Greetings everyone!

I'm looking for some advice and perspectives.  I've been reading great things about the new MinnKota i-Pilot trolling motors and have some questions and concerns.

I have a small 16ft aluminum bass/john boat. I primarily fish shallows, docks, weed-lines, and sometimes in the thick muck. I'm not a big trolling guy

For example, I can lift my Motorguide with the pull cable to clear weeds or just skim the surface to get in and out of thick matted weeds or heavy pads. Will a Terrova or Powerdrive be able to suffice in similar situations?

How is the wireless control compared to cable driven in tight quarters? I've read that it is not as responsive as cable driven. Also, for all those bass fisherman out there, how much of a change is it to go to using the hand control vs foot control? (Isn't using the hand remote distracting as it takes at least one hand of the reel?)

I'd love to take advantage of the spotlock and trackback features, but I'm not sure this motor will be up to my style of fishing.

Thanks in advance!

I like mine. It excells at river/current fishing. As far as the hand held control. I don't find it very distracting. (except reading the LED screen with polarized glasses on is difficult) Under "normal" conditions, it's  set it and forget it. As far as lifting the motor up to get thru the muck with the powerdrive2 there is a quick release handle, you push it down and the motor tilts up. You can hold the motor head as high or low as you want to avoid the obstacles, and it snaps easily back into place. I have no experience with a cable driven TM. I went from a powerdrive V w/autopilot to the V2 ipilot but I have heard response is not as quick. The spotlock feature works well. First time out with it I was fishing a river with strong current one direction and 20mph variable winds with gusts up to 30. I could have fished in one place til the batteries died. I have yet to use the trackback feature.

I love my i-Pilot and Terrova.  As slonezp said, it's pretty much set it and forget it.  The draw-back to the Terrova is that it doesn't have a rope handle to lift it when fishing in salad, so I attached my own.  The wireless steering control is instantaneous.  I can easily steer through an area full of stick-ups.  I've never used it, but the Terrova comes with a foot control, which may be less distracting when fishing in such areas. My favorite feature is the spotlock.  It will keep you in the same spot regardless of wind or current.  It's great when you have to retie or remove a backlash (not that I've ever had one. )  My second favorite feature is that I can sit behind the console and watch my side-imaging sonar while maneuvering with the trolling motor.

I don't have the i-Pilot but I do have the Auto-Pilot which I love as well I also have the Co-Pilot remote mounted on my spinning rods since spinning gear is all I use it works for me.

Tight Lines

Pa Angler