Kayak Fishing has become increasingly popular over the years, and for good reason. They are vastly cheaper than your bigger, fancier fishing boat, making it easy for people on lower budgets to afford.
The ease of access makes launching them effortless virtually anywhere, along with being able to go places that a larger boat can’t, giving anglers access to waters that are truly off of the beaten path.
In this article, we will look at what is the best trolling motor for kayaks so you can explore new waters and catch fish.
The Endura is made by arguably the best trolling motor company out there today and is made with the best materials and components available for this style of trolling motor.
That’s incredibly cheap and allows anglers to keep the overall cost of their kayak fishing setups to a minimum while still providing great features and performance.
Kayak Trolling Motor Models Reviewed:
Best Value Trolling Motor
Our top pick for the best value trolling motor for kayaks on this list is the Newport Vessels Kayak Series.
Not only is it custom-tailored to kayak-specific angling, but it’s incredibly affordable, coming in at around 140 dollars USD.
That’s incredibly cheap and allows anglers to keep the overall cost of their kayak fishing setups to a minimum while still providing great features and performance.
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Best Overall Trolling Motor Pick
Our pick for the Overall best trolling motor on this list has to be the Minn Kota Endura. The Endura is made by arguably the best trolling motor company out there today and is made with the best materials and components available for this style of trolling motor.
It’s hard to compete with pure quality, and the cost of the Endura is also pretty reasonable, earning the spot as our overall pick for kayak trolling motors.
Minn Kota is the top producer of trolling motors on the market today, and the Endura is the perfect trolling motor for kayak fishing.
One of the best parts of the Endura is it’s incredibly affordable compared to other trolling motors on the market today. Along with that, it has plenty of features that kayak anglers can take full advantage of.
The Endura has 5 forward speed options to choose from and 3 for reverse speeds, giving you multiple options, slow and stealthy in shallow water to full speed ahead to get to your favorite spots.
The mounting bracket also has ten different adjustments, allowing you to set the exact angle needed for your trolling motor while it’s rigged up to your kayak.
The shaft is also telescoping, allowing you to adjust the depth of the motor when in shallow water.
The shaft is also composite and flexes under strain or force from hitting objects and returning to its straight position; this means you won’t bend your shaft, causing catastrophic failure.
- 8 speeds
- Telescoping shaft
- Composite shaft to flex, not break
For one, it has a shorter, more compact shaft, which means you can keep the trolling motor itself closer to the surface of shallow water without having the steering and speed control high in the air like with other trolling motors.
The speed settings are the standard 5 settings for forward and 3 for reverse.
The Kayak Series also has longer battery cables than many other trolling motors on the market, giving you more options for battery placement if needed.
And a big one for some anglers, the trolling motor is also saltwater rated.
- Kayak specific design
- Compact
- Longer battery cables
The Cloud Mountain 8 speed is also a great option for kayak anglers.
Keeping with the industry standard of 5 settings of speed for forward propulsion and 3 for reverse, as well as offering a telescoping throttle handle that can extend out 6 inches for closer reach if desired.
The 8 speed has a 28-inch composite fiberglass shaft. There is also a 10-point LED battery read-out display so you can see how much battery life you have left.
The hardware of the 8 speed is also stainless steel, so you will have saltwater corrosion resistance if you plan to use it in saltwater.
- LED battery read-out
- Stainless steel components
- 8 speeds
The NV series shares many of the same features as the kayak-specific Newport Vessels trolling motor, but it also includes features that some kayak anglers might find more useful than others.
Like the Kayak series, it features the standard 5-speed forward and 3-speed reverse setting, as well as being rated for saltwater fishing.
The NV series was designed for long-lasting battery life vs. raw power like other trolling motors, giving you the longest-lasting battery life possible; this is combined with a 3-bladed prop for more performance with lower speed settings.
- Longer battery life
- 3 bladed prop
- 8 speeds
Why You Should Get a Kayak Trolling Motor
The answer to this question is simple. Mounting a trolling motor on your kayak allows you to fish more productively and efficiently, saving you time if you were to simply paddle everywhere you wanted to fish, as well as keeping you from wearing out physically.
It also allows you to precisely position your kayak while fishing simultaneously. These advantages will help you catch more fish. Fishing efficiency is one of the biggest names in the game.
Trolling Motor Considerations
Thrust
Thrust is a very important consideration for what trolling motor you should buy. This really depends on your boat size more than anything.
For kayaks, though, this is really not much of an issue due to the lightweight nature of your vessel. And anything from 36 to 55 pounds will be more than enough, with 55 pounds actually being total overkill.
Shaft Length
Shaft length is equally as important as thrust. The larger the boat, the longer your shaft length will need to be. This is due to the distance between the top of the bow in your boat and the waterline.
Again, with kayaks, it’s pretty simple and straightforward. Your kayak is so close to the water’s surface that shorter shaft lengths are actually more beneficial and better in most cases.
Longer shaft lengths in shallow water will cause the control head to be very high and unreachable if you are sitting.
Voltage
Be sure you’re aware of the voltage of the trolling motor you are considering buying. In our case with kayaks, you probably won’t purchase a trolling motor that is more than 12 volts. 24-volt trolling motors are much larger than trolling motors suitable for kayaks and aren’t mentioned on this list.
Conclusion
When selecting a trolling motor for kayaks, be sure to take into consideration the attributes that are needed for the kayak itself. This is pretty simple and is narrowed down to our selection in this article.
The great part about these trolling motors is their simplicity when compared to the bow mount trolling motors found on your larger fishing vessel.
This makes it easy for you to mount and set in minutes as well, allowing you to spend your time fishing and getting to spots quickly and fish with precision instead of spending your time paddling.
