OK Buddy here is my take. I have been fishing all the north Jersey Lakes for
years. I had a 15'long by 42"wide jon boat the 40lb thrust minkota hand
operated trolling motor moved me the boat and my fishing partner along with
all our gear. The boat was about 275 lbs. it had a casting deck and wood
floors that I made, it had the largest deep cycle battery sears made in it,
along with anchors.and my 9.9 evinrude 4stroke. all this stuff including us
and we trolled, ran the lights, fish finder and spot light for never less
than 5 hours and had power to spare. go buy a cheap lightweight jon boat get
a good battery and trolling motor and go get em. (PS I just bought a new
Lund and my old john boat fully rigged with trailer is for sale if you or
anyone in nj is interested, it's a great monksville rig)
wrote in message
oups.com...
I would like to fish in some small lakes or reservoirs (New Jersey)
that only allow the use of electric motor. I am wondering whether I
should use a rowboat or a canoe. Regardless whether I will use a
rowboat or a canoe, I will mount an electric trolling motor to its
stern as the primary propelling power.

I need some info in order to help me to make a decision:

o Is this realistic to use a trolling motor to push a rowboat for a
distance of 1 mile back and fro? I have a feeling that the combined
weight of the rowboat, two adults, an anchor, and the wide
cross-section "may" be a drag for the trolling motor. Will this be OK
afterall? And I don't intend to use the oars as the backup propelling
power because I don't have any luck doing this.

o Seem like we cannot put too many stuffs inside a canoe as comparing
to a rowboat. This may mean that I cannot put a big trolling motor and
big batteries into the canoe. Does this restrict the distance that the
canoe can go to less than 1 mile back and fro?

o How do we anchor a canoe in the middle of the lake? Putting an
anchor inside a canoe "seems" like putting a lot of weight of the
canoe. This "may" make the canoe hard to control if the anchor is not
placed at the dead center of the canoe. Will the use of an anchor and
cross-blowing wind cause the canoe to capsize?. Am I worrying the wrong
things? Do people have a different mean to anchor a canoe without using
an anchor?

Thanks for any info in advance.

Jay Chan