I love my Dad. Let’s not make any mistake about that. All the same, Dad used to terrify me when we were out fishing on a windy day. He had this tiny little lightweight aluminum fishing boat that would just get tossed around every which way on Lake Champlain. He did his best to maintain boat control with an ancient trolling motor that was rarely responsive to his pedal presses or, as it turned out, voluminous swears and grunts. Every time the drift would get messed up, the entire Vermont shoreline would know about it.
Boat control stresses the best of us out. Or, at least it used to until Minn Kota rolled out their Terrova trolling motors. Now, anglers everywhere have an easy button to press. There’s the spot lock function that works as well as any anchor. You also have an autopilot option to keep your drift straight and true. Finally, the darned thing can learn and talk to your fish finder, if properly equipped. Yes, the Minn Kota Terrova is like a gift from the heavens to us all. If you don’t have one on your boat, you’re missing out!
I never thought it could get any better, but then Minn Kota upped the ante. They introduced two new trolling motors to follow up on the Terrova: the Ulterra and the Ultrex. When my trolling motor finally shuttles off its mortal coil, which trolling motor should I buy, and why? Read on to see my thought process.
Why I love My Minn Kota Terrova
As you might have guessed from a website called “fishingfather,” I spend a lot of time taking my children out on the boat with me. They’re still young (5 and 2) and require a lot of attention. There are tangles to be sorted, fish to unhook, and worms to spear left and right. I simply don’t have time to worry about whether my boat is about to be pushed into a rocky shoreline, but that’s not something to neglect! With the Minn Kota Terrova, all I have to do is press the “spotlock” button on my remote and the trolling motor will keep us safe while I deal with the latest challenge of fishing with kids. Additionally, the auto pilot function makes working a bank seamless. It’s safe to say that this trolling motor is a big part of the reason my Lund Impact has been such an awesome boat for me.
Spot-Lock + Dropshot = Amazing
One of my favorite techniques is the drop shot. It’s perfect for catching bluegills with kids and also puts monster smallies in the boat for the parents. It gets even better on a windy day or in current where you can position the boat into the flow, hold it there, and let the waves give your bait that oh-so-subtle action. Could I do this with an anchor? Sure, if I wanted to keep pulling it up and guessing where I’d wind up. With the Spot-Lock feature on my Terrova, I hit a button and I’m there.
Auto Pilot
The second feature that I’m always using on my Terrova is the auto pilot function. What this does is help you stay on a constant heading by using GPS to keep your course straight and true. It is very handy on windy days where you’re trying to work your way down a shoreline. All I do is get the trolling motor facing the way I want it to go, and then press this button. The boat takes care of the rest.
There’s are several other autopilot functions. For example, you can “record” a track and then have the motor remember it and follow it in the future. I suppose if you wanted to work your way around a deep underwater hump slowly jigging, this would be ideal. I’ve never had much use for it as the places I fish tend to be pretty linear, which means that the pure auto pilot is all I need, but I suppose guys fishing southern reservoirs that have a ton of structure would really appreciate this.
For the technologically inclined, you can also link your Terrova up with your Humminbird fish finders and have the auto pilot follow different contour lines of the lake. It’s the same concept as above but there’s no need to record the track. I’m not set up for this sophisticated use, but the guys who are tend to swear by it.
The Little Bunny That Could
I find the little rabbit button on the remote to be extremely useful. Pressing it automatically puts the trolling motor to full blast. This is important in situations where perhaps you didn’t notice an obstruction until the last second, but need emergency power to get away. It’s also handy if you’re trying to give yourself some distance from the bank before you pull up your trolling motor on a windy day to take off with the outboard.
Minn Kota Terrova vs. Ulterra vs. Ultrex
A few years ago, Minn Kota decided to complicate fishermen’s lives everywhere by coming out with even more great products when they unveiled the Ulterra and Ultrex trolling motors. Ever since they did, I’ve had to sit here and imagine what I’d decide to do when it was time to replace my Terrova. Would I go with the tried and true and buy a second one, or would I try one of these other trolling motors out? Here’s my thought process on these three different trolling motors, and why I’d ultimately stick with the Terrova.
