I am sure you meant no insult by capping the fishing skills part so I won't take any. The reason I am looking at a trolling motor is because at lakes at Castaic it would be unsafe to row across the boat lanes to reach the "inner" V of the lake. Of course, not counting that it will take a very long time. I don't know about you but I don't enjoy being in the middle of speeding boats for too long. Also, 30lb is about the smallest that I see. Lastly, the reason I am looking at ebay is because I don't feel like spending too much money for something I won't be using too often except for very long treks.