Looking into getting a 18'6 Seahawk, but I've got one small problem. A trolling motor wouldn't do well on this boat, and that's (from what i am told) essential to not scare the fish away. I will get a kicker for this boat regardless, but I would appreciate opinions on if it would really affect bass fishing(or any small fish for that matter, crappie and whatnot).

 

(Yes i know this isn't a bass boat by any means, but i like fishing in the bay or offshore occasionally with my buddies. this boat looks like it can do just about anything, so its my choice)

I've read that bass are less scared by gas motors than trolling motors because they're rarely caught when they hear the sounds of nearby gas motors vs trolling motors so they don't associate them with danger.

They troll for muskies in the prop wash less than 6ft behind the boat - so yeah, no.

 

If you want to spend the big bucks, they make electric HP outboards too.

 

 

I don't see many pros or anyone else in the world using their big outboards to troll for bass if they have a trolling motor.

 

I would say the theory that bass associate trolling motors with certain death is just that, a theory, and I personally doubt it's true due to all available evidence (see first paragraph) pointing against it.

Doubt you'll have a problem. The old technique is called "backtrolling," using your gas engine, typically a smaller engine, to hold position and slowly move along breaklines, etc. Kind of forgotten about these days, but I've been doing it for the past 12 years for all kinds of species (not just bass) and can't complain about my catches