Minn Kota Terrova vs. Ulterra
When Minn Kota first unveiled the Ultrex, I was amazed. It has two things going for it that is significantly different than the Terrova:
- The Ultrex will automatically deploy and stow away while the Terrova will not.
- The Ultrex can automatically raise and lower to accomodate different water depths. You need to manually adjust the Terrova.
The Benefits of Automatic Stowing
You could be forgiven for thinking that #1 is a little gimicky, but it does have its place. Have you ever fished along a rocky, windswept shoreline and wanted to take off for a different honeyhole? With most trolling motors, you need to stay up front and bring your boat out far enough from shore that you can stow the trolling motor, run back to your seat, snap in your kill switch, and take off. If it’s very windy, this can get dicey, especially if you’re fishing a river, or other narrow water body where you can’t go that far out from shore.
The Ulterra solves this problem. Now, you can fire up your main motor while simultaneously using the remote to raise and stow the trolling motor, all from the comfort of you seat, and with your kill switch attached. That’s a good deal.
As an added plus, you can also pull of cool stunts like this commercial. Which, let’s face it, is the best reason to buy one of these.
Why Auto Trim Would Be Wonderful
The main reason I would seriously consider moving up to an Ulterra is the auto trim. Have you ever fished in an area you weren’t that familiar with and suddenly saw a sandbar or obstruction in front of you? Maybe you wanted to get that walleye boat into a little skinnier water? If so, you know what a pain it is to drop everything you’re doing, get on your hands and knees and start manually adjusting your trolling motor trim. Being able to do this swiftly at the press of a button is something I’d be all about.
Minn Kota Terrova vs. Ultrex
The Minn Kota Ultrex is the company’s answer to the bass boat guys who want a cable steering trolling motor but don’t want to give up on all the great GPS features of the Terrova and Ulterra. While the Terrova and Ulterra are electronically steered (and thus probably not quite as precise with the foot pedal), the cable steering allows for ultimate control. Let’s face it, it’s also probably a comfort level thing. I grew up with terrible trolling motors so I thought that the Terrova was a gift from God. If you’ve spent your past several years using a solid cable trolling motor on your bass boat, the Terrova might feel like plastic junk. The Ultrex solves that issue.
The Ultrex also comes with mega imaging built right into it. This is a transducer that syncs with Humminbird and has both side and down imaging. This way, you don’t need to trouble yourself with installing a transducer manually (which is a couple hour chore if you don’t do it often) and can just go.
Ultrex is absolutely the choice for bass boats and any professional bass fisherman out there is going to be running one of these models as opposed to the Ulterra or Terrova.
Which Would I Choose and Why?
It’s really hard for me to choose between the Minn Kota Terrova vs. the Ulterra. I struggle between the two because the ulterra has some extra features that I’d appreciate, but also has an added price, weight, and more things to go wrong. I could see it malfunctioning at some point and causing big issues. A Terrova isn’t going to suddenly develop an electrical gremlin and deploy on its own. While I’m confident Minn Kota has produced a quality product and I’m just being paranoid, I’m also prone to making a fishing blooper or two, and just know that I’d be “that guy” who has the issue.
The Terrova is also the devil I know. It’s served me well for about a decade on two boats and never left me wanting. While the automatic trim would be a great addition, how often would I really use it? I just don’t know that i can justify the extra cost or weight of the Ulterra, so the Terrova is for me.
I don’t have a bass boat, nor do I particularly care if I have cable steering, so the Ultrex isn’t on my radar. I’m not so certain I’d ever want a bass boat, either. I’m pretty well sold on the multispecies boat being the better option for me, so I don’t think the Ultrex will ever be in the cards.
Hopefully this helps you decide which trolling motor is right for you. Thanks for reading!
John Paxton
