Catfishing Boats

[Ralph Wiggum]

I run an 8' antenna on my 16' tiller and don't see it as an overkill.

I ran into JimBuck at the landing last night, and the 8' antenna looks good on his rig (a mighty handsome rig, if I may say so ).

[Surreal Deal]

Ralph, that's because you guys have the same kind of boat!

JimBuck, we're still waiting on the picture!

[Ralph Wiggum]

Ralph, that's because you guys have the same kind of boat!

Yeah, aside from the color of the hull, they're pretty much identical boats! Mine's faster, though

[Surreal Deal]

One more question on spotlights before I move on - The Choices are halogen or LED... Two questions -

(1) For those of you tapping into your marine cell to run your halogen spot(s), do you find the halogen to be a large drain on your battery?

(2) Is anyone trying an LED spot and if so how does it measure up to a halogen?

[Ralph Wiggum]

One more question on spotlights before I move on - The Choices are halogen or LED... Two questions -

(1) For those of you tapping into your marine cell to run your halogen spot(s), do you find the halogen to be a large drain on your battery?

I rarely use it for extended periods without the motor running. It may be a problem if you don't have electric start (i.e. your motor doesn't charge the battery), but I don't think it'd be too significant. I can run a rechargable light for ~20 minutes, and the battery in those is miniscule compared to a deep cycle battery.

[ec30_06]

I run 2 100watt lights and a 2 million candle power hand held spot off my battery and have never had it die. I have a 60 amp alternator so it keeps the battery up pretty good. Sometimes I will throw the charger on after an all night trip with a short run back to the landing.

[Surreal Deal]

My lunchtime reading today revealed a wonderful thread about VHF marine band, most of the participants on that thread have also posted here!

[Larry FlatCaster]

My lunchtime reading today revealed a wonderful thread about VHF marine band, most of the participants on that thread have also posted here!

The benefits of going back and reading or rereading old threads and posts. Dtro and I were talking about that the other night. Some stuff goes waaayyyyy back.

[Surreal Deal]

Some stuff goes waaayyyyy back.

I read back so far that I saw Ralph Wiggum's rookie post where he was asking for advice about where to fish from shore!

I think a lot of information gets repeated because it is intimidating to try to go back through 213 pages of posts - and that's just in the Catfish forum!

A good way to sift through it all is to sort by "Views" (Click the column header). If you list the posts descending (Highest # of views at the top) the first 15-20 pages are almost solid gold.

Another good tip for finding information is to click on the username and select "View Posts" of any user whose opinion you value - You can see what else they have had to say in previous posts. Guys like DTRO, Shackbash and Hanson post all over the place in FM, not just in Catfish!

[JimBuck]

Originally Posted By: Surreal Deal

Ralph, that's because you guys have the same kind of boat!

Yeah, aside from the color of the hull, they're pretty much identical boats! Mine's faster, though

I think it's just a matter of knowing a good boat when you see one. Ralph's got me beat on pony power that's for sure. I was just giving the shore fisherman a little more time to check out the rig. I'll post pics.....someday.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I was just giving the shore fisherman a little more time to check out the rig. I'll post pics.....someday.

LOL! Makes sense

[aanderud]

One more question on spotlights before I move on - The Choices are halogen or LED... Two questions -

(1) For those of you tapping into your marine cell to run your halogen spot(s), do you find the halogen to be a large drain on your battery?

(2) Is anyone trying an LED spot and if so how does it measure up to a halogen?

In addition to LED and Halogen, there's HID. They are brighter than halogen and use less power. My bulbs draw only a few amps.

No matter what you do (halogen, HID, LED), you won't have much problem as long as you charge the battery regularly. Remember, HID and LED are relatively new technology, and people have been running spotlights off car batteries for decades just fine.

[hanson]

One more question on spotlights before I move on - The Choices are halogen or LED... Two questions -

(1) For those of you tapping into your marine cell to run your halogen spot(s), do you find the halogen to be a large drain on your battery?

I think my spotlight is a halogen. Its one of those big rechargeable Thor-X types that Cabela's sells. Mines the camo one. It has 2 modes, incandescent & halogen. With good juice, the halogen is incredibly brite. What I did find however is this thing has a terrible way of holding a charge, and the DC adapter was NOT for DC use (just slow charging). Anyway, what I did was take it a part and pull the battery out of it (its a Vex type battery) which obviously cut a ton of weight out of the spotlight. These things are tanks to begin with. I then hardwired and soldered a red & black wire to the spotlight to a cigarette lighter adapter. So now I've got a bright spotlight with 10-12' of cord that I plug into a cigarette lighter socket I have wired to my boat battery. Seriously works great.

I have had 1 battery issue but that was because my battery charger took a [PoorWordUsage] on me and had nothing to do with how much juice the spotlight drew. I must have fished for a month without my battery taking a charge because my charger at home wasn't working. I did end up dead on the river that night. Thankfully I can use an emergency rope and pull start my motor so it wasn't a big deal.

[Surreal Deal]

OK, Next Question....

