Best Spot Lock Trolling Motors

Trolling motors are a great way to get around on the water, whether you are an avid angler or just like to explore the water­ways. Trolling motors allow you to get around with­out the need for an engine or gas, mak­ing them a great choice for eco-mind­ed indi­vid­u­als. Spot lock trolling motors are an even bet­ter choice as they offer the added ben­e­fit of a built-in GPS sys­tem that keeps your boat in one place. This can be a life­saver when you are fish­ing in one spot, or just want to keep your boat in a cer­tain loca­tion with­out hav­ing to con­tin­u­al­ly adjust the motor. 

Best Spot Lock Trolling Motors

The best spot lock trolling motors are designed to hold your boat in posi­tion with­out the need for con­tin­u­ous steer­ing. This allows anglers to stay in the same spot with­out hav­ing to con­tin­u­ous­ly adjust the boat’s course. Spot lock trolling motors use GPS tech­nol­o­gy to stay fix­at­ed in a cer­tain area, even in windy or chop­py con­di­tions. The high­er the pow­er and thrust rat­ing of the motor, the bet­ter the spot lock capa­bil­i­ties. It’s impor­tant to choose a trolling motor that is rat­ed for your boat’s size and weight, as well as for the type of water you will be fish­ing in.

1. Minn Kota Ultrex Trolling Motor: This one is the cream of the crop when it comes to spot lock trolling motors. The spot lock GPS anchor­ing is incred­i­bly accu­rate, and it fea­tures pow­er steer­ing and an auto-pilot func­tion, mak­ing it super user-friend­ly.
2. MotorGuide Xi5 Wire­less Trolling Motor: This motor has a very reli­able GPS anchor sys­tem and boasts pre­cise con­trol. The qui­et and smooth oper­a­tion is a bonus for not dis­turb­ing the fish!
3. Rho­dan HD GPS Anchor Trolling Motor: Rho­dan makes some seri­ous­ly sol­id trolling motors. The HD GPS mod­el is no excep­tion with its excel­lent spot lock fea­ture. It also has a rep­u­ta­tion for being excep­tion­al­ly durable and reli­able.
4. Garmin Force Trolling Motor: Garmin’s entry into the trolling motor mar­ket packs quite a punch. Their built-in, ultra high-def­i­n­i­tion scan­ning sonar and wire­less foot ped­al sys­tem make for some smooth sail­ing (or fish­ing, as it were).
5. Minn Kota Ter­ro­va Fresh­wa­ter Bow-Mount Trolling Motor: This one stands out for its easy-to-use foot ped­al and effi­cient spot-lock tech­nol­o­gy. Plus, the stow and deploy mech­a­nism is easy as pie — even when you’re in the heat of the fish­ing moment!
6. Minn Kota Pow­er­Drive Trolling Motor: Anoth­er hit from Minn Kota, this motor’s got a spot-lock fea­ture with a jog func­tion. It allows you to move your spot 5 feet in any direc­tion. Now, talk about pre­ci­sion!
7. Haswing Cay­man Trolling Motor: This mod­el might not have the same brand recog­ni­tion, but it’s known for its reli­able GPS anchor fea­ture. The wire­less remote con­trol and option­al foot con­trol make for con­ve­nient use.
8. MotorGuide X3 Trolling Motor: While it does­n’t come with an inte­grat­ed spot-lock sys­tem, it’s com­pat­i­ble with MotorGuide’s Pin­Point GPS sys­tem. So you can add the fea­ture if spot-lock is a must-have for you.
9. Aqu­os White Haswing Cay­man Elec­tric Trolling Motor: This motor is anoth­er under-the-radar gem. It fea­tures a wire­less con­trol sys­tem and a sol­id GPS spot lock func­tion, and it comes at a more bud­get-friend­ly price point.

Spot lock trolling motors also fea­ture adjustable speed set­tings, allow­ing you to make sub­tle adjust­ments as need­ed. Many mod­els also offer a reverse set­ting, allow­ing you to back away from obsta­cles or move the boat into a more favor­able posi­tion. When choos­ing a spot lock trolling motor, it’s impor­tant to con­sid­er the type of bat­tery you will be using, as the motor will need to be pow­er­ful enough to run on the bat­tery’s amper­age. Look for a motor with a durable con­struc­tion, as well as fea­tures such as a salt­wa­ter-grade fin­ish and a cor­ro­sion-resis­tant shaft. Make sure to select a motor that includes a war­ran­ty in case of any unex­pect­ed issues.

There are many spot lock trolling motors on the mar­ket, so it can be dif­fi­cult to decide which one is best for you. This arti­cle will pro­vide an overview of the best spot lock trolling motors, as well as the fea­tures to con­sid­er when mak­ing your selec­tion.

