ONE-PIECE
COMPOSITE
SHAFT
the one-piece shaft
is fashioned from a
durable composite
material that bends or
flexes upon impact,
eliminating the need for
the breakaway mount
used with the Fortrex
shaft. Minn Kota brand
Manager brad henry
says the Ultrex shaft is
actually stronger than
the Fortrex shaft and
will take much more
abuse. it comes with a
lifetime warranty.
favorite feature
the feature called Spot-
Lock has received a lot of
hype since the motor’s
introduction in July 2016,
and after two months of
evaluation i can tell you that
all the hoopla is dead on.
Spot-Lock is an electronic
GpS anchor that is easily acti-
vated by tapping the dedicat-
ed anchor button on the foot
pedal or wireless remote.
Doing so triggers a yellow
light on the foot pedal and
simultaneously creates a ref-
erence point in the trolling
motor’s memory bank.
once activated, Spot-Lock
tells the motor to make con-
tinuous speed and direction
adjustments to help keep
itself pinned on the reference
point, regardless of wind, cur-
rent or wave velocity. you can
also use appropriate keys on
the wireless remote to “jog”
left, right, up or down in 5-
foot increments.
Spot-Lock enabled me to
stay locked on offshore loca-
tions and focus exclusively
on fishing instead of con-
stantly fooling around with
the trolling motor. i was able
to stand side-by-side with a
friend on the back deck for
an hour, with the wind at
our backs, and wreck a
school of fish positioned 50
feet behind the boat.
i used Spot-Lock in winds
as strong as 20 mph, and it
performed flawlessly, keeping
HITS & MISSES
FOOT PEDAL
the Ultrex foot pedal is designed a little wider than
the Fortrex’s in order to accommodate a series of com-
mand buttons for Spot-Lock, Autopilot, Constant on
and power. A handy lighted indicator panel shows
which feature is in use. it steers with the same heel-toe
control that most bass anglers prefer.
the bow within just a few feet
of the reference point 100
percent of the time. you know
the motor is doing its job
because of its intermittent
operation and twisting/turn-
ing of the head as it jockeys to
maintain its position.
Spot-Lock also came in
handy when drifting over
wind-blown flats, bed-fish-
ing, fishing docks, culling,
swapping baits, retying and
taking photos because it
allowed me to tend to busi-
ness without the worry of
drifting off of my fishing
spots and then wasting
valuable time getting reposi-
tioned. it’s sort of like having
twin power-poles that can
reach bottom in any depth.
+ Provides the steering style of a foot pedal with Power
Steering for improved handling and control
+ Zero torque, even on high-speed turns
+ Spot-Lock feature holds the boat in place
+ Lift assist for easy deployment and stowing
+ Push-to-test battery meter
+ Included Lcd wireless remote for control from the back deck
– High price
– motor noise, though you get used to the signature whine
may-june 2017 I fLWfISHInG.com
Performance tips
• Be sure to read and
follow the instructions
when installing the
motor and heading
sensor compass and
pairing the two
together.
• the motor is high-tech,
but not so much that
you should be intimi-
dated by it.
experiment with the
functions to see what
works for you.
• always turn off the
main breaker to the
trolling motor when
not in use. otherwise,
the heading sensor will
slowly draw juice from
the cranking battery.
DETAILS
Price: starting at $2,199.99
Thrust: 80 pounds (24 volts) and
112 pounds (36 volts)
Shaft Lengths: 45, 52 and 60
inches
Contact: minnkotamotors.com
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