Koofy Smacker

Every single thing in the entire boat up to and including outboard motor, fish finders, livewells, lights, radios etc should be run off the starting/cranking battery. The ONLY item in the boat which is to be run off of the other two is the trolling motor which; depending on whether it is a 12v or 24v trolling motor dictates how they should be wired together. Do a google search on "running 12v batteries in parallel and series" and it will give you a good understanding on how that works. Parallel battery sequences simply put keeps the batteries output at 12v while adding the battery capacity of each battery together for longer life on that single charge. Series battery sequences creates an output of 24v which is mandatory for a 24v motor. The motor pulls lower amounts of amps but requires the 24v to run. What I stated above is the critical part of everything I am writing. Once this is right then you should decide on how to keep the batteries charged. Once you spend a day fishing, or even an hour or two running anything off the batteries it is CRUCIAL to charge them ASAP after you get off the water. It doesnt matter if you pull up and dock it for the night. Every single second the batteries spend sitting idle after losing a charge they slowly start to die. This is why so many guys in this thread recommended an on board charger so when you get off the water plug it in and forget about it. Even if this means pulling the batteries from the boats and putting them on the charger in the garage after every trip by all means DO IT. Another thing I should mention is that a battery; especially the starting/cranking battery should never ever ever get down to 11v in a single day. This right off the bat tells me that the battery is bad or that it hasnt been charged in quite some time. A perfect 12v battery should read 12.6v which with the 6 cells in a 12v battery means 2.1v per cell which are internally wired in series (read above). Any reading higher than 12.6v is simply a surface charge which will diminish within a few minutes of having any charge pulling from the battery be it a light or fish finder which is called a load test. A simple way to test it is to fully charge the battery and go hook it up in the boat, turn on the fish finders and livewell for 10 minutes. Turn them off, wait another 5 minutes and then test. If it has dropped below 12.1v or 12.2v the battery is bad and needs replacing. I ran into this issue several years ago before I fully understood battery basics and although it would appear that it was fully charged before every outing it would consistently drop to 11v halfway through the day forcing me to do exactly what your dad is doing in turning on the motor. It left me stranded and I needed to jump off the trolling motor batteries 3 times just to get back to the dock. Follow the advice in this post and in the rest of the thread and you will be fine and you can sleep well at night knowing he will be in working order. Just remember, keep them charged before EVERY trip, keep an eye on them and you will be fine for several years before the batteries naturally die over time. If you have any questions feel free to send me a message and I will get back to you.

Rain hurts like **** whether your in 40 degree whether of 100 degree whether

Yes I have canoed all my life. That said, going for a paddle alone is very different than having two guys and a canoe full of fishing stuff for the day. I did not mean for it to sound that its not something easy to do, but load it with a bunch of gear and push into a head wind after fishing for hours and I would bet the trolling motor would be a saving grace. I fished out a 14' wide bottom Radisson for 3 years so I have definitely done it.

Congrats on the boat! Try and learn how everything works and what wires go to what, it can save a ton of headache if something happens out on the water. In all seriousness, do your best to not step on he seats. I did that with mine (original 2005 seats) and didnt think anything of it, which caused them to rip so bad over the year from just being older vinyl. $400 later and while I have some new very very nice bucket seats it still cost 400 bucks!

I'd love to see someone paddle faster than 4-5mph in a typical canoe

Being an employee at Dicks I can say that it is not a "mistake" but more of a sale and not having corporate make the signs. The signage for sales are automatically printed and when they sale "25% off clearance tackle" it SOMETIMES includes clearance rods and reels. It is a real finicky way on how they word it. It can never hurt to ask the guy at the desk to grab the price gun and check it. If he says he knows it is not on sale ask him to check it anyway, a lot of times even I am wrong because of the way they word it. This time of year is when they usually go on sale and I usually keep an eye on it. I noticed it this past week but wait and there will definitely be a 50% off sometime in the near future but as with any clearance sale once its gone its gone and there are no more.

I love my Save Phace. That said I dont think I would like the full motorcycle helmet on a hot 100 degree summer day. The Save Phace allows you to put it over anything, even sock hats. Most of the time when running I just use sunglasses though. I do see where you are coming from though with the protection aspect of the actual helmet, but your most likely to hit water unless something seriously went wrong. Then again I know at 60mph water feels like concrete.

