Hit the upper Historic James River today and nailed four small smallmouths within 15 minutes floating with the slow current and using my new Tour Motor Guide 82 thrust trolling motor to guide the boat.

 

No problem raising or lowering the new trolling motor until around noon when the motor went down making a funny noise and I could not get it to rise up.

 

So I took the shaft off and headed home to unload the boat and took it to Propeller Dynamics in Hopewell to have the brand new Motor Guide checked out.

 

The problem?  Just needed some grease on a few moving parts as it is new and needs to be broken in to make it work easier.

 

What grease did Robbie suggest?  Abu reel grease!  That's right. The grease you get with your new reels or you buy in tackle stores.

 

The new trolling motor operates beautifully now.  I will keep some reel grease on the boat and also use it before I leave home in the future.

 

The secret?  Robbie says the Abu reel grease has Teflon in it. I have no idea if that is true but I am going to try to get some for future use.

 

Just thought you all would like to know this.

I have had the same trolling motor many years and it works great.  However the last time out I noticed it's taking more foot pressure to turn the motor direction.

 

Any tips on how to maintain the steering cables?