The battery you choose for your kayak or canoe trolling motor is one of the most important decisions you’ll make regarding your fishing or tripping canoe or kayak.
You’ll be spending a decent amount of money on a key element in your canoe, so it’s crucial to understand the type, weight, power, and price of the best battery for your needs.
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What Battery is Best for a Trolling Motor?
While there is no clear answer to this question (since it is based on your motor’s power and the conditions in which you’ll be using your motor), a good rule of thumb for starters would be a 12V battery rated with a minimum of 100 amp hours (Ah) and is a deep cycle marine battery.
There are conditions where you’ll need to deviate from this rule of thumb quite a bit, and that’s okay as long as you understand the implications.
For example, if your electric trolling motor is mounted on a small 12-foot canoe or 7-foot kayak, and you only plan to go fishing for an hour at a time just off the dock at the cottage, it might be best for you to consider the lightest, smallest, most convenient, most inexpensive battery. And yes, it will also be the least powerful battery which holds the smallest charge.
Obviously, if your situation is the opposite of this (20-foot canoe with 3 anglers out for a week-long fishing trip and a 55-lb thrust motor), then you may want to consider a 24V or 36V motor and battery or even multiple batteries wired together to accommodate that power profile.
What is the Longest-Lasting Battery for a Trolling Motor?
The longest-lasting trolling motor battery is the one with the highest Amp Hour (Ah) rating. It’s easy enough to find batteries with a 300Ah – 400Ah rating, though 50Ah – 150Ah are far more common.
Keep in mind that even though every kayak or canoe angler or adventurer with a trolling motor wants the longest-lasting battery, it might be best to consider other factors such as price (you can get 2 – 150Ah batteries for far less than the price of one 300Ah battery).
What is an Amp Hour (Ah)?
The most common specification on a marine trolling motor battery is probably its AMP HOUR (Ah) rating. Amp hour refers to the number of amps (current draw) a battery can deliver in one hour.
For example, if you have a 50Ah rated battery, and your trolling motor draws 25 amps (lbs thrust is roughly equal to the amps drawn per hour by a motor at its maximum output), then you can run the motor for 2 hours drawing 25 amps (25lb thrust motor at full throttle for 2 hours).
A more typical scenario is a 100Ah battery with a 30lb motor which will give you around 3 hours and 20 minutes of run time at full throttle, or likely all day long (or longer) in an actual fishing scenario.
Why Can’t I Use a Regular Car Battery for my Trolling Motor?
You can use a regular car battery for your trolling motor but you run the risk of damaging both the motor and the battery. A deep cycle battery is designed to be discharged much more than a car battery without suffering corrosion from the discharge. A car battery was not designed to be discharged 50% – 80% without suffering damage.
A car battery is designed primarily to crank the engine to start. That means it produces a strong burst of power and it’s not designed to trickle out a lower current over a longer timeframe. A car battery is not designed to be drained of half or most of its charge and then re-charged.
A deep-cycle marine battery lacks the starting power of a car battery, but the trade-off is that it gains the ability to trickle power out to the trolling motor over the course of a full day (or week), and then get drained of most of its power without corroding from a deep discharge (a car battery would most likely corrode and suffer damage).
So, you can use a car battery for your trolling motor, but if you do, I’d suggest using it for about an hour or less before returning it to its rightful place under the hood of your F150.
Our Top Battery Picks for Canoe and Kayak Trolling Motors
There is no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” option when it comes to trolling motor batteries. To that end, I’ve spent just a bit over 7 hours researching the latest and best options for batteries of various sizes that are the best fit for different vessels.
1 – VMAX MR137-120 12V 120Ah AGM Deep Cycle Marine Battery
This battery is best for anyone with a 40-lb thrust motor who is looking for several days of trolling power (though not trolling for 8 hours non-stop) without needing to recharge.
- 12 Volt 120Ah – Group 31 High Performance Marine AGM Deep Cycle Battery
- Reserve Capacity: 230min
- Dimensions: 12.9″Lx6.8″Wx8.7″H (Height includes terminals)
- Weight: 75lb; 8mm terminals
- Maintenance Free Operation: No need to check specific gravity of the electrolyte or add water to VMAXTANKS. Can be mounted in any position
- Rechargeable Sealed battery resists vibration/shock.
- High performance AGM technology (typically more reliable and longer lasting)
- Warranty: 1 Year replacement; 30-day satisfaction guarantee
Pros
- Because of the higher group number rating, it carries more power than lower group numbers
- Well-rated on Amazon
- Incredible price for what you’re getting
- Slightly faster than average re-charge rate
