Networking & Connectivity Autopilot

A marine autopilot is an electronic steering system that maintains your boat on a set heading, follows a GPS route, or tracks specific patterns — all without requiring you to hold the wheel or tiller. By offloading steering duties to the autopilot, you can focus entirely on fishing, monitor your electronics, manage rods, and handle fish without worrying about boat control.

Autopilot systems receive navigational data from the fish finder's GPS chartplotter and heading sensor via NMEA 2000. When set to follow a route, the autopilot automatically steers between waypoints, making course corrections as needed. Heading hold mode maintains a constant compass bearing, while trolling patterns can be programmed for zigzag, circle, or contour-following paths.

Trolling motor-based autopilots, like Minn Kota's Spot-Lock and i-Pilot Link, integrate directly with compatible fish finders to provide automatic boat positioning. These systems use GPS to hold the boat on a specific spot, follow a shoreline contour at a set distance, or retrace a previous trolling path. When paired with live sonar, some systems can even track and follow individual fish as they move.

Autopilot integration with your fish finder is one of the strongest arguments for standardizing on a single electronics brand. Garmin fish finders pair with Garmin Force trolling motors, Humminbird pairs with Minn Kota, and Lowrance integrates with MotorGuide for seamless GPS-guided boat control. Cross-brand integration is possible through NMEA 2000 but typically offers fewer advanced features.