Pinpoint in Rivers

[mkvwalleyes]

Need advice on Pinpoint purchase. I fish the Mississippi River about 75% of the time. The rest of the time on small lakes. Would like to know how does the Pinpoint handle river current when slip drifting or hovering for river walleyes? Also, does the shore track feature work well when trolling up and down current? Does the Pinpoint handle shallow backwaters and close to shore panfish action during the spawn? Do you then need to run it manually?
Considering purchasing a 3700 motor with 7500 and 7520 graphs. Do I need a 56 inch or 60 inch shaft? Currently running Lund 1775 Tiller with 75 hp Mercury, 9.9 4-stroke Mercury and 65 lbs. Auto Pilot. Boat set up works great for me. Is the Pinpoint a valuable tool in the river or a waste of money?

[eyefish]

I have a 1800pro v with pinpoint and fish the river. Works
great where there is a depth change and in back water it reads
off the shore, but in an area that has close to the same depth
without major changes it doesn't know which way to go and will
start going in circles tring to read bottom. On wing dams you
have to run it on manual because it doesn't react in time for
the current. I have a minn kota I run on the river now and use
the pinpoint for lakes. In lakes it will follow a reef or shore
for miles and keep you right on track, even in wind because it
automatically speeds up for conditions. I used it in canada and
could go back and net fish, get bait and change tackle and never
have to worry about partner in the back of boat being off reef.
Use cable steer trolling motors for rivers and pinpoint and
auto pilots for lakes. I put on a removable plate under mine
and with 2 thumb screws I can change motors in 1 minute.

[Doc (wi)]

I find that the Pinpoint positioning motor does a very good job for me while guiding the Wolf River in Wisconsin. The foot pedal is very comfortable and I have much less fatigue after the countless hours standing over a bow mount. This is important to me due to a very arthritic hip and the pain associated with it. The unit has good power (I have 80#'s on 36 volts)and great reaction time to direction. There are even a number of settings that you can go through to have the "feel" you desire from the foot pedal. As far as shore tack, I don't know as I run the 2900 series with depth track only. When drifting and jigging a break line I will set the motor to follow the break back up the river, leaving me free to change jigs, grab a snack or whatever. I have even found subtle "fingers" that I had missed that the motor found for me while returning to the starting spot on the drift. For me personally the foot pedal and ability to control the motor easily are the main keys. Add that to a networked system of sonars and you've got a good set of tools.

Joel "Doc" Kunz

[woodchuck]

Eyefish, which removable plate do you use with the Pinpoint?

[eyefisheyes]

the mount I use is a swivel-eze 5000. Installed by CR Boats
of Dubuque, Ia.