July 11, 2019
By Scott Bernarde
Garmin’s foray into the world of trolling motors was admittedly a risk.
Known in the fishing word more for its fish-finding expertise, Garmin still unveiled its Force trolling motor this week at ICAST 2019 and it paid off with winning the popular fishing show’s Best of Show award for the second consecutive year. Last year, Garmin’s Panoptix LiveScope live-scan sonar won the top prize.
“It’s validation of all the hard work that we put into it,” Garmin’s Dave Dunn said. “It was a long shot when we decided to do this. This proves it was worth it.”
The Force continues Garmin’s commitment to freshwater fishing and to bringing innovation to the marketplace. Fellow electronics maker Lowrance also unveiled its first trolling motor this year — the well-received Ghost — creating a buzz around a product catergory where long-standing makers Minn Kota and MotorGuide have been top of the heap for years.
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“It’s a heavily contested category and the two dominant market players have been there forever,” Dunn said. “So, it’s pretty brave for Garmin and Lowrance to go into a category like this.
“We’re both known for something vastly different. But to be honest, we felt both companies could propel the industry a little bit more and add some innovation … It makes better products and better fishermen.”
Garmin has been coming to ICAST for about 15 years, but last year’s Best of Show and Best of Category wins were the company’s first-ever at the show.
“It’s amazing. We’re honored people have embraced our product.”
MSRP on the Garmin Force is $3,099.99.
Learn more about the Force in this video
