. “You might have to make some little
adjustments with the foot pedal to change your heading on
occasion. Otherwise, you can fish with both feet on the deck.
The steering lock combined with the Power Steering respon-
siveness of this motor definitely make you feel less fatigue at
the end of the day.”
The Power Steering feature of the Ultrex keeps the trolling
motor head “in gear,” so it can’t turn unless it’s forced to using
the foot pedal. This “steering lock” feature prevents the motor
from torqueing left or right when the unit is in continuous
bed-fishing smallmouths
Ledge fishing, or any situation with current, is made easier with Spot-Lock.
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