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Wired2Fish Puts the Avator 7.5e to the Test

Can electric propulsion keep up with these serious anglers?

Wired2Fish Avator 7.5

Like everyone on the crew at Mercury partner Wired2Fish, Kyle Peterson is a real fish head, spending hundreds of hours each season on the water. His passion for fishing and talent for video production come together to inspire anglers everywhere with high-impact content.  

That same passion made Kyle the perfect choice to test drive a new kind of fishing adventure. Recently, he took to the water in a TRACKER® GRIZZLY® 1236 jon boat powered by a Mercury Avator® 7.5e electric outboard. His mission? To uncover where and how an electric outboard can fit into the gear lineup of serious anglers and sportsmen like him.

Check out what he discovered in the video below.

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The right gear for hunting and fishing

No hunter or angler wants to waste time wrestling with finicky gear at the ramp. When it’s time to go, things need to work. Better yet is when they’re so simple to use that you can focus entirely on getting to your spot and getting the day started.

Mercury gets it. Electric outboards by nature are pretty simple to use, and the team behind the Avator 7.5e outboard took things even further. With features like the quick-connect transom mounting system and a drop-in 1030Wh battery pack, setup is fast and easy. The battery works like a cordless drill battery – a self-contained portable power pack with no wires to connect and nothing to strap down.

“It’s super simple,” Kyle said. “You have a battery. You charge it. You drop it in. And you go.”

That simplicity carries through to the water, too. Thanks to high torque and a high-thrust prop, the motor delivers strong “steering authority,” meaning when you turn the tiller, the motor and the boat respond instantly. That snappiness makes a difference when hovering over a fishing spot or doing some old-school forward or back-trolling along contours.

“One of the things I noticed right away is the maneuverability,” Kyle added. “It’s a really easy-handling motor. The thrust is right there, and it’s incredibly responsive. With instant reverse and instant forward, you can do a lot of things to keep on fish.”

Wired2Fish Avator Fishing

A portable outboard for backcountry adventure

Kyle tested the Avator 7.5e on a small rural lake in Minnesota – part of a region packed with “postage stamp” lakes and rivers where you can find some of the best freshwater fishing in the world. While there are plenty of large, developed lakes in Minnesota where you can launch a 20-foot bass or walleye boat, those fisheries draw the biggest crowds because they’re so easy to access. Taking the adventure to harder-to-reach waters – or even deep into the backcountry – gives you the opportunity to do some real exploring.

At about 43 pounds without the battery, the Avator 7.5e on a “tinner” boat is a slick little setup for this sort of fishing. Grab the motor, slide a jon boat in the bed of the truck and you’re ready to run logging roads to find some awesome fishing – as well as hunting. 

“You could throw this in the back of your trunk … You could strap it to a float plane. You could do whatever you want with this thing. Wherever you go, it will go,” Kyle added.


Electric outboard performance: Range and runtime

Kyle’s 12-foot TRACKER jon boat is the right kind of platform for the Avator 7.5e. At about 130 pounds dry weight, it’s light and portable – just like the motor. It’s a ruggedly simple design. Bring along the dog or a buddy and you’re in business.

A lightweight boat like the TRACKER jon also helps optimize battery performance. Though Kyle didn’t record exact runtime data, he was able to boat several miles to go across the lake and back while using only about 75% power from one battery, using the digital battery life meter on the integrated display to stay on top of his charge.

If you’re considering an electric outboard, Kyle’s experience is a good representation of the kind of application it was designed for. If you want to go fast and far, you need a Mercury FourStroke outboard. If you want a quiet, easy-to-operate setup that can still do some hardcore hunting and fishing, Avator is an option. If you are worried about range, do what Kyle did: Bring along a spare battery. It swaps in place in seconds.


Embrace your inner silent and stealthy hunter

Kyle also appreciated the quiet performance of the Avator outboard.

“Any time you can stay quiet, your chances of success go way up,” he said.

Wired2Fish Avator Hunting

That’s good advice for all hunters and anglers. Sometimes getting into a duck hunting spot without blowing it out is half the battle. Same for fishing. Bass, walleyes and panfish can get shy and wary around engine noise. You don’t always need stealth, but it never hurts.

This trend is gaining ground across the outdoor world. Electric augers, power tools and even e-bikes are giving hunters and anglers quieter, more convenient ways to enjoy their time outside – without sacrificing performance.

Electric outboards – just get out there

Reflecting on his own upbringing as an angler, Kyle recalled paddling or rowing a boat out to fish with his buddies as a kid. Those experiences give him an interesting perspective on an electric outboard.

While kayak fishing and other non-motorized methods are great, if you want to get from here to there a little easier and don’t need a fully rigged fishing boat, electric propulsion is a good option that requires very little equipment maintenance, fuss and operating expense. It’s an easy way to just get out there.

“To have something like this would’ve been amazing,” he said. “We would’ve had so much fun with this. There’s a lot of technology packed into this motor, but that’s what the beauty of it is. It makes it so simple.”

If you want to learn more about Mercury electric motors and propulsion systems, check out the Avator family of outboards. 

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