Old Town Sportsman Autopilot experiences?

My better half and I have recently bought a travel Trailer and am wanting to get away from taking two rigs for the trailer and boat. I saw the sportsman autopilot and instantly fell in love coming from a bass boat with spotlock. Call me a gear hoe but I enjoy all the bells and whistles. I don’t kayak for the serenity I kayak because it makes life easier sometimes rather than beating my big boat up. Any input is much appreciated!

Any input is much appreciated!

“Sportsman Autopilot” - mutually exclusive, IMO. Like: Jumbo Shrimp.

Sure, it’d be nice to not have to pedal or paddle, rudder and tack to hold a spot cause o wind, waves or current. Doesn’t that kind of remove the challenge, the skill and perhaps the feeling of accomplishment should you get it right?

We can agree to disagree. I’ve got no problem working smarter and not harder when I’m on vacation. I’m on the water to fish and not to paddle. If I wanted to paddle I’d buy a canoe. Same thing goes for peddle. I would buy a bike if that’s was the case.

Seems like a solid kayak! Another option would be adding a trolling motor to a different model kayak (gogle bassyaks trolling motor). Most can be retrofitted—or buy a pedal kayak then get one of those Bixby style motors that drop-in to the pedal slot.
The Jonny boats setup with trolling motor seems like a good, affordable option for your style too.

If you want to see it in action, check out Die Hard Fishing's channel on youtube.  Most of his recent kayak vids are on one, including one where he has to do some fairly simple repairs to the electrical system if you want to see one of the potential failure points.  He's also one of my favorite fishing youtubers as a bonus, but I don't watch a ton of fishing youtube so my sample size is small.

I personally kinda feel like why not get a real boat you can put your friends or family in if you are going the motorized route, but I can also see a certain narrow niche it fills, and of course to each their own.  Good luck with the research!

I like the idea of human powered craft so I'll stick with pedals and paddles.  But I was at OP one afternoon and one of the YouTuber's with his comp Old Town Sportsman had just finished the day and was at the ramp when I showed up.  He struggled to get it on his cart and up the ramp. Too big and heavy especially when loaded up with gear.  I jumped off my kayak and helped lift the beast onto the cart and up the ramp. 

It's my one data point but it told me all I needed to know! 

Sand

a bunch of the bay area youtubers got autopilots last winter so you should check them out, nick and diehard forsure have them. diehards last clickbait title said his motor died, i havent watched it yet tho.

We can agree to disagree. I’ve got no problem working smarter and not harder when I’m on vacation. I’m on the water to fish and not to paddle. If I wanted to paddle I’d buy a canoe. Same thing goes for peddle. I would buy a bike if that’s was the case.

Hmm, ok. It was a question - I totally support you doing it how best suits or pleases you.

I don’t find the smarter, not harder to apply really. I enjoy (most often except when conditions suddenly get real snotty) the paddling component as a bit different physical activity than the construction work I do, it’s actually therapeutic for me. On top of that, I get to FISH! 

Looking forward to your posts and experiences.

Try contacting uplandsandpiper on NWKA.  He owns one and enjoys talking about it.  He has a couple of videos that almost convinced me I needed one. 

my only beef ...it`s pedal not peddle LOL

I dunno, are you sure?  There might just be a thread . . .

I knew someone that was interested in them a while back. I watched a video review that was not favorable but I can't find the link. I would watch a lot of review videos before I spent the money.

Here's a video by that guy on NWKA where he's using the autopilot as an "anchor".

The weight,....you’ll have to get real good at weight management for load-in/out. The spot lock is very attractive, as is simply chillin & steering with feet,...perfect trolling rig. Split Milt guy on youtube (sturgeon video above), he’s got a buncha vids using it.

But the part none of the popular video editing youtubers show is the setup/launch & the tear down/landing. I have an Outback, no motor, not much extra stuff on it, and it is a improvisational struggle at every ramp/launch because of the low water situation.

I've had my 120 for 6 months(around 50 trips); don't hesitate it's fantastic.  I enjoy fishing tournaments and a year ago probably 10% were electric, now it's at least 50% and changing fast.  It's heavy but there all heavy.  I switched from an Outback which I loved but will never go back to.  Spot lock is a huge advantage from peddles.

Just throwing out another option. I built this from an old trolling motor yesterday. It only took about 2 hours. It’s an Oldschool Minnkota though…no spotlock haha. The battery is the heaviest part (fortunately I scored a 12v 100ah lithium for free…otherwise I’d be using a 60+ lb group 24 deep cycle 12v battery from my aluminum boat’s trolling motor ha!)