Zeeter

I may get something like that, and I do like the idea of getting three new batteries. However one of the batteries is fine. Charges up well after I gave it a jump start with an external charger at 50 amps. The onboard charger won't charge a completely dead battery. That's was the starter as I wouldn't put 50 amps on the trolling batteries. I put a trickle charge on them at 2 amps hoping for the same results, but they were both underwater all winter and so I fear that they are bad. They'll run the trolling motor without any apparent loss in speed for a half hour or more, but I just don't trust them. Not that I'd be DOA if the trolling motor was out, but it would ruin a day fishing. I'm going to get some Exide batteries from TSC and use them for the season. If I can get them through next season then I'll bite the bullet and buy some good batteries.

Until I get my battery maintenance under control I need to stick with the cheaper batteries. The other ones will last longer, and I have a good charger on my boat, but I seem to have trouble with batteries. Or, two of the batteries on my boat were not any good to begin with. One was brand new when I got the boat and he said the others were fine. It's probably more likely that they were all purchased at the same time and one simply went bad before the others. That said, I don't mind spending $200 a year on two batteries (starters tend to last longer, imho) than $500 every five years if I'm just going to ruin those $250 batteries within a couple of years. Once I learn and use the discipline to maintain my batteries properly and stop making stupid mistakes I'll look into better ones. As for the jump starter, no - you should never need one. But the one time you need one and don't have one you'll wish you did. If I'm in a tournament and need to get back only to find my battery is bad then I'll be up a creek. Some are only $50. That's not much of an investment for piece of mind.

Respectfully, I think you missed my point. Spinnerbaits are great. Yet to someone just starting out they do little more than cast it out and reel it in. There is finesse to it, but not for a beginner. I'm suggesting a simple worm setup as a means to learn more finesse. Ideally, he would have both a spinnerbait and a worm rigged on two separate rods. The thing with the spinnerbait is that the fish is either on or off. With a worm you feel the bite and learn when the set the hook. My personal opinion is that you learn a lot more about presentations using a worm than with a spinnerbait. Thus, if he is using a senko or a creature bait or a tube or a jig, many (not all) of the same techniques are involved. Trust me - my go-to lure is a spinner. In fact I just spent over $200 on a rod made specifically for using spinnerbaits. Yet sometimes a subtler approach is more effective in certain circumstances.

What's the best on the water jump starter you folks are aware of? I've been looking at the WeeGo that Ike uses, but there are a number of cheaper ones. Some for under $50. For those who don't know, this is a small handheld device to give a one-time jump start to an engine if the battery dies. Even if the battery is known to be good it's probably best to get a device like this to be used in case something weird happens.

Weedless rubber worm on the bank, spinnerbait on open water. Those are what got me started. While a spinnerbait is a good start, it won't teach too much about fishing. The fish hits it and you real it in. There is a little finesse with it, but not too much. It will catch fish if you are on fish. Eventually you learn what to look for with a spinner. If the shiners are causing a ruckus then pulling a spinnerbait through them will produce a bite. Otherwise you're really just guessing unless you have a fishfinder. Worms are really the first step in going from being a recreational fisherman to a more serious one. They take more finesse, but not much. It will teach you how to feel what is a bite and what is a lily pad. I wouldn't try anything too advanced yet, like a dropshot or carolina rig. And there's nothing wrong with changing baits frequently. If something isn't working go ahead and switch up. You'll learn to tie faster and eventually you'll find one that produces hits. I'm not saying every other cast, but give a lure a decent chance and then switch up. When I started out I might have only given a lure two casts before I immediately knew it was wrong. Wouldn't dive deep enough, was too heavy or light, etc...

I do, too. I'll forget to adjust the tension and brakes and maybe try to cast it like the last lure I had on there, which may have been a different weight.

I still have trouble. Nothing as dramatic as this in the last year or so, but if I don't have something heavy on the line it tends to overrun. I am still learning how best to adjust the tension and the brakes. Got the tension worked out; now it's just the brakes.

Hour later update: Turned on the trolling motor. It works for some bizarre reason. Had it going for 1/2 hour with no apparent loss in speed. Unplugged #3 just in case that was the one providing all the juice. Maybe they're just taking longer to charge from empty. I'm still not confident in the batteries, but if they're working then they're working.

Duly noted. Another worrisome issue is that I'm getting a charge on anything conductive on the boat whenever the charger is plugged in. Not a huge charge, but there must be an open line somewhere in the charger wiring. Last step before changing the batteries is taking them out and cleaning them off really well, then ensuring that the wires are in good condition. Another question I have for everyone: Do you keep your charger plugged in constantly or just once a week for maintenance? This charger has a maintenance mode, so I'm thinking I may be ok with leaving it plugged in constantly.

This morning's update. Battery #3 (starter) is green on the charger. I turned the key for a second to see if it would turn over and it did, so I frantically turned it off. It was on for no longer than a second so I don't think any harm was done. Batteries 1 and 2 are bad. After charging all night - 16 hours - I'm still not getting any juice from them. Plus since they were under water all winter, even if I did get a charge in them I don't trust them, which is half the battle. The trolling motor does not do a thing. There is a battery gauge up front that has five lights. Battery one gives me one light, two gives me no lights, and three gives me five lights. This about jives with what I am seeing from the charger and emphasizes the point that the batteries are bad. So...lesson learned. Now I am considering what type of battery to buy. I could go cheap with an Exide at 105 Ah and 185 RC or an Everstart with a 65 RC and they don't tell you the Ah. That 65 RC doesn't sound right to me. The Exide seems promising. These are both in the $90 range with a core exchange. I could get something in the $250 range each, however with my record on batteries I think I'm more inclined to pay less for inferior batteries until I get a handle on better maintenance.