Types of Spot Lock Trolling Motors

The first thing to con­sid­er when choos­ing a spot lock trolling motor is the type you need. There are two main types: Bow Mount and Tran­som Mount. Bow Mount motors are mount­ed direct­ly on the bow of the boat, and are typ­i­cal­ly larg­er and more pow­er­ful than Tran­som Mount motors.

• Foot Con­trolled Trolling Motors: These are quite pop­u­lar among anglers. They allow you to con­trol the motor with a foot ped­al, free­ing up your hands for fish­ing. Some top picks like Minn Kota Ultrex or MotorGuide Xi5 fall into this cat­e­go­ry.
• Hand Con­trolled Trolling Motors: These are con­trolled using a tiller han­dle. They are gen­er­al­ly sim­pler and less expen­sive but require one of your hands for oper­a­tion.
• Wire­less Con­trolled Trolling Motors: Motors like Rho­dan HD GPS and Haswing Cay­man fall under this cat­e­go­ry. They pro­vide free­dom of move­ment and con­trol, as you can oper­ate them using a wire­less remote or even a smart­phone app in some cas­es.
• Bow Mount Trolling Motors: These are mount­ed at the front of the boat and pro­vide bet­ter con­trol and maneu­ver­abil­i­ty. Most spot lock trolling motors like the Minn Kota Ultrex and Garmin Force are bow-mount­ed.
• Tran­som Mount Trolling Motors: These are mount­ed on the boat’s stern. While less com­mon for spot lock motors, some mod­els can be adapt­ed for spot lock capa­bil­i­ty.
• Sonar Inte­grat­ed Trolling Motors: Some trolling motors, like the Garmin Force, are equipped with built-in sonar capa­bil­i­ties, mak­ing it eas­i­er to spot fish.

Bow Mount motors also offer more con­trol, as they are con­nect­ed to the boat’s steer­ing sys­tem, allow­ing you to make fin­er adjust­ments to your boat’s posi­tion. Tran­som Mount motors are mount­ed on the back of the boat, and are typ­i­cal­ly small­er and less pow­er­ful than trolling motors for canoe. Tran­som Mount motors are eas­i­er to install, but offer less con­trol than Bow Mount motors.

Bow Mount Motors

A bow mount motor is a type of outboard motor that is mount­ed on the bow, or front, of a boat. It is usu­al­ly motorized with an elec­tric or gaso­line engine and has a propeller attached to the low­er end of the motor, which is sub­merged in the water.

Bow mount motors pro­vide a greater range of motion and maneu­verabil­i­ty than transom mount motors, allow­ing the boat to turn and spin more eas­i­ly. They are also typ­i­cal­ly more pow­er­ful than transom mount motors, mak­ing them a pop­u­lar choice for larg­er boats or boats that are used in rougher waters.

Minn Kota Ultrex

The Minn Kota Ultrex is one of the top-rat­ed Bow Mount spot lock trolling motors on the mar­ket. It fea­tures an inte­grat­ed GPS sys­tem that allows you to lock in your spot with the press of a but­ton, as well as an easy-to-use con­trol sys­tem that allows you to make sub­tle adjust­ments to your boat’s posi­tion. The Minn Kota Ultrex is a pow­er­ful motor, with a max­i­mum thrust of 112 pounds, and is designed to be high­ly respon­sive. It is also designed with a stow and deploy sys­tem that allows you to eas­i­ly raise and low­er the motor into and out of the water.

Motorguide Xi5

The Motorguide Xi5 is anoth­er pop­u­lar Bow Mount spot lock trolling motor. It fea­tures an inte­grat­ed GPS sys­tem that allows you to lock in your spot with the press of a but­ton, as well as an easy-to-use con­trol sys­tem that allows you to make sub­tle adjust­ments to your boat’s posi­tion. The Motorguide Xi5 is a pow­er­ful motor, with a max­i­mum thrust of 105 pounds, and is designed to be high­ly respon­sive. It is also designed with a stow and deploy sys­tem that allows you to eas­i­ly raise and low­er the motor into and out of the water.

Transom Mount Motors

A transom mount motor is a type of outboard motor which is mount­ed on the transom, or back, of a boat. The motor is attached to the transom with clamps or bolts, and is used to pro­vide propul­sion for the boat. Transom mount motors come in var­i­ous sizes and styles, and are typ­i­cal­ly pow­ered by gaso­line or diesel fuel. They pro­vide a range of pow­er, from small trolling motors to large, high-pow­ered engines. Transom mount motors are a pop­u­lar choice for anglers and recre­ation­al boaters alike, due to their ver­sa­til­i­ty and con­ve­nience.

