Titan

I've had the new Xi5 for a few weeks now. I love the TM but I've learned a few things I didn't know before making the purchase. I thought I would list them for any of you guys thinking of getting one for your boat. 1. The wireless foot pedal takes some getting used to. The first time I used it I thought "what have I done, this thing sucks!" But, I got used to it and like it quite a lot now. 2. It's a complete waste of time/money to mount an external transducer. The wire has to be run down the shaft and when the motor turns 360 degrees, the wire gets bound up, stopping the motor from turning. It also limits how far you can lower or raise the shaft. This TM is not made for an externally mounted transducer. 3. The internal transducer is SONAR only. The internal transducer cable supplied with the trolling motor doesn't match up to my forward mounted Hook2 fish finder, it's a 7 pin connector, I think. I'm attempting to find out if the newer Hook2's will will connect as we speak. If anyone out there knows the answer please post it. The point being, if you use an HDS, Elite Ti or Ti2 up front, and want to have downscan/sidescan, you can't use the internal transducer. 4. It will interface with the console mounted Lowrance Elite Ti2 (all the Elite and HDS units) with the use of an NMEA 2000 cable, allowing you to use the control functions of the TM through the fish finder. The Xi5 has the wire used to make the connection already installed. You only need the NMEA 2000 cable. 5. There is some interference on the front mounted Lowrance with the external transducer. But I'm told this is fixable. 6. The fob (remote) control is excellent. You can run the TM from anywhere in the boat (or out of the boat for that matter). My third time out, I was alone so had to park the boat at the dock while I parked my truck. I let the TM down, took the fob with me and let the boat drift. When I returned, I steered the boat back to the dock with the fob and climbed aboard. 7. The spot lock feature is excellent. I've tested it numerous times both in high winds and no winds. It works almost perfectly in windy conditions but gets a bit confused when there is no wind. It will still hold you on your spot, but may take a bit longer to settle in when there is no wind. 8. The "cruise" control is excellent. You can set it in the direction you want to go. Set the speed and forget about it. I've been blown off course once, during a fairly high wind. 9. The 80 pound thrust is very powerful. A couple of times, while on spot lock, the motor decided it needed to be somewhere else in a hurry and went sideways at full speed. If you aren't ready for this, it can knock you out of the boat. I'm not sure why it did that, but it only happened twice (on my first test trip) when there was very little wind and hasn't happened since. Had I not been within a few feet of a concrete water inlet I would have left it alone to see where it took me! 10. It's a bit more effort to deploy and recover than some motors. It's completely different from most cable steer motors. The shaft has to be slid outward, then the mount pivots allowing the motor to swing down into the water. 11. The depth of the motor is easily adjusted (which I like a great deal). I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things so feel free to add your own thoughts. Overall, it's a great trolling motor. Works as advertised. Has a bit of a learning curve not found in standard cable type motors. Limits your ability to use downscan and sidescan in the bow, but makes up for it with excellent spot lock, cruise control and the fob. Hope this answers a potentially new buyers questions. Oh, if anyone knows the answer to the Hook2 connector question please reply.

Hey Michigander, I bought an Xi5 a month ago. I want to use the internal transducer on it. The transducer is sonar only (no downscan or sidescan). Do you know if a Lowrance Hook2 9 will connect directly to the transducer cable on the Xi5? I already have a smaller Hook2 5. It doesn't appear to have a 7 pin connector that will fit the built in transducer. I wired the Hook2 5 externally and I'm having the same issue you mentioned.

Yesterday, in Oklahoma, it was 78 degrees with almost zero wind. I got off work at 3:30 and decided to hook up the boat and fish til dark. At 5:00, my 18 year old high school senior calls and says he wants me to meet him at school so he can get some hitting practice in (baseball). I said, "son, it's a really nice day to do some fishing, how about you go with me". He said he really needed to do some hitting. So, instead of fishing, I threw batting practice until dark! I did get a little perturbed about it I admit. But, I got to thinking that he's my last kiddo and will be moving on soon. I came to the conclusion that, as much as I enjoy the fishing, I don't want to miss out on time spent with him right now. I don't know about you guys, but I've been saying "maybe next year" for about 20 years now. I wouldn't change it for anything though.

