Wayne P.

thetr200ne, I got the 3-bank 10A per bank size due to the battery mfg recommendation and I use group 27 batteries with around 110 Amp/Hour rating. I have no opinion on the charge rate as I trust the recommendation of a company that makes batteries. I have five group 27 deep cycle batteries in my boat, three for the 36V trolling motor and the other two for two 12V trolling motors. There may be around 6 to 8 square inches of open floor space under my rear deck left over on a Tracker PT170TX. Way2slow, my choice was based primarily on the foot print (the space it takes up on the mounting surface) and secondarily on the per bank output that was closest to the battery mfg recommendation. I didn't feel it was necessary to check every battery mfg to see what their recommendations were. The Dual Pro has three separate and independent chargers in one cabinet. If one fails, it can be repaired independently. All of the technical stuff was inconsequential to the