Minn Kota Endura Max

The Minn Kota Endura Max is one of the top-rat­ed Tran­som Mount spot lock trolling motors on the mar­ket. It fea­tures an inte­grat­ed GPS sys­tem that allows you to lock in your spot with the press of a but­ton, as well as an easy-to-use con­trol sys­tem that allows you to make sub­tle adjust­ments to your boat’s posi­tion. The Minn Kota Endura Max is a pow­er­ful motor, with a max­i­mum thrust of 50 pounds, and is designed to be high­ly respon­sive. It is also designed with a stow and deploy sys­tem that allows you to eas­i­ly raise and low­er the motor into and out of the water.

Motorguide R3

The Motorguide R3 is anoth­er pop­u­lar Tran­som Mount spot lock trolling motor. It fea­tures an inte­grat­ed GPS sys­tem that allows you to lock in your spot with the press of a but­ton, as well as an easy-to-use con­trol sys­tem that allows you to make sub­tle adjust­ments to your boat’s posi­tion. The Motorguide R3 is a pow­er­ful motor, with a max­i­mum thrust of 45 pounds, and is designed to be high­ly respon­sive. It is also designed with a stow and deploy sys­tem that allows you to eas­i­ly raise and low­er the motor into and out of the water.

Features to Consider

When choos­ing a spot lock trolling motor, there are sev­er­al fea­tures to con­sid­er. The first is the type of motor you need, as dis­cussed above. The next is pow­er. You want a motor with enough pow­er to keep your boat in one spot, no mat­ter what the con­di­tions. The third is con­trol. Look for a motor with an easy-to-use con­trol sys­tem that allows you to make sub­tle adjust­ments to your boat’s posi­tion. Look for a motor with a stow and deploy sys­tem that allows you to eas­i­ly raise and low­er the motor into and out of the water.

Power

Thrust

When choos­ing a spot lock trolling motor, one of the most impor­tant fea­tures to con­sid­er is thrust. This is the mea­sure of the motor’s pow­er, and is typ­i­cal­ly mea­sured in pounds. The high­er the thrust, the more pow­er­ful the motor. Bow Mount motors typ­i­cal­ly have high­er thrust than Tran­som Mount motors, so make sure you get one with enough pow­er to keep your boat in one spot.

Battery

Anoth­er impor­tant fea­ture to con­sid­er is the bat­tery. Look for a motor with a bat­tery that is designed to last, as you don’t want to be stuck in one spot with a dead bat­tery. Make sure to check the battery’s amp-hour rat­ing, as this will give you an indi­ca­tion of how long the bat­tery will last.

Control

Control System

When choos­ing a spot lock trolling motor, it is impor­tant to look for one with an easy-to-use con­trol sys­tem. Look for one with an intu­itive design that allows you to make sub­tle adjust­ments to your boat’s posi­tion. Also look for one with an LCD dis­play that shows your cur­rent posi­tion, as well as any oth­er per­ti­nent infor­ma­tion.

GPS System

Anoth­er impor­tant fea­ture to con­sid­er is the GPS sys­tem. Look for a motor with an inte­grat­ed GPS sys­tem that allows you to lock in your spot with the press of a but­ton. This will ensure that your boat stays in one spot, no mat­ter what the con­di­tions. Also look for one with an easy-to-use inter­face, as you don’t want to spend time fid­dling with knobs and but­tons to get your boat in the right spot.

Stow and Deploy System

Raise and Lower

The last fea­ture to con­sid­er is the stow and deploy sys­tem. Look for a motor with an easy-to-use sys­tem that allows you to eas­i­ly raise and low­er your motor into and out of the water. This will make it much eas­i­er to get your motor in and out of the water, and ensure that you are always ready to go.

Locking Mechanism

Final­ly, look for a motor with a lock­ing mech­a­nism that keeps the motor secure­ly in place when it is stowed. This will ensure that your motor doesn’t come loose and fall out of the water when you are not using it.

FAQs

Conclusion

Spot lock trolling motors are a great way to keep your boat in one spot, whether you are fish­ing or just explor­ing the water­ways. There are many spot lock trolling motors on the mar­ket, so it can be dif­fi­cult to decide which one is best for you. This arti­cle has pro­vid­ed an overview of the best spot lock trolling motors, as well as the fea­tures to con­sid­er when mak­ing your selec­tion. When choos­ing a spot lock trolling motor, make sure to con­sid­er the type of motor you need, the pow­er and con­trol, and the stow and deploy sys­tem. This will ensure that you get the best spot lock trolling motor for your needs.