Rattle Traps!!! Me too! Caught a lot of white bass on them but can't remember ever catching a largemouth.

Thanks for the info. Those screws are hidden well! I WILL resort to the hole saw if I have to!!

I know, this is a stupid question but........I'm wanting to upgrade my trolling motor. I tried to remove the old one yesterday and the bolts holding it just spin, indicating, of course, that I need to get under the front deck in order to remove those bolts. There is a sloping, carpeted, panel going from the front deck (where the foot pedal is located) up level with the aluminum portion of the front of the boat (where the TM is bolted on). I cannot figure out how to remove the sloping panel. The TM wiring comes out of the panel. I removed that assembly but did not see any way to remove the entire panel which, I think, would allow access to the underneath side of the trolling motor. I didn't see any screws in the panel. There are some screws going down through the aluminum on the upper level, but those just spin also. Does anyone out there know how to remove the sloping panel? Or, how to remove the trolling motor? I didn't make much of an effort because I didn't want to damage anything. Help! The second photo shows the panel.

So I've done some looking around. The Motorguide Xi5 with Pinpoint GPS ($1,429.00) will link to my Lowrance units, has spot lock, heading lock and cruise control. If you buy the NMEA 2000 gateway cables to connect to the Lowrance unit ($70.00) I think you can set a course on the Lowrance with a series of waypoints and the trolling motor will take you to the waypoints, in line, at whatever speed you set it at. It won't follow a contour on the map though. I hope this info. is correct. If anyone knows I'm wrong on one (or more) of these points, let me know.

Thanks for the replies! I think you're correct. I may be better off saving for awhile longer and getting a Ghost. I like my Lowrance units and don't want to have to change.

I'm looking to upgrade my trolling motor. I do a lot of catfish and crappie fishing as well as bass fishing. I want a motor that works with Lowrance fish finders (Elite ti2), has spot lock, remote steering, programmable heading with speed control and the ability to follow a contour on a GPS map on the unit. So far, the only advice I've gotten is the new Lowrance Ghost, but it's three thousand dollars. I was thinking the Motorguide Xi5 maybe. Are there any others out there that might work? I don't know much about these newer trolling motors and was hoping one of you guys would be able to provide some advice. I'm hoping to spend in the $1,500.00 range max. Thanks for the help.

I agree. The Pro Qualifier 2 reels are on sale now, $74.97. The Pro Qualifier 2 "limited edition" are on sale for $69.99. The salesman at BPS told me it's the exact same as the PQ2 but with different paint. I'd like to pick up a couple but, I've seen the PQ2 for $59.99 before and may wait for that again.

It's nice that we're both posting it huh? Spread the word!

These reels are on sale at Bass Pro right now. $69.97, down from $99.99

A first for me. Using electronics to intentionally target bass in deep water structure successfully. Broke the 30 pound barrier for Blue Catfish. Used a box knife to cut two hooks out of my calf! Mapped my entire home lake on Cmap Genesis!

I agree! I'm still bass fishing, but I really enjoy going after big blue cats this time of year. It's a much more relaxing experience!

Those look great! You've probably already gone over this somewhere else, but what kind of airbrush/paint etc...are you using. I'd like to get into doing this too. Nevermind Big 'un, I found the other thread. Thanks though.

End of the world you say? In that case, and I hate to say it, but I would choose a 7 1/2 foot heavy Okuma Battle Cat catfishing rod with an Abu Garcia Ambassador (see, I got BASS in there) 7000 reel spooled with 30 pound Big Game line.......and a shovel to dig up the worms for bait!

Illinois River! Full of smallmouth! We used to float down on a tube and stop at all the deep holes to fish. We caught smallies and a lot of flatheads there. We caught them on a 3 inch smoke colored grubs on 1/8 oz jig heads. 8 lb test on a spinning rod/reel.