What is a reasonable expectation in regard to wear and tear on props - ASSUMING that I operate my boat with common sense and am not taking a lot of dumb chances? Best case scenario of course is that I never hit anything and I'm as safe as I would be on the lake but I do understand that this is the river we are talking about and a certain amount of 'stuff' is going to happen.

Also, has anybody here lost a lower unit or messed up their transom (Stillfloats guy comes to mind...)? I am interested in any horror stories...

[JimBuck]

Pick up an aluminum prop or a spare if you've already got one. I've never hit any major stuff but I do travel cautiously, especially at night. Travel upstream, if something bad happens...you can float down. Last year I traveled downstream for the 1st time and I ran into engine issues (go figure). Luckily it was mid summer and the trolling motor was with...the oars did see some use that night.

[Ralph Wiggum]

A lot of it depends where you plan on running the boat. If you stick to the dredged portions of the MN and Mississippi, your prop will be a lot safer than if you try to navigate more-upstream sections of the MN. There is still more junk to hit, but if you take your time and are smart about it, it's no big deal.

A spare prop is good to have with!

[rushing]

I think eddy might have a story about a motor being knocked off.

[Scott K]

I have broke two shafts in the motor, both on a 30 horse Mariner. I go through about 2 props a year on average, sometimes 1 some times 3. Last year, I just got my prop back and as I was unloading the boat at the landing, I caught a rock and wrecked it .

[ec30_06]

I think eddy might have a story about a motor being knocked off.

Yep. knocked it right off the back of the boat. I hit a log going up stream at 26 mph. Pulled it in and it still worked fine. I was moved into a jet powered boat shortly after that. I always just kept a spare prop along. The plastic comp-props were cheap and worked ok on the river. I would just put my aluminum on for the lakes. No more prop issues for me, but my impeller could probably use a sharpening.

[DTro]

I’ve found that the best (or worst depending on how you look at it) way to learn the river is to hit stuff

Once you hit a few sand bars, gravel bars, eddys, logs, etc. You then know exactly where they are. A learning experience, if you will.

4 years (I think) of running my boat on the water I’ve been through 3 props and I prop shaft (that one hurt a little bit). With these smaller motors, it’s really hard to hit something so bad that you mess up the lower unit (especially from the logs that inhabit this area). Further upstream and on the Mississippi, you have a lot of rocks to deal with, and they don’t have a whole lot of give.

If you can, make sure you keep your tilt on your motor unlocked, so then when (notice I say when and not if) you hit a log or whatever, the motor will hopefully tilt up and minimize the damage.

I recall a similar story to Ed’s in which the guy was running full on plane and hit a log. The motor flipped right off the transom and into the boat…….still running and prop still spinning

[harvey lee]

Yep, 1 prop per season for me. I usually hit a sand, gravel bar and chew up a prop in one area of the river I like to fish.

Sodderblooms can always fix me up for $25.00.

[hanson]

If you can, make sure you keep your tilt on your motor unlocked, so then when (notice I say when and not if) you hit a log or whatever, the motor will hopefully tilt up and minimize the damage.

Darren makes a good point here!

My 60hp Johnson is on full time unlock. I'm actually not sure if I can even lock it down. I don't have tilt/trim either.

I'm not sure how much stuff I've hit but my motor has popped up out of the water quite a bit over the years. Most of the time I'll run over a floating log or branch and it'll get caught in front of the motor. You then have to stop and pull it out of there but really no big deal.

Now for props, I've got the same prop I had on the boat when I bought it 3 years ago. (Geez its been 3 years already) I've taken a file to the leading edges a few time to smooth out the knicks but thats it. She's still working fine although it wouldn't surprise me to learn that I've taken 1/8-1/4 of aluminum off over the years. Might be why my speeds dropping a bit.

If you run fast and reckless, you will destroy stuff. If you take your time and use common sense, its no big deal.

Main thing to learn is how to read the river and understand where the channel and deeper water are. Pretty much just connect outside bend to outside bend and stay on the outside and you'll be in the deeper water. Some of those inside bend sand bars stick WAY out so just stay outside to keep off the sand. If you do get in the sand, guess what... its just sand so you'll get a prop polishing.

Quite a few of us in this forum have run a boat over every mile of river from Bloomington to Mankato over the years so we have the knowledge and experience and know where the hazards are. I'm still missing a few stretches from Belle Plaine to Henderson and the LeSeuer area but I've seen a lot of water and the funny thing is, you remember it too!

[Larry FlatCaster]

When your pretty new to the river expect/budget for prop replacement or repairs. My first year I went through 4 props. I have yet to twang one since. (I'm knocking on wood as I type this.)

[hanson]

Thats another good point Larry as well. Maybe I've escaped the prop monster by being a passenger in many folks boats on the river for a couple years before using my own.

Basically, if someone is taking you with for a ride, don't just go along for the ride. Pay attention and try to learn while you are out there.

[wastewaterguru]

I just used to spend a lot more time putzing around until I gained enough confidence to learn where the "trouble" spots are on each stretch of river. It takes time........and paying attention in someone elses boat can cut a bit of that learning curve.