I was fishing with a buddy yesterday in my DB and we were discussing kicker motors. My current DB is not licensed for a kicker so the topic came up about electric kickers (mainly talking about Minn-Kota).

Does anyone use an electric kicker on their DB and if so, how well does it perform! Also, I don't know if you have to register your boat or not with an electric motor so if anyone knows, please help!!

Thanks all !!

Yes you have to register the boat if you use electric.

I used one on mine db. I was able to go upstream in slow current. I could have rowed as well. I am undecided as to it usefulness. Not having it on the boat means less stuff to get in the way. Wife not as likely to lose nice steelhead when you screw up and get the boat backwards.

I use a Minkota 3.1 HP 12V. Works great. Great for backbouncing, and even boondog in slower current. Sure it won't get up on plane, but it sure helps when rowing out of frog water. I just lock it in place and steer with the oars.

ritefish,

Great investment!!!! Be sure and register your DB with the state. From my expierence,
get at least a 48lb. thrust. Minn-Kotas are
a good choice.

Cigar

I've got a Minn-Kota Endura 42 that I hang off the back of my drift boat. I use it primarily to position the boat when drift fishing or casting spinners. It works quite well, just run it back upstream and you can put the boat pretty much right where you want it and don't have to deal with constantly messing with your anchor or sitting on the oars while your buddy fishes. Its also very useful when fishing by yourself.

In smaller rivers or holes with swirling currents its usually better to just throw out the anchor. On the negative side, once you get the motor and the battery in, your drift boat becomes rather tail heavy.

Thanks for the info guys!

I am not quite ready to take the plunge yet so that is why I am posting to get real life experiences as they are more valuable than "printed" specs.

Do you guys have one or two batteries? I know deep cycle is the way to go, how long of running time do you get from a battery and is there one you prefer over another? Do I need a 12V or 24V unit, I only intend to do tidewater and to go through frog water on rivers so I only need the motor to handle maybe a strong current and wind at the worst. One last question , did the motors work right out of the box or did you have to order extended shafts?

Sorry to ask so many ?, just don't want to spend a bunch of dinero and find out it was a bad call.

I need to gather info also, because I would like to get a more powerful electric than my older 28 lb. Minn Kota for my new Don Hill mini-driter 2 man driftboat. It's only a 135 lb. fiberglass driftboat I'll use on small rivers. It would be nice to have a powerful electric to backtroll with or run back to the tops of holes. Do you guys in the know think 1 battery and a 42 lb. thrust electric OB would be enough power? The boat is too small for 2 batteries. Thanks. - Steve

Minn-Kota has a 52 lbs thrust 12 volt motor. It would last a little longer than a 42, you would not have to run it as hard so it would draw less current. Hope this helps.

Thanks folks for the info. Has anyone purchased a Minn-Kota online? Are there any comparable brands?

Ok, I'll stop with the ????'s

I have a electric in my drift boat. The only time it is of any use is when you get to the really long stretches of dead water on the Salmon or Clearwater, drop it down and motor out down stream. Used to use my buddys for that. "You said you wanted to row so now is your chance... Now STROKE !!!!"

From all the problems the guys around here have had with the boards in their minn kota's I think I'd go with a motor guide. I've had mine a long time and put it through a lot of abuse and it keeps going.

Fishhead5