I have a single 12' Talon and want to replace it with a shorter pair since I now have an Ultrex. I'm leaning toward 8's, but there are benefits to 10's. What would y'all go with? I'm bass fishing in SE TX.
I have a single 12' Talon and want to replace it with a shorter pair since I now have an Ultrex. I'm leaning toward 8's, but there are benefits to 10's. What would y'all go with? I'm bass fishing in SE TX.
I'd keep the 12.
Im in for 10-12' i was thinking the other day (yeah thats scary i know) if you stand up and put you hands up thats 8' and that isnt very far when the tm is 1' under the water and I wouldn't want the tm to be ripping the water around
Mercury 250 proxs 2B115089
If going with a pair and you already have an Ultrex then I would say get two 8 footers. I would use use spot lock when deeper than 8 ft.
I went 8 only because I got a deal. The plan was a 10 just to make sure I had all my basis covered.
Because I wanted an RMP light and the 8 is lower than the cowling, I probably should have gone with a 10.
The use of an anchor light on the talon is a factor. I do want to avoid tilt brackets though.
No tilt bracket necessary with a 8ft Talon because they set lower than the large horsepower motors. I have yet to see a set on a boat with a small horsepower motor but I bet they're still close to being lower even on a smaller HP motor.
Tilt should be mandatory so you can tilt deeply and clean them.
Id use your ultrex some. It may not be what you think.
I’ve had ultrex a while and barely ever use spot lock now that I put 15’ talons on. If your in 10-12’ deep water and it’s not windy the spot lock will blow out everything within 20’ of you.
I agree with Jeff. Look at your boat, 10' isn't that far and will still get blown out from the trolling motor. It's nice to stop on a hump in 15' and not make a sound. It makes a difference. Come summer time I will use the spot lock more and depending on where the fish are I may leave the talons at home. I doubt it but it's an option
I would just get another 12. If I were to change depths I would go 15 before I'd go to 8.
I disagree completely with this new notion that deeper Talons no longer have any use because of the Ultrex. I won't disagree that you can drop weight by going with 8s, and I won't argue the convenience of them being shorter than your motor. However, the idea that you'll never need your deeper Talons on the water again because you now have spot lock is nonsense.
Here's my issue with spotlock: it keeps the wind in your face. Haven't you ever appreciated how nice it is to talon down on a deeper spot and have the wind at your back?? How much nicer is it casting small baits when you have the wind in your favor? Sure, you can spot lock and run to the back of your boat and fish the same spot from the rear and have the wind at your back, but I prefer to stay in the front on the trolling pedal watching the finders if I can.
Where I live we spend a lot of time between 10 and 20 feet and we deal with a lot of wind. I want all the tools I can get to help me deal with that. If I'm going to have talons I might as well have the big ones.
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