Bow mount trolling motor shaft length??

[Mille Lacs Guy]

I'm going to buy a bow mount trolling motor for my boat this year and I want to know if I need a 52" or 62" inch shaft. The boat is a 1890 Warrior Tiller, I have a 75 pound thrust transom mount motor also. I am looking the 74# Minn Kota Maxxum. Do any of you guys with bigger glass boats have any suggestions for what length I need?

[fishinfool]

without question you are going to want the longest shaft that you can get. i fish alot of big water and when the wind picks up and the waves roll the bow comes up and the motor comes out of the water. you want that motor in the water all the time for the best control.

my 2 cents
fishinfool

[stevefellegy]

Seeing you fish Mille lacs, I might not be able to answer your question TOO constructively...but I'll do some guessing and maybe get lucky.
There are very few LEGITIMATE reasons to go any direction, than the longest possible choice available, when talking bowmount shaft length. That said, being a tiller guy, you have rough water covered in the best way possible on both ends of the boat. After a while, you most likely will or can eliminate the transom electric.
I use the 74 Maxxum/62" shaft on the big pond and need it all on many a day. Then.... there's that big tiller as a "back up".

[MathMan]

Steve:

I find it interesting that you use the Maxxum on the "big pond." Could you please share how you use it? It seems that a lot of people have choosen the AP. I am very close to pulling the plug on a Maxxum 74, but I was actually thinking 54" shaft. Interested in your thoughts.

Thanks.

Rick Mitchell
Stevens Point, Wisconsin

[iamwalleye1]

Your shaft can never be toooo long!

[stevefellegy]

Hey Rick,

At Mighty Mille Lacs, 95 percent of the fishing is structure related.
At various times of the year, vertical fishing is key. Five feet here or ten feet there with the boat can be the difference between success and failure. With the Maxxum style motor, in ANY wind conditions, I can control the boat relative to that fine line. Vertical means vertical, ALL the time, no in between, which I have found with the PD style response time. Open water or praire type fishy country is different. Quite often, done right, vertical fishing means fishing one individual fish, that shows up on the graph, at a time. Simply, my nerves can't handle the PD ability to do that.

[David Anderson]

Certainly Steve can answer your question to him, however I too run a Maxxum 74, 62" on my 620T, and fish Mille Lacs every weekend I can. After much research, surveying guys, and running a friends AP for a day, I really felt the need to have more of a "feel" as to my trolling motor position than the AP offered. I use mine in 2 basic situations, holding the edge of a flat and for casting reefs. For my situation the Maxxum 74 offered easier deploy and stow (nice in waves), positive foot control, good sense of head position, and a very rugged mounting/control system. I have a 62" and sometimes I wish I had another 1/2 foot, but generally is very good. The bow mount can really take a pounding and I believe the Maxxum is the most rugged unit out there. Granted I don't do well concentrating on more than 2 things at a time. Holding a rod, staring at the depth finder leaves little left for figuring out where I am going. I found the AP was not a good fit for the way I fish. I ruled out a pinpoint for some of the same reasons as well as I've seen it get lost a few times. It didn't help that it was twice the price either. Same issues with the Genesis.