Wednesday's a good idea! The timber is Oak, Cedar etc.... from when the lake was flooded. I haven't seen any big fish caught there. Just heard from other fisherman. I think the lake has shad, but now that I think about it, I'm not sure. If not, the main forage would likely be bluegill or crappie. I think the matted coon-tail and the points is the way to go. Any ideas on fishing the mats? Maybe a 1 oz jig or t-rigged bait of some kind. I had some luck throwing a frog, but on the matted up stuff it doesn't work. Thanks for the replies!

This lake (Prague city lake) is supposed to have a great population of big largemouth bass. I've fished it a few times and caught a few 3 pound bass, nothing big and not a large number of fish. The lake is fairly clear with 3-4 feet of visibility. It's surrounded by coon-tail with several submerged grass flats. The coon-tail on the shoreline is so thick, I don't see how to get a lure through it. The lake is full of standing timber, so much so that it's a "no wake" lake. It's about 250 acres. There are a couple long points (timbered) with deep water (10-18 feet) On a typical Saturday, there will be 10-20 boats (mostly kayaks), all bass fishing. So, it's fairly clear, full of cover, and over pressured. These fish see lures constantly. How would you guys go about fishing this lake? The pressure is what I think makes if difficult.

This.

I love em'. Great search bait in standing timber. I've caught bass in 8-12 feet of water using this lure.

Sounds exactly like my home lake. Muddy and the water rises and falls easily with a small amount of rain. We have vegetation around the shoreline and that is the only real cover in the entire lake. When the water is high, I flip and pitch 3/8 oz, dark colored jigs with a black or blue craw trailer on the outside and inside edge of the weed-lines. When the water is up, there's a few feet of water between the bank and the weeds. It will be a foot to a foot and a half deep there. I've found the bass will move deeper into the weeds or on the inside weed line as the water is rising or high. They will locate on the outside of the weed-lines during normal water levels. When the lake is at normal levels, I've caught most of my fish on a black buzzbait fished parallel to the weed-line. Large, very large, colorado bladed spinnerbaits worked the same way are also productive, but not as productive at the buzzbait ( I don't know why). Very large, very loud deep crankbaits work for fishing the deeper channels and points. This lake stays muddy to very stained year round' and the one thing I've found to be the most consistent is the bass ALWAYS stay tight to the available cover.

Just "feel" your way around with your lead foot. I've stepped off into deeper water more than once and had to swim back to the shallow end! I've never bass fished with waders, always shorts and old tennis shoes. My worry has always been slipping into water that is deeper than the waders, the waders filling with water and sinking me. I figure if I don't wear waders, I can always swim back. I did wear them trout fishing the White River in Arkansas once. I found a great "hole" full of trout. I climbed up on a large rock, upstream from the hole, thinking that would give me more time to fish once they started releasing water from the Bull Shoals dam. It did give me more time, but I stayed on the rock a little too long and when I jumped off to wade back to shore, the water came within an inch of the top of my chest waders! I was a young man then and was able to "fight" my way back to shore against the current. Very stupid, very dangerous! Just watch the depth when you wear chest waders!

Wear what you want! It's really irrelevant what some other "fisherman" thinks about it. There is nothing immoral, unethical, illegal or unsportsmanlike about it. Wear your jersey, go fishing and have a good time. If some "elite" anglers out there think it's unacceptable, they can keep their opinions to themselves. Don't get caught in this trap of believing there's only one way to do a thing in bass fishing.

I grew up on lake Texoma. There's some good bass fishing North of Buncombe creek, a few creek arms/coves that used to hold some good fish. Directly out from Buncombe is the OU biological station (West of the marina). Used to be a lot of standing timber in that area. Again, I've caught a lot of bass out of there. The Limestone creek area (South of Buncombe creek) was also an outstanding area. I've caught some really big fish at the back of Limestone creek and the point on the North side of the creek arm (standing timber again). We would always hit rocky shorelines early with topwater baits in the summer then work our way out into deeper water around standing timer/creek channels as the day went on. Almost forgot, find lay downs on points. That was our "go-to" pattern when all else failed.