Dave Keith caught this nice Lake Arthur largemouth bass while the writer positioned the boat along a point that dropped into deep water. Jeff Knapp/Special to the Eagle

In my mind, it’s the most indispensable piece of equipment on the boat. No, not the sonar unit, favorite rod-and-reel combo or pet lure. It’s the electric trolling motor.

The term trolling motor is a bit of a misnomer, as the motor is rarely used for actual trolling, at least not in comparison to its primary role, which is boat positioning.

Having relied on the boat positioning merits of the trolling motor for well over three decades I’ve witnessed an impressive evolution. Back in the late 1980s when I really got serious about fishing, we used transom mounted trolling motors on tiller controlled boats.

It was, and still is for that matter, an effective way to control the boat. Everything was at hand — the tiller handle to operate the outboard, the sonar unit and the trolling motor. Forward trolling at slow speeds was accomplished with the electric motor. When slowly picking a specific spot apart it was a simple matter to spin the trolling motor 180 degrees and pull the boat into whatever wind might be present, a popular tactic called back trolling.

The problem with back-trolling is that it required the use of one hand to operate the electric motor, not an issue if you’re dragging some type of rig along the bottom, but a challenge when casting-and-retrieving. Long ago I made the transition to bow mounted trolling motors, ones that can be controlled with a foot pedal, leaving the hands free for tasks other than positioning the boat.

Initially, foot controlled bow mount motors used a cable drive system linked to the foot pedal to steer the boat, a design that’s still popular today. A couple of decades ago, electric steer versions came to market. Such models use a separate motor, one controlled by a remote and/or foot pedal, to rotate the motor shaft and steer the boat. In general, cable drive motors are favored by bass anglers, electric steer motors by walleye, crappie and musky fishers.

Electric steer motors lend themselves to features such as Minn Kota’s Spot Lock and Motorguide’s Anchor mode, which, through a GPS in the head of the unit, allows the motor to stay locked on a specific location chosen by the user.

Hybrid cable/electric steer motors like Minn Kota’s Ultrex and Motorguide’s line of Tour motors, feature a cable drive-type foot control that directs an electric steering motor. Such motors also include GPS “electronic anchoring.”

Currently, I use all three types of motors; all have their advantages and disadvantages.

Having used cable drive motors for years, I really appreciate the crisp, instantly responsive steering of the Minn Kota Fortrex motor. Using such motors, one develops muscle memory to the degree that steering adjustments become automatic. In comparison to other designs, the true cable steer is relatively simple to work on.

My Minn Kota Terrova is an electric steer motor. It excels in many walleye fishing situations, such as slow trolling ‘crawler harnesses, or hovering over a deep brushpile for crappies. Generally, I use the handheld remote to control the motor. The foot pedal has no “feel” like a cable drive. Both motors are mounted on quick release brackets so I can switch them out as needed on the 16-foot aluminum boat I use on the lakes.

On my jet-drive river boat, I recently switched from a time-honored Fortrex to the cable/electric steer hybrid Ultrex, primarily for the spot lock advantages. The foot control feels remarkably like the pure cable drive.

Without a doubt, today’s motors offer an impressive array of features what have only been touched upon here. But from the most sophisticated versions to the bare bones basic ones, electric trolling motors are vital in putting you in position to catch fish.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle