Yeah I do the same.I mount a small 20hp kicker to my SUP when I fish from it out in the Strait - while I liked the action that paddling imparted to my flashers, it was limiting to lose propulsion anytime I needed to crank up one of my downrigger balls and re-rig my cut plug herring.
With the kicker, I’m able to tow my small zodiac out behind, which provides a double function as an improvised drag anchor and as additional stowage capacity for ice chests, gear boxes, rods, and grundens.
The paddle is still useful for tight maneuvers, but now I think of it more as my SUP’s bow thruster, and I use it primarily when coming back into port.
Unlike most people, given the wave environments I’m usually dealing with on the bigger water, I run a three-section articulated SUP, with double sponsons attached to the middle section. I run my downriggers off of the sponsons, but being a purist in most other ways I hold the rods themselves in my left and right hands. I like the feeling of a tight line downrigger grab, and you don’t get that with your rod sitting in a mount.
I’d like to build out a better system for steering, but haven’t had the time. For now, I’ve appended an attachment to the tiller of my kicker, just long enough to fit into the groove of my buttcheeks. To turn left, I move my hips to the right, and vice versa, sort of like backing a trailer.
SUP’s are a lot of fun… this is pretty much the way I roll on my overnight blue water albacore trips out of Lapush.