Electric Motors in AOTY

Could anyone with a motor chime in on how they feel about it?  Would this encourage you to join AOTY and participate? 

We also now have the Hybrid of electric assisted peddles, and some day we will probably all fish off of HoverYaks   

I said yes  cause IF I had one I’d probably want to do AOTY too!
Motor or not you still have to know how to fish!!!

Scotty

it really is just a matter of time. There were many folks that felt this way when Hobie pedal drives first came into play in tournaments.

Of course, there are many who stand by the paddle yaks. Props to them.

Hey, I am somewhat new to kayak fishing and AOTY looks like fun. Would love to be able to participate with my electric trolling motor.

      Funny how sentiment seems to have changed over the question of even putting an elec motor on a yak... 
   
  I've had my torqeedo motor since 09.   I basically use it as a paddle assist.   It sure helps with my arthritic shoulder.
  Does it give me an advantage catching fish ?  I think not.   My Electric is quiet,,, quite opposite of a  noisy, stink pot gas motor and nowhere near as fast.        About the same noise level as a peddle kayak.. about the same speed... so I don't see any reason why not.
   
     I've seen lot's of guys flip all sorts of  yaks,, some just never learned to get back in on their own..  Anyone getting on the water in a kayak needs to learn and practice that skill.    The more crap you pile on only makes it more challenging .  So practice with full gear on.   Don't wait till the wind is howling and waves building to find out.

Motorized kayaks are comparable to pedal drive kayaks. They both allow the user to utilize the same fishing techniques that aren't feasible from a paddle kayak. For example, you can't rip plugs from a paddle kayak, but you can totally do it via a pedal or motor-driven kayak that frees up your arms.

Traveling to fishing grounds would be easier via a motor. This could play a big role in Pacific halibut fishing. However, Pac halibut is a seldomly tapped category in AOTY.

General trolling would be significantly easier to achieve with a motor. There could be situations where hours upon hours of open-water trolling could produce large AOTY-caliber fish. Mackinaw, kokanee, Chinook salmon, even CA halibut come to mind.

Just my thoughts on it. Suggesting motors in AOTY would've brought out the pitch forks + torches not too long ago, but the scene is changing rapidly, not just in kayak fishing but in competitive fishing in general (eg, Live Scope in pro black bass fishing).

No if combined. Yes if a separate category is my gut reaction.

Participation in this event has seemingly gone done every year, even with no entry costs. Anything we can do to increase it, I'd be in favor of. I've fished with more than a few people with Bixbys, Torqeedos, etc.  At no point did I feel they had an advantage over me, even as an older guy.

We accept every other technical advantage, including live scope (is that still fishing?). Winning this contest (I have a sense of what it takes) is still going to be about a willingness to get on the road, fish a lot of new locations, learn to fish species you know little about and probably lean on a friend or two for guidance. It's not going to be about who has a small motor.

I say bring 'em on.

This. Times are changing. I agree that just because you have a motor that you will be going out of your way to compete. My opinion. If you can climb the leader board and win it. Maybe there should be a non-motorized and motorized winner. Nothing wrong with that.

Maybe there should be paddle, pedal and motor winners. Even though pedals are human powered it is definitely an advantage over paddle power.

I’m for anything goes. If you’re able to peddle, paddle or you power it’s all the same as if you’re young with 45” Quads or old with a motor. If you’re under 40 or 30, should we start them off with a point deduction and if you’re over 60 get a handicap?
 I can Paddle for a spell, but I have a bum shoulder, I can peddle or motor all day, so I’ll be there no matter what, I’m for inclusion.

Made me think of that thread where Dilbeck writes:

pedal, peddle, petal

there, their, they're

merry, marry, Mary

word, werd, wird

least, leest, leist

different, differnt, diffrent

DONE!   

Pedal vs petal vs peddle: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/petal-pedal-peddle-usage-difference

I think of a "peddle" kayak as a kayaker selling wares and trinkets on the water. Is this incorrect? 

dumb question.

this AOTY thing.  is it salt water only?  I admit, I have never heard of it. 

EDIT:  you even have a link for it above!!  I scanned.  I am a LMB dude and that fish counts.  let me deep dive the rest of the rules today.

I just got a motor on my Hobie.  but I am on the fence about it.  but it would open it up to more people.  I see participation on Forums across the board dying from lack of traffic.  anything helps.

I would value an AOTY winner that used their own power to get there and get back, WAY more than someone who used a motor. On the other hand, just go and have fun. Including motors/sails up front would certainly remove an avenue for cheating.

Bushy

Pedal vs petal vs peddle: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/petal-pedal-peddle-usage-difference

I think of a "peddle" kayak as a kayaker selling wares and trinkets on the water. Is this incorrect? 

Aren't we all just peddlers of shiny trinkets to the rocks and fish below?

Peddler of lead wares at least, "COME GET YER LEAD, 4oz, 8oz I GOT IT ALL"

Could anyone with a motor chime in on how they feel about it?  Would this encourage you to join AOTY and participate? 

We also now have the Hybrid of electric assisted peddles, and some day we will probably all fish off of HoverYaks 

I would join AOTY if allowed. I use a trolling motor. My kayak does not have peddles. I joined AOTY two years ago knowing that only the fish caught when paddling would count. I gave up on this idea very quickly. I soon realized that trying to troll and paddle at the same time was very difficult for three reasons.
1. When I got a hook up, it took time to set the paddle down and grab the rod. This resulted in a lot of lost fish.

2. I like my rods out in front of me when trolling. Hard to detect a strike when they are behind you. This forced me to use longer rods in order to get the lines out far enough to be able to paddle. This resulted in making it harder to land a fish due to the length of the rods.

3. I had issues when turning too sharp when paddling, the inside line would come close to the kayak and make it almost imposable to paddle with out hitting it.

I have none of these issues when using the trolling motor.
As it stands right now, I'm on the outside, jealously looking in to those that have peddle drive.