Matching up your truck with your boat in terms of color, towing power requirements and, of course, bling is important, and many anglers do their best to make sure the package looks like a single unit. Whether it's matching 20-inch rims, high-tech color combinations or customized striping/wraps, a lot of truck-boat combos look like they were made in the same factory.
Although not as easily recognized, the same should be true with your electronics and trolling motor. In most cases, one is designed with the other in mind in companies that are concerned with providing the best. The trolling motor must compliment the electronics, and vice versa.
Johnson Outdoors of Racine, Wis. has done exactly that with the Minn Kota 101 Maxxum Pro trolling motor and the Humminbird 797 c2 SI depthfinder. They fit hand-in-glove and work as a single unit.
Supreme Reliability
Unquestionably a mainstay for anglers across the country, the 101 Maxxum Pro by Minn Kota with lift-assist has taken trolling motors to the next level. The unit we tested was equipped with a 42-inch shaft and was powerful enough to pull around a fully loaded Ranger Z21 effortlessly even in shallow water.
Sturdy, dependable, plenty of power and reserve capacity that is unmatched, the 101 delivers all the benefits desired in high-power trolling motors with the handling of much smaller units. Our feeling is the trolling motor is a tool, just like a bait, and if it's always a pain in the tail-end, it makes the experience less enjoyable and can deter anglers from putting fish in the boat.
Lift-assist is a godsend for both those with bad backs and those without. Easy to lift in and out of the water, the versatile motor turns over 360 degrees, has a quiet start-up and with the large prop and efficient power management, allows the angler to not only fish for long periods of time, but do so comfortably. The rope on a trolling motor is usually not mentioned, but the extra inch or 2 on the Minn Kota makes chasing the motor into the lake a thing of the past.
The foot pedal of the unit is durable, the on-off switch ergonomically positioned and the blended rheostat makes for easy operation/ adjustment. Also, the built-in transducer eliminates the unsightly transducer cables on unmatched units. We especially liked the balance of the foot of the motor, and steering from the foot pedal is effortless.
We also found that the battery life is extended significantly with the power management of the Minn Kota. Even after using it an entire day in heavy vegetation and windy conditions, charging took very little time and the batteries were not taxed. That is worth the price of the motor in itself.
Superb Clarity
The Humminbird 797 c2 SI is a high-definition color side-imaging unit that has all the bells and whistles. Clear even in bright sunlight, the fighter-jet-like instrumentation does not fade and the clarity is unmatched. Structure becomes more than just blobs and fish are clearly recognized as arches.
You can see branches on brushpiles with fish suspended in them, and you can clearly define rocks, humps and stumps. And because it is a color unit, bottom hardness, vegetation and even baitfish show up well.
The side-imaging aspects of the Humminbird 797 C2 SI unit is its best feature. While testing on our home water, we found a large rock pile that we did not know about, backed off of it and caught bass – enough to win the event.
Those fish were positioned 2 to 3 feet above the rocks on a channel swing. Without sid-imaging, we would have not fished this spot. It could have easily been overlooked.
We also utilized the built-in GPS with Navionics mapping to return to the spot several times during the day, and we've locked in the waypoint for future tournaments as well.
The Humminbird and Minn Kota were made for each other. All cabling ties neatly together via modular connectors – even a novice can hook them up and be ready to go in short order.
Our boat looks great, our truck is perfectly matched, and now the trolling motor and electronics are perfectly coordinated as well. We highly recommend the Minn Kota 101 Maxxum and Humminbird 797 c2 SI.
