Angler added an extension tiller for stand-up operation.

I’ll admit to a love-hate relationship with portable outboards. On one hand, the little kickers have allowed me to get into some wonderful spots to fish (and hunt) that I could never have come close to otherwise. When you can launch a fly-weight canoe off the roof of your car or out of a pickup bed, then clamp a motor on the bracket and head for the horizon, you gain access to miles of great water you’d never fish otherwise. You don’t even need a boat ramp—just a place where the water comes reasonably close to a road, and you’re in business. These portable kickers are commonplace on tidal rivers of the Georgia coast, the winding creeks and blackwater rivers of Pamlico and Albemarle and Currituck sounds, the bays and cuts of the upper Everglades, Matagorda Bay and Laguna Madre along the Texas coast. A causeway or a bridge approach plus a place to park is all you need.

On the other hand, I have probably sworn more at portables that obstinately would not start, or would start just long enough to get me far from the boat ramp and then would not run at all, than at any other irritation in a long and not infrequently irritating life. Suffice it to say, in years gone by, those who depended on portable outboards also depended regularly on oars and pushpoles.

Fortunately, that’s rarely the case these days; greatly improved electrical systems mean that little outboards start easily and dependably, virtually every time. And portable motors fill a very useful niche in the world of shallow-water fishing. For powering a canoe, jonboat or an inflatable, they offer far more power and speed than even the strongest electric motor, which means you can explore farther and faster. And though the motor itself may be rather troublesome to trundle, you don’t have to worry about carting deep-cycle batteries down the dock.

So herewith, a look at some of the parameters you might consider should you go shopping for one of these little powerhouses.

Unless you own a forklift, there’s a limit to what constitutes a “portable” outboard. Outboards don’t come in easy-to-lift square boxes; they are necessarily awkward packages to transfer from trunk to transom, and if you don’t play lineman in the NFL, odds are that a hundred-pounder is more motor than you want to carry. For most brands, that limits true portables to no more than 25 hp, and probably to no more than 15.

A tiller 25 hp-motor, while portable, can be permanently mounted on today's lightest poling skiffs.

In the class, portable two-strokes still have a clear edge on four-strokes. Yes, four-strokes are quieter, no you don’t have to mix oil with the fuel and yes, they will run farther on a gallon of gas. But there’s a weight penalty for those valves and lifters and that oil sump, and it counts when you have to lift the motor before and after every fishing trip. Outboards from most makers pass the century mark in heft at between 9 and 15 hp for four-strokes, but not until you hit 25 hp for two-strokes. So, if you’re powering a fairly large boat—and don’t want to or can’t go the route of putting it on a trailer and permanently mounting the outboard—you’re probably going to want a two-stroke. You will not be unhappy to note that you can buy a 25-hp, two-stroke for about the same money you would pay for a 15-hp, 4-stroke, either.

The smallest motors, under 5 hp, usually have a built-in fuel tank. This has pros and cons; you don’t have to carry a separate fuel tank, so that’s handy, but the built-in tanks carry a very small amount of fuel, typically 1⁄3 of a gallon or thereabouts, so the range is limited unless you also carry an additional gas filler container. (Small kickers don’t burn much fuel, though; a 15-hp 4-stroke I tested a while back delivered over 14 mpg at full throttle pushing a little inflatable boat.) Gas cans are always subject to spilling gasoline in your truck or trunk, and integral tanks always manage to leak a little fuel when the motor is transported, so a separate tank and hose is a better option if available. You get more range this way between refills, too, which makes up for the fact that you have one more item to carry, in my view.