trolling motors on kayaks, yes, no or occasionally?

IMHO feathing isn't controversial at all...it a no brainer.  It does use different muscles etc., and when you first start you should do some time feathered, some un feathered until your muscles have had a chance to develop.  Just like a mile is long paddle your first day, your starting over with a whole bunch of new muscle groups when you switch.  There is actually a great discussion of this in Spikes video.

Feathing not only has an advantage in the wind, it is much more useful for using your whole torso when you paddle.  Unfeathered gernerally just focuses on your arms.  You in all likely hood aren't sore from too much paddling, but from jumping striaght into full time feathered with those huge, heavy blades.

we are not usually sprinting about like the recreational paddlers.

Most kayak fisherman paddle like recreational paddlers.  We just sort of putt around...unless stripers start hitting the surface!  Sprinting and racing are totally different, touring is somewhere in between.

I guess you have to sprint for yellowtail too. same boil, first there, first bit scenario.

nontheless, I'm sticking with the unfeathered configuration and small blades.

shoulders and wrists need to last a long time yet.

can jelly beat you to the other side of mendo and back yet? 

Nope...but it won't be long. His Tourer is a sleak little yak and he upgraded to bigger blades at the end of the season.

I started straight but switched to feathered after developing a painful shoulder. As soon as I switched the pain was gone.

I still can't paddle straight though 

bill, in your avatar picture, one arm is clearly longer than the other!
perhaps that is the issue? 

I think if the race is long enough, the smaller blades could win.

I found this from google....

There is an endless debate about the advantages and disadvantages of feathering. Feathered blades offer less resistance to a headwind, while unfeathered blades are best in a wind from the side. Unfeathered blades take less wrist and forearm motion and are less likely to cause tendonitis. If you are starting out with a Classic, you should try both feathered and unfeathered and see which works best for you, but once you've decided, don't switch back and forth. Your "muscle memory" will get confused. Farwell Forrest's guidelines on paddling.net put all this well:

"Well, maybe if you're an Olympic athlete, paddling into the wind in half a gale... For the rest of us, though, feathering is a mixed blessing. It takes some getting used to, for one thing. You grip the paddle with your "control hand" — usually the right, even for southpaws — while allowing the shaft to rotate in the other, as you orient the blades to strike the water squarely. Until you get the knack, you'll find yourself trying to brace with the edge of your paddle from time to time... Most importantly, perhaps, the constant extension of the wrist that feathered blades require can predispose you to repetitive stress injury, or aggravate an old carpal tunnel problem if you already have one. Happily, newer paddles are usually offset less than 90 degrees. That's good as far as it goes, but the risk of injury remains, particularly on long tours. You'll have to make your own decision. Every paddle I've owned has been feathered, most of them a full 90 degrees, and I've never had a problem, even on week-long tours. Still, I can't say I see offset paddles as offering any real advantages for most paddlers."

For me, I've been paddling unfeathered eversince I started and I've had no problems with it at all....but I can see the dis-advantages when paddling against high winds....I've had days like that at Linda Mar and Moss Landing  - I just simply try to keep paddling at a consistent phase and it seems to work out for me. For this kind of paddling, I use the touring blades.

Here's quietman's article re: motors.  it has some good info

Oh, I forgot to say.  i went fishing with him and even used his motorized rig a while.  it took some getting used to but was pretty cool.

Did you hire him as a guide?

I've been thinking about the trolling motor my self. I've been building for more than 25 years and when you grip a hammer day in and day out along with drills, power saws, jack hammers for hours on end it will wear you out. I'm only 45 yrs. old but have had to have a couple of operations because I tend to through myself at the job. There is definitely something about paddling that makes my carpal tunnel flare up, I found that when I put that rough grip stair tread tape on my paddle I didn't have to grip the paddle as hard to keep it from sliping out of my hands, it seemed to help a lot. Unless your hands are very callused you better have some gloves on though. If I could paddle with out gripping I could paddle for six hours straight maybe longer, but when my carpal tunnel is flaring up my hands go numb in less than an hour, if I keep going I will pay for it the next day or days. It's not a persons muscles it's their tendions and prolonged abuse of your tendions can cripple you. Be true to your self and take care of your body. If you need a motor to be able to have fun a fish get one. Good luck fishing.

P.S.  If I'm out 8 or 9 miles and the motor blows up, trust me I'll make it  back in.

gowen, maybe you owe yourself one of those hobies that you can pedal.

unless you been kneeling on the roof with that hammer and your legs are gone too,
in which case, yeah, better get that boat! just wave when you swamp me with the
wake,  .

I have seen a few motoyaks that were cleanly done...this is by far the nicest I have seen....http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/220603834/m/4561081851

While not my cup of tea expect to see several yaks similar to these in the near future.  Designed from the get go for the e-motor...http://www.vikingkayak.com.au/fishing_kayaks.htm

I'd think you could mount a trolling motor on a rudder connector quite easilly...

I'd think you could mount a trolling motor on a rudder connector quite easilly...

That vikingkayak link scwafish provided looks interesting.
The Adventure Sports trolling rig is connected like a rudder system. Cables and all that stuff.

Here's the pic Tote took:http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/albums/album21/kayakmotor.sized.jpg

,

gowen, maybe you owe yourself one of those hobies that you can pedal.

unless you been kneeling on the roof with that hammer and your legs are gone too

Yes I have thought about the hobbies, I'm not sure why but they don't seem to appeal to me that much (maybe bad experiences with those paddle boats that go nowhere fast) but I do really lean toward practicality. So if they work real well I might really like one. How do you steer one of those things anyway?

John I would never do a drive-by on you. that would be terrible                      Well unless you looked bored, or you looked like you where hot, or for sure if I thought you where given me the look.    

OK let's be honest if I knew it was you I would for sure do a drive-by but probably only once. because well, I like you so much      

here's a pic of John/jdyak with his P15 rigged with a motor.........(this pic was taken at Lake Del Valle)

gowen, I used to work as a bull rider, so bring on the wave! well, I'm lyin' about that one,
but I'd like to think I'm not that easy to swamp.

my understanding is that your left hand controls a rudder on those hobies. I think they
make a lot of sense for freshwater and probably a bit of a hassle but okay in salt. maybe
you should make an attempt to borrow one to save your arms a bit. They cost more,
but not being able to use your hands costs too.

that looks like a very fat trout in jdyak's hands?