I would much rather pull the batteries. Have a 2 or 3 bank charger at the house all ready and when your done the trip just throw them on the bench and hook them up. I used to do that with a single bank charger before I got my on board and would actually set alarms for the night to get up and switch it to the next battery. Having a multiple bank will let you just hook up 6 wing nuts and be done with it. In your situation I am not sure of any other reliable way of doing it. Solar relies solely on the sun and snow will make you drive there to clear it off plus leave you hoping that they were charged properly since you last left them for your next trip. I vote pull them.. Its really not bad at all.

I wont spend money on the trokars for EWG hooks or regular hooks but when it comes to flipping, pitching and punching with a stout rod and heavy braid I will. Mainly because I think I have only ever snapped off 2 or 3 of them because normally I just reach down and pull it off the tree. Are you losing that many to justify cost cutting on it? Thats the way I look at it anyway

Those hooks arent worth skimping on... Trokar all the way. Bait keeper is worth every penny over them. The gamakatsus fall off in a few flips

Are you talking tungsten or lead?

The normal Everstart batteries that they sell have a 12 month warranty from the date of purchase. The Everstart Maxx batteries have a 24 month warranty from the date of purchase. Both are good batteries but if you are using a 12v (in parallel) or 24v (in series) make sure to get the batteries as new as possible with them both being made at the same time, same size, etc. I've used the regular Everstarts on my 24v system for 2 years now with no issues whatsoever. My cranking battery is an Optima but I had an issue in the past with my cranking battery and just splurged on a sealed AGM battery for that. A volt meter should read 12.6v for a perfect battery. Each 12v battery has 6 cells, each producing 2.1v. The charge you are seeing at 13.3 is a surface charge, not the actual charge. The higher charge is normally seem when charging or just after it is taken off the charger. Hook it to the trolling motor and run it for a few minutes and then try the voltage reading again. This will give you a much more accurate reading since it wipes the surface charge out. Hope this helps.

How the heck did I screw that one up haha

Been fishing with Minn Kota for years now. Love and live by them. No issues to speak of here. That said, we all get conditioned to the foot pedals on them so see if you can find a dealer of each, and just put your foot on each separate pedal and see which you like more. (Minn Kota has power button on the right, Motorguide has it on the left)

When you say "days" thats the part that people interpret different. I look at my fishfinders at the end of the year, divide the hours by 8 and thats how many "true days" I fished that year. I dont count going out and fishing for 3 or 4 hours a day as being a day of fishing. A tournament day to me is a true day. That said this past year I spent 55 some off "days" on the water

To add to what I wrote I normally pull a G3 bassboat but have pulled others including several glass boats in the 20ft range with 200-250's on the back and neither power nor braking was even noticeably lacking

I tow with an '06 4x4 crewcab tacoma 50-60 days a year. Never had any issues whatoever. It's towing capacity is 6,700lbs if I remember correctly which it 3x that of any full size bassboat. Fuel economy towing is about 15 and just driving is right around 18. Compare that to my cousins full size Tundra and he is lucky to get 13 every day just driving.

Closest I have found to what your asking is a pair of the Simms windstopper fold over mitts. They are fleece lined, and can convert from a mitt when running the boat to a fingerless, thumbless glove when fishing. Very very warm and while they are not completely waterproof I have yet to have one actually get wet on me even in the rain. They are very "water resistant" although it does not state it.

First thing I noticed on that last tracker is the wheels are different. Definitely check into that and see whats up as a bent axle from impact could cause you a lot of issues down the road. The trailer is just as important as the boat itself.

All of their baits are great. Much better than other baits in their price range

No effect on the fishing at my local pond. They usually stay well clear of me though. Cast even remotely close to them and they go the opposite way. I have caught fish directly under them before.

Dad got me an 8' Talon, ratchet tie down straps, a waterproof radio for the boat and the gf got me a gorgeous whiskey decanter with glasses and all. And to top it all off one of my closest cousins broke it to our family that she was pregnant and is going to have the first grandkid out of our generation

Dont have the black lights but I have the entire inside of my boat done with their white and blue led strips (white in the lockers, blue in the seating area). Absolutely love them and they have excellent customer service. They answered every question I had about installation instantly and it was actually very easy once I figured out what to do.

first time it ever happened to me i nearly pulled my hair out and had the fuses and wiring harnesses all checked before i remembered it was even there

May sound stupid but are you sure the switch on the pedal is switched to on?