Power Up! Featuring John Myers & Shane Lemmon By Steve Melander, Page 2

Power Up! Featuring John Myers & Shane Lemmon
By Steve Melander, Page 2

Fall 2021

F

motors.

ishing kayaks are quickly becoming mini bass boats with raised seats, standing platforms, high end electronics and now

Anglers are mounting the equivalent of an

electric outboard to the stern and drop-in trolling

motors (complete with anchoring systems) to the

bow.

Current tournament regulations only allow

one motor per vessel and it must fall within the

manufacturer’s specifications.

I interviewed two hardcore tournament anglers

who have both been running motors for the past

several seasons. John Myers of Atwater, Calif. has

opted for the stern

mount electric motor

on his pedal driven

setup (Hobie PA14 360)

and Shane LemMon of

Corona, Calif. went with

the bow mount on his

paddle kayak (Bonafide

SS127).

Let’s hear what

each has to say about

their specific choice and

how it has changed the

game for them.

How has the addition of a motor changed your fishing?

MYERS: It’s all about capitalizing on time fishing and not consuming your time moving from spot to spot. During tournaments, you have to fight against time and figure out what the fish want. You can only control what you can and spending more time fishing is one factor that is manageable. My idea was to race at 5 MPH to my fishing location, pull the motor up and then control the kayak with the Hobie 360 drive. Fishing is about setting up the kayak to achieve the best angle of attack to make the best cast of the lure. It’s all about lure presentation, time fishing and making the right choices to catch fish.

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