7 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

Ultrex in the bass boat, Autopilot in the Old Town kayak…

I’m surprised you found the ultrex whiny. The power drive in the autopilot for sure but I don’t hear hardly anything on the ultrex. 

My Ultrex Quest would do a lot of searching in SL once in a while last year, but I think it was fixed with the last update I did. It’s whisper quiet now.

11 hours ago, gim said:

bow mount. bow mount

My transom mount trolling motor is offended by your vernacular 

11 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

I’m surprised you found the ultrex whiny. The power drive in the autopilot for sure but I don’t hear hardly anything on the ultrex. 

More prevalent in calm waters or if I engage spot-lock before I come to a full stop. 

I went from tossing a anchor out every time I needed to stop in a spot to an Ulterra with spot lock and all the other cool features, especially stow and deploy. My back thanks me every time I use it. 

16 hours ago, gim said:

fished out of a Crestliner growing up that had a powerdrive bow mount with electric steer. I’m never going back to an electric steer again if I can help it. The response is painfully slow and the noise it makes is cringe worthy.

I think you owe it to yourself to at least go out with someone who has a modern fly by wire and see the difference from the older ones.  For me, I’ve never really been in a situation where I need immediate response to input.  Even with cable steer I had on my Fortrex, and being in stumps and trees, there was a lot of drifting with the steering.  Im not spot locking in that situation either.  
The guy I went to the St Lawrence with last year has a Ghost and besides the constant use of spot lock in the current, he has more recent graphs and used the “go to” a waypoint function a lot.  We would get close and he would use that option to allow us to fish up to it.  Just another plus.  We also used the “constant course” option on a lower power setting to allow us to drift and drag baits at a fish able speed in the massive current of that river.  If it was just the constant on option on a non gps unit, you would have to stand on the tm to steer and keep the boat positioned in the current.  

16 hours ago, gim said:

46 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

 If it was just the constant on option on a non gps unit, you would have to stand on the tm to steer and keep the boat positioned in the current.  

 

I did this 2 weeks ago in my dad's boat.  I called it poor man's spot lock.  There was a breeze down and slightly across the lake that would blow us into the grass we were fishing.  I set the constant 'on' and adjusted the speed and direction based on the wind.  Once you got the hang of it and once the wind was fairly constant it was manageable. A pain, but manageable in the 3-4 mph winds.  

 

Not sure if you've seen 'drift mode' on the new Quests.  Basically what you're describing but with more control.  Instead of setting a speed forward vs a larger speed against you (current) you just set the speed you want the current to move you at and it does the rest to let you slide with the current but at a slower speed than the current.  Pretty slick for some.

 

@casts_by_fly that sounds nice.  I know the newest update for the Ghost allows you to use the foot control while on spot lock to adjust the boat position and not release the spot lock.  In other words, it will automatically spot lock in the new position.  Previously, if you touch the foot control while on spot lock, it automatically released and you would have to reset it.  

My latest hand control TM is fairly easy to point into the wind or current and set on low speed, almost a spot lock 😂 

 

I love it because you don’t have to keep your foot on the pedal (or hand on the TM grip) 

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

vernacular

Purty fancy word for a hillbilly. 😉 It's ok for me to say that cuz I are one too. 😂