270 Mackinaw: 96" Rhodan on the way!

[Fish Witch]

Looks sweet Rob! Not having to anchor up in my usual 300 feet for halibut would definitely be a game changer. My dreams of a drum windlass now shift to a Rhodan to make life easier.

So, I looked in the fishing thread after reading this and no pictures of the fish. I'm still a week away from getting out halibut fishing, which is late for me and I need some incentive to finish up my projects so post some!

 

[Captain Starbucks]

The spot locking feature is pretty incredible. It certainly changes the way one can fish a spot. First trip out, I haven't really wrapped my mind around it yet but with only my main motor before the Rhodan, I'd go to an area I thought held fish, put it in neutral and see which way the drift was going, go upstream, drop gear, drift, pick up and run back upstream and do it again. Effective for sure, but with the electric, you can spend some time motoring around looking for individual fish you want to catch, go back and park right on top of them and drop gear. Catch it, then jockey over in 5 foot increments until you find more fish.

I didn't post anything on the fishing thread. We caught a bunch of fish but nothing big. Quite the range of species though, halibut, 100 lb skate, spiny dogfish, at least 10 different species of rockfish , walleye pollock and a pile of sablefish. We're going to try it again this weekend.

 

[Jersey Drape]

What’s your bow to waterline height?
I have a 22 WA And I’m at 36”. Thinking about going 87” min Kota..

 

[Captain Starbucks]

What’s your bow to waterline height?
I have a 22 WA And I’m at 36”. Thinking about going 87” min Kota..

Jersey Drape,

My boat is in the water a few hundred miles away. I won't be able to get you any accurate measurements for a few more weeks. Judging by the pics posted a few pages back, I'd say the bow to waterline distance is somewhere in the 4.5-5 foot range. The 96" easily stays planted in the big stuff. I think on your boat, an 87" would be expensive overkill but certainly wouldn't hurt.

Update: Some smoke leaked out of my Rhodan and they are sending me new parts and requesting I send them the brain at the same time. They're very curious what happened. I am as well! It was the power distribution part of the motor. I will say the company was a complete pleasure to deal with. I was dreading the thought of boxing up an 8" long 77 lb contraption and sending it back. Nope. They just asked for some pics that I texted, and the guy said "okay, the parts are being shipped right now". I'll keep you posted.

 

[mako2]

Jersey Drape if it helps you we have a 1990 26’ open. The top of the bow pulpit is 48” above the water line. I had looked at Rhodan’s website for recommendations for shaft length. Based on the formula there I felt the 84” model would be appropriate for our boat. I emailed Rhodan about 2 weeks ago to place an order for one of their motors and confirm that the 84” would be the correct size for our boat.

They emailed back the same day stating that based on our measurement of 48” above the waterline the 84” model would be good to 3- 3 1/2’ seas and that the 36 volt motor would have plenty of thrust. Not sure about others on this site but while it’s go to know the motor would work in those sea conditions I no longer fish in them. Only bad thing was they also stated that the lead time was 10 weeks. Still was happy with the responsiveness of the company.

Rob,
Sorry to hear that you had an issue with your motor however I am very glad to hear your experience with the company was so positive. After following this thread you gave me inspiration to get one for our boat. I hope your issue is quickly resolved and just a one time occurrence. Have a great season. All the best, Mark.

 

[The Mitten]

How has this trolling motor held up? Is it used often? I have considered installing one on my 260 Mack.

 

[Captain Andy]

Looks sweet Rob! Not having to anchor up in my usual 300 feet for halibut would definitely be a game changer. My dreams of a drum windlass now shift to a Rhodan to make life easier.

So, I looked in the fishing thread after reading this and no pictures of the fish. I'm still a week away from getting out halibut fishing, which is late for me and I need some incentive to finish up my projects so post some!

Where are you located?

 

[Fish Witch]

If you're asking me, I fish out of Seward. Rob (Capt Starbucks) lives in Tacoma but sold his 270 so hasn't been on here since he sold it over a year ago. He has a cat with egg beaters now and I think he kept the Rhodan. You might pm him if you have any questions about his Rhodan, he's been really good about sharing info