Front or rear mount trolling motor

First time post here and really enjoying the forum. I am looking into a new jon boat mostly for waters for electric only. I would like to put a gas motor on at some point. Question is should i go ahead and buy a trolling motor for the front or back? When i get a gas motor i will want to put a trolling motor up front and i just dont want to waste my money and have to buy something different later.

Thanks for any insight

Greg

A lot of it comes down to budget and purpose.

Before I bought my outboard, I had both. I also do a lot of bass fishing, moving around, etc and need a bow mount to get near banks, structure, etc. Someone who just trolls around the lake or fishes off an anchor maybe wouldn't need a bow mount as much as I do.

I had the pusher motor on the transom for the simple idea of being able to go faster with it and to keep the hours off my bow mount(bow mounts being much more expensive).

In the end, I ended up with an outboard and sold off my pusher motor to someone else I work with that does a lot of other electric lake fishing but doesn't need to be on the bow cruising all the time.

I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me but I do not care for bow mount motors at least on boats in the 14-16' range. I find them to be awkward and taking up too much precious deck space. Previous owner put a bow mount on my boat. I took it off and bought a transom mount but don't use it much anymore and rely more and more on a push pole.

I took the stern mount off and installed a bow mount. Love it for fishing. Never used if for sole source of propulsion but I could see it working ok.

golfrnut said:

A lot of it comes down to budget and purpose.

Before I bought my outboard, I had both. I also do a lot of bass fishing, moving around, etc and need a bow mount to get near banks, structure, etc. Someone who just trolls around the lake or fishes off an anchor maybe wouldn't need a bow mount as much as I do.

I had the pusher motor on the transom for the simple idea of being able to go faster with it and to keep the hours off my bow mount(bow mounts being much more expensive).

In the end, I ended up with an outboard and sold off my pusher motor to someone else I work with that does a lot of other electric lake fishing but doesn't need to be on the bow cruising all the time.

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Thanks a lot

Depends on budget, boat, and fishing style.

If your boat is decked and you are all about bass fishing with unlimited funds go with the bow mount.

If you have bench seats in a Jon style boat and don't want to spend a ton, transom mount will do you just fine. Without a decked boat it is hard to be moving around from front to back all the time to switch from outboard to trolling motor.

I just put a transom mount on my 14' Jon. It is a MinnKota Traxxis 55LB and it moves it around nice. I fish for whatever bites and never move from back of boat. Tackle and cooler ride up front. Thinking of also mounting the battery up there too.

Another thing to consider is transom mounts don't perform as well. It is easier for a motor to pull the boat rather than push it.

Boils down to personal preference.

RiverLife said:

Another thing to consider is transom mounts don't perform as well. It is easier for a motor to pull the boat rather than push it.

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Have to disagree with ya there. Why do we mount outboards in the back if they are less efficient? I can take a 55lb pusher and a 55lb bow mount and the pusher motor is going to win every time.

We mount outboards on the stern because if it was on the bow the boat would never get on plane. I'm not sure a boat with a heavy, powerful outboard mounted on the bow would do anything but drive itself down in the water and sink. At the very least, you would have a hard time seeing where you're going. But that being said, with a bow mounted trolling motor, you have pin point accuracy. My bow mounted powerdrive will spin my boat around and put the bow exactly where I want it...right now.

2015 Tracker Grizzly 1448 MVX
1996 Evinrude 25hp 3 cylinder looper

With any wind blowing, I prefer a bow mount. 99% of pro bass guys have bow mounts.

Most transom style TMs can have their heads turned around to be used as a bow mount.

Be sure that you buy one of these, and you can put it where you want it. I've done it a number of times. richg99

Not sure how to explain it any better.

Transom mounts struggle to get the boat going. Kind of like riding a bike really slowly. Boat wobbles back and fourth and accuracy suffers. That is why I said they were inefficient. When you take off you are moving the head back and fourth compensating for the movement until some speed is gained. Not the best setup although it works.

Bow mounts pull the boat with ease from a dead stop to full power putting the boat right where you want to go. Accuracy is spot on and they work very well. Draw back is they are more money and not all boats have a place to mount them. It can also be a pain jumping bench seats in a Jon boat going from your outboard to the trolling motor up front.

fishmonger said:

I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me but I do not care for bow mount motors at least on boats in the 14-16' range. I find them to be awkward and taking up too much precious deck space. Previous owner put a bow mount on my boat. I took it off and bought a transom mount but don't use it much anymore and rely more and more on a push pole.

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X2 This is what I do as well. I fish extremely weedy areas where anything but the push pole gets tangled up with weeds.

A foot controlled bow mount is PURE GOLD for bass fishing. Once coldwater fishing season is over my bow mount get's used about 10 hours for every 10 minutes of my outboard motor use. Nothing like having total boat control hands free. I have both a bow mount and a transom mount, the bow mount is my choice.

If you can afford the bow mount that is the way to go.
I'm running a transom mount on my 14 footer simply due to expense, and I plan on selling the motor with the boat when I make my next boat purchase, and that will have a bow mount.
If you want to spend all your time trying to control your boat and spend zero time fishing, then a transom mount is for you. If you fish with the motor running, bow mount is the way to go.
I wish I had a 12 ft jon for solo fishing with a bow mount and a transom mount and no gas motor. I'd install two batteries in the rear for the best weight distribution.

One item that a lot of guys appreciate is a Big Foot type Switch. Added to a manual trolling motor it gives you On and Off switching control. richg99

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001GQK610/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?qid=1464739391&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=big+foot+trolling+motor+switch&dpPl=1&dpID=41D5H7pQuJL&ref=plSrch