"bleve" wrote in message SNIP

Bob, I am wondering if the 109 would be overkill on the lakes here in
central Florida?

***I've fished Florida lakes in the past. It's good to have the added power
when chopping through heavy weeds.

SNIP

I always encourage people to go bigger on their TM but then I fish a
river system where half the time we are pulling our biggest bags out of
the brush along the main river channel. I also run group 31 batteries
only. I need them.

This is the rule I've been hearing as well. Go as big as possible.

***I fish primarily on inland lakes, but on occasion I do fish rivers. Even
though it might be overkill, I prefer to have more power than needed. It's
always been my thinking that "it's better to have the power and not need it,
than to need the power and not have it."


I really think an 82 is barely adequate on a 20' boat.

Not according to the Motorguide rep that I talked to while visiting a shop
in Lakeland Fl. He thought the 109 would be overkill for a 20' boat and
this is why I was querying the group here.

***See above. Sure, now you might only fish inland lakes in 10 mph winds,
but what about days when the fish are really hammering, only it's extremely
windy and the fish are only hitting on a windblown point? Are you ready to
call it a day because your trolling motor won't handle it? What about the
possibility of taking the boat on vacation and fishing a river?

Plus, as someone has already said, you don't have to run it on high if you
don't want (or need) to. I've found I get better battery life using a
larger than needed motor at a slower speed than using a smaller motor and
needing to increase the speed to maintain boat control.

I also like to use my trolling motor to move quickly from one spot to the
next if the distance isn't too great. I have a 36 volt, 109 lb. thrust
MotorGuide, powered by three Type 31 Interstate batteries. One is the
cranking battery too. With my 20'3", 8'6" beamed FastCat, the trolling
motor will pull me and two clients at 4.3 mph gps speed! It makes it simple
to shoot to a different fishing area quickly without firing up the outboard.

I say if you have the room for either a 4th battery (three deep cycle and a
starting) or willing to install 3 type 31 batteries, do it and go with the
larger system. You won't regret it, I haven't!
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com