I pilot anchor lock problem

[illineye]

Have heard great reviews on I pilot but I have been disappointed with it. Have a 102 lb terova on a crestliner 1850 fishhawk bought the boat used with the ipilot already installed. I try and use the anchor lock and it does not keep me over or near the stucture and if there is wind or current it basically over corrects itself and end up going all over the place. I cannot effectively vertical jig or fish slipbobbers which is what I do about 90% of the time. I talked to minnkota and they said it is most likely to big a motor for the boat but did not offer any suggestions to fix the problem other than buying a new trolling motor. Anybody else run into this problem and any ideas on how to fix the problem?

[black white face]

Originally Posted by illineye

Have heard great reviews on I pilot but I have been disappointed with it. Have a 102 lb terova on a crestliner 1850 fishhawk bought the boat used with the ipilot already installed. I try and use the anchor lock and it does not keep me over or near the stucture and if there is wind or current it basically over corrects itself and end up going all over the place. I cannot effectively vertical jig or fish slipbobbers which is what I do about 90% of the time. I talked to minnkota and they said it is most likely to big a motor for the boat but did not offer any suggestions to fix the problem other than buying a new trolling motor. Anybody else run into this problem and any ideas on how to fix the problem?

Too BIG of a motor??? sounds like a BS reply. I run a 1760 Fishhawk and an 80# terrova with IP and I use it allot and is spot on. Do you have a aouthorized service agent nearby to seek resolve?

[mrwalleye5]

Just this weekend I anchored with the Terrova 101 right near shore with hugh rocks on the shore with the waves blowing us into the rocks. The achor lock worked perfectly as there was no room for error. The wife was a little nervous but I told her that you just have to trust your equipment.

[bloodman]

Originally Posted by mrwalleye5

Just this weekend I anchored with the Terrova 101 right near shore with hugh rocks on the shore with the waves blowing us into the rocks. The achor lock worked perfectly as there was no room for error. The wife was a little nervous but I told her that you just have to trust your equipment.

Dont be trusting your equipment too much or you'll be trusting the repair shop. A friend of mine told me when he turned his anchor lock on it took him off course for awhile until it found the spot. Almost crashed some rocks.

[Wall-i-Lama]

Originally Posted by illineye

Have heard great reviews on I pilot but I have been disappointed with it. Have a 102 lb terova on a crestliner 1850 fishhawk bought the boat used with the ipilot already installed. I try and use the anchor lock and it does not keep me over or near the stucture and if there is wind or current it basically over corrects itself and end up going all over the place. I cannot effectively vertical jig or fish slipbobbers which is what I do about 90% of the time. I talked to minnkota and they said it is most likely to big a motor for the boat but did not offer any suggestions to fix the problem other than buying a new trolling motor. Anybody else run into this problem and any ideas on how to fix the problem?

Illineye, I found that it is best to be heading into the wind, or upstream before setting the "anchor". Also, it helps if you have stopped moving, or are moving very slow when setting the spot lock.

[Eric_CO]

I used it in waves that would come over the bow of the boat and it held me there good enough to keep my 1/4 oz sinker pretty vertical in 15' of water.

I think you should send the one you have in for repair.

[jeffbilodeau]

Originally Posted by illineye

Have heard great reviews on I pilot but I have been disappointed with it. Have a 102 lb terova on a crestliner 1850 fishhawk bought the boat used with the ipilot already installed. I try and use the anchor lock and it does not keep me over or near the stucture and if there is wind or current it basically over corrects itself and end up going all over the place. I cannot effectively vertical jig or fish slipbobbers which is what I do about 90% of the time. I talked to minnkota and they said it is most likely to big a motor for the boat but did not offer any suggestions to fix the problem other than buying a new trolling motor. Anybody else run into this problem and any ideas on how to fix the problem?

Mine is the same way. If the wind is blowing I can expect the front of the boat to vary by at least 20 to 30 feet. Really ticks me off. If most of you guys are holding much tighter than that I need to get it resolved. To me it seems that the algorithm that drives the motor speed is horsesh!t. It overshoots and then basically shuts off until it drifts back 20 feet past the spot and then overshoots trying to get back. Direction wise it's not bad. The algorithm should be self tuning so that it reacts appropriately for differnet applications.
So...everyone please chime in on how accurate you Spot-Lock is on your rig....both in calm and windy conditions.

[Hawker]

I'm perfectly happy and content with "ALL" the features of the iPilot with the one exception being discussed!! My boat is a 22 ft'er and using a weighted marker buoy over the side have seen the "spot lock" let the boat drift as far as a boat length and a half downwind of the buoy and take me almost that far past it before correcting! For the style/type of fishing I'm usually doing, it is sometimes beneficial as it keeps the live bait moving along quite a drift, but there are days when the fish are holding right on a drop off and I can't keep the boat spot locked where I need it to be spot locked!! I sent mine in once early on, didn't matter, came back the same as when I sent it!! Be nice if they all worked the same eh???

[tugger]

Frankly, I think that the Spot lock feature works pretty **** good on my unit. It doesn't appear to hold 5 ft accuracy but its not too far off, mabey 10ft or so but certainly not 30ft or even 20ft or I'd have been chancing hitting rocks several times, and I've been in ligitimate 3 footers where the prop is coming out of the water (motor working on 5-6 to keep on the spot). If you are fishing around rocks or piers, in strong winds, which I have done a lot of, what works for me is the following.

1) Face boat into the wind closing in on the spot you wish to lock on to.

2) Approach the spot slowly, gradually getting down to 0mph when you mark the spot, however the spot you mark should actually be 10-15ft or so UPWIND from exactly where you want to be (this is very important).

3) The wind will drift you back downwind 10-15 ft the spot slightly and the motor will take you back to the spot........This process just keeps on repeating automatically so you end up oscillating between the exact spot you mark an and 10-15 ft downwind. The motor isn't going to hold you exactly on a dime, it has to sense it has moved off the spot before it takes you back.

However, if your motor is truly letting you move 30ft off your spot I'd say something must be wrong with it. Again, I can't stress enough, the most important point I am making is to mark your spot 10-15ft UPWIND from where you want to be.


Im with Hawker, I like the fact that it occilates the way it does...if you do as I have suggested above, you'll stay out of the rocks AND be moving your bait around nicely if you are live bait rigging.

[feklar]

I've followed above tips by coming to my spot from downwind slowly and then hitting the anchor button when I'm at nearly 0 mph. I'm running an 80 lb terrova on a fisher 186 DC.

I too jerk around, the motor overcompensates and runs you past the spot, then spins all the way around and pushes backwards. If I was doing any kind of verticle jigging my line would be all messed up and either under the boat or in the prop. I've tried it on nearly glass to big waves and am not happy with it. It would work well enough if I'm casting to structure, but if I'm trying to verticle jig I'm better off controlling with the foot pedal.

I'm no expert, but it seems to me the spot lock doesn't compare current location with desired location often enough, and then uses too much speed/power to get back to location.