Trouble is that I don't know which of the batteries is the new one. They're all the same brand. Ok, no negativity here, please, as I've learned my lesson and don't need to be told how dumb I was. In the late fall I was diligently plugging in the charger every week. Then it became every two weeks. Then every month if I could remember. Then I didn't at all. On top of this, I left the plug in the boat all winter long. So when I went to see why the batteries weren't charging I found that #s 1 and 2 were literally underwater. #3 sits a little higher in the back. I'm no expert, but I'm guessing the deep cells are no good any longer. I put my external charger on the starter and it gave it a good jump. The bilge pump started working, as did the trim and other electronics. Now I have the external charger connected to battery #1. It's no longer blinking but I need to keep it on 2 amps so it will be a while before it gets a charge strong enough for the onboard charger to kick in. Starter (#3) is charging now via the onboard charger and appears to be charging properly. I did turn the key for a moment to see if it would try to crank and it just about did, but I didn't want to press the matter until I get a hose connector. It wasn't a strong crank so we'll see tomorrow how it goes. Best case is that the onboard charger kicks in on #1 after a while and it charges tonight. Then I'll try the same with #2 tomorrow. Could be that I'm fine. If #1 doesn't charge overnight via both the external and onboard charger then I know that battery is bad. Will try on #2, as well, but it will likely be in the same condition. If #1 is fully charged tomorrow then I'll be pretty sure that the charger is working properly, which is another fear. I've been around - posting a lot lately. See latest post - I may be fine.

Ok, figured some things out. There was a problem that I resolved. I won't mention the problem because everyone will yell at me for doing something dumb and I don't need that kind of negativity in my life. Anyway, banks 1 and 2 are charging at 90% right now and seem normal. Bank 2 seems to keep shifting between 70% and 90%, but it's not flashing. More like it's just on the cusp and can't decide. Bank 3 shows no lights. Either it is a bad bank or the battery is completely dead. It had been flashing 1 light in recent days. This is the starting battery and when I turn the key nothing happens. Per the troubleshooting guide online this could indicate a fully dead battery. Since there is no click or anything when I turn the key I am leaning towards that being the case. I have a deep cell charger that I got for a battery to use on a trolling motor lake with a jon boat. Tomorrow when it's light out I'll try to put a charge into the starter battery and see if that helps. Per the troubleshooting, the 3 bank pro will not charge a dead battery. There has to be a least a bit of juice in it. If that doesn't do it then I believe it is a bad battery.

Leave slack, huh? If I do that I won't feel the jig or worm on the bottom so much. Not saying you're wrong, and that makes sense. I was using fluorocarbon 12#.

So what I'm getting here is, if I ever feel anything different on my line I should set the hook. That's great advice. Unfortunately I need more experience to sense what that something different actually is. Also knowing the water helps, too. Is it grass? Is it rocky? What type of rocks? Pebbles? I know my regular fishing lakes and can tell when something is unusual. Fishing a new body of water takes some getting used to. I imagine that over time I'll get to learn these things more quickly.

This is exactly what happened to me. Unfortunately, when I realized there was a fish on there I was all the way back and not in a position to set the hook. I didn't yank the rod because we'd been snagging all day and I'd already lost several rigs. So when I pulled up to pull the rod out of the snag it was more gentle.

Why was this moved to fishing tackle? This is a general fishing question.

It could also have to do with the fact that I was on a large body of water where there was more wave and weather action. Typically I would go out on a nice summer day to a relatively small lake. Hard to miss the bite there. Yet with the boat rocking back and forth and the wind maybe I was just having trouble adjusting.

I normally like to go weightless, but it was too windy when we were out. Maybe someday I'll be able to deal with it better.

After much deliberation, I recall that when I bought the boat last summer the guy at the dealership said he put a brand new battery in it as he noted it was bad. My suspicion is that all of the batteries were bad, but he only replaced one. I'll check the other batteries by putting them on the known good charger bank, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that the two batteries are bad. We all have our favorites, but I prefer the Everstarts. I'd rather change my battery every two years than try to milk four years out of a more expensive battery. This comes after being stuck on a lake with no juice and having to hand crank my engine to get to shore.

I went out on Saturday with a member of the bass club I am applying for. He caught three or four, including a 4#er. I was skunked. Here's the thing. I'm used to feeling a tug on the line, giving it a second, and then setting the hook. Well, I had one on that was probably a really good fish. Trouble was that I thought I was snagged as I didn't feel him take the bait. So I reached up to pull the snag out which is when I realized it was a fish. I tried to reel up so I could set the hook, but he was coming my way and I never got a chance to do a proper hook set so he got off. Had a similar, but less dramatic incident about a half hour later. It basically felt like I pulled the bait out of the fish's mouth. Which brings me to my issue. Maybe it is just a learned experience, but outside of the normal tug or actually feeling the fish run off with it, what is a good indicator of when the fish takes the bait? Is it just something I'm going to have to feel over time? I've caught plenty of fish on jigs in the past, and I know that with them it is more that they inhale the jig rather than tugging on it. I honestly can't say I remember feeling them inhale it; rather that I could feel the fish on the line. Not sure if it matters, but I was using a 5" senko with a 1/8 oz bullet weight.

They do have great service. On my last boat the charger was something like 8 years old and was defective. I called them and they said they could "only" give me $150 credit on it. I was like, really? That's awesome!

Hmm...says failed to load pdf document. Doesn't matter. What you posted is clear enough. Thanks

Wonder where you got that. It's not in any documentation I've seen.

Personally, I won't buy anything that doesn't say "Ike Approved" on it

Quite likely. It's just that it took three pages for everyone to essentially say the same thing. Gotta get that kicker fish to get ahead of the pack. Well duh! And of course I was being sarcastic in that section that you quoted me on.