The more I crappie fish out in the middle of the lake on these windy days , the more I start thinking about a trolling motor that will lock in place. I know zero about this type of motor, so any info will help. Let me first tell y’all about my boat and my fishing style so that y’all can better advise me on what to start looking for.
I fish Lake Eufaula for crappie. I don’t see myself getting into bass fishing . Right now I have a 17 foot bass tracker, but will probably upgrade to something a little bigger in the next couple years and would likely move it to that boat . That might be important in deciding what size I need. A couple times a year in the spring I use it to fish the shallow shorelines for crappie but 90 percent of the time ,it will be used in the middle of the lake in 20 feet of water trying to stay on brush piles I have sunk. My helix 10 gets me to my numbers fine.i usually don’t go out there if the winds are over six or seven miles per hour.
I’m not a high tech kind of guy and don’t need or really want a remote control. Ideally it would have a foot pedal for me to ease around , find the fish and somehow lock it there. Does what I wish for even exist? What size would work for me ? What is the name of such a model? What kind of battery power would it take to run it three to four hours in five to six mph winds.
With all that said, I’m not opposed to spending extra money for some other features if y’all convince me that I can’t live without them.so please make any suggestion or comments that you think I should consider.
One last thought. When I upgrade, I may take it to fish around east point/carabelle ,Fl to fish the grass flats for trout and redfish.Is there a fresh water and salt water version ? If so I may go ahead and look into a salt water version. Thanks for any info, comments, and suggestion you can give me to consider.

There’s more options now than ever. I can really only speak about what I own. I have a Minn Kota Ultrex with 80lb thrust, 24volt, and a 45” shaft. It does have a remote that I use for some functions, but it’s not required to utilize the “spot-lock” feature which is what keeps you in place. There’s a button on the foot pedal that you press to activate “spot-lock”. Most people feel like it works better in windy weather or moving current than a slick calm surface. The 80lb thrust works really well on my 18’ aluminum boat.

What happened to anchors?

All the major brands have a trolling motor that’ll do what you want. Minn Kota is a no brainer since you live in Barbour County. I’m sure you know this, but Johnson Outdoors in Eufaula owns both Minn Kota and Humminbird. The 24 volt, 80 pound ultrex will be all you’ll ever need on that boat and likely on others, unless you really upsize in boat. I have a 36 volt, but it’s on a 20 ft Triton, and to be honest, it’s probably over kill most of the time for me. The ultrex will come with a remote, but is fully operational with the foot pedal like you are used to. Even if you don’t think you’ll use the remote, there’s times it can come in handy. Sometimes if the ramp is super busy and dock space is limited, I’ll get off on the dock and use my remote to troll the boat away from the dock and spot lock out of the way while I go get the truck. One of my favorite features of the ultrex, and probably others, is that you can set a course and a speed and it will ease you along that heading allowing you to cover water without worrying about running the motor. I like to creep against the current along the grass line here on Gville until I hit some fish, then I’ll spot lock. For fishing brush piles, it has a jog feature while spot locked that will move you in 5 foot increments at the push of a button to help you get dialed in on your spot. There’s lots of other features, depending on if you get the link or non link model. There are built in transducer options too, depending on which Helix you have or may have in the future.

I guess the same thing that happened to the abacus.😀
My problem is when I get on top of my structure with the school of crappie, I don’t want to drop an anchor through the middle of them and scatter them. So I usually Try to judge the wind direction, go twenty feet past the spot, drop the anchor and hope to drift back to the right spot. Problem is the wind shifts and he boat shifts back and forth and I only get bit at the moments the boat swings over the the tight school of fish.

We have used them a ton in the bay and off shore. They are finally getting most of the bugs worked out. They are great for chumming and hovering over a spot without the trouble of anchoring.

CD pretty much summed it all up for you and he knows as much about fishing big water as anyone. I will add that you will really use the remote on brush piles, the wind will change current will change and those 5 foot increments are the CHIT! Just remember you cannot use the spot lock under or really close to a bridge. I am not a bridge fisherman but over the weekend I idled thru a bridge and had to catch a few when I saw them stacked on the side imaging. The trolling motor needs a clear view of the sky to talk with satellites. I will not go to the lake without my ultrex, its the only one I have used so I am definitely not knocking on the other brands. Best money I have ever spent on fishing. Id have a spot lock trolling motor over any other piece of equipment made for fishing!

We have used them a ton in the bay and off shore. They are finally getting most of the bugs worked out. They are great for chumming and hovering over a spot without the trouble of anchoring.

I would love to have one of those for crappie fishing also. But my boat isn't worth the cost of that trolling motor, guess I'll just keep a foot on the pedal.

I had a $5000 dollar boat with a $2500 trolling motor and $4800 livescope setup last year and it would do it! The new trolling motors have really changed the aluminum boat game in my opinion... I love dumping trees and concrete blocks don't go with fiberglass really well. I have spot locked in my old boat and have waves come over the bow but catch crappie every other cast. I just cant do that if I am having to fight a normal trolling motor.

We became old and wise and got tired of hauling them up.

***No affiliation with Garmin***

I made the leap from a MK Edge 40 to a Garmin Force on my SeaArk 1860. I'm honestly blown away at the capabilities of the Garmin. Yes, it's expensive, but when I fish these days I want to spend time fishing with my 3 boys and not dicking around managing the boat. I used the Garmin Force on 24V set up for 4 days (no charging) in western NC and the trolling motor seemed as strong on day 1 as day 4. Type of use ran from normal pedal work with spot lock work to straight up trolling. Obviously, it all depends on time of use, but I was impressed with the sustainability. I was able to get over 4.3mph on setting 20 in 24v mode for reference, this trolling motor is ridiculously powerful.

If you run compatible Garmin units (I have a Echomap Ultra 106SV that I use this feature with) you can program in a navigation route for the trolling motor and it will take you around on autopilot while you focus on fishing.

As far as spot lock, it worked excellent for me. The wireless foot pedal was awesome as well because if I wanted to sit in the back of the boat while the boys fish up front, I can control the trolling motor. Additionally, the hand held remote works great. You can even use gesture mode where you push a button and point the remote in the direction you want to go.

I'm sure this is more than what the OP asked about, but just thought I'd throw it out there.

Thank you for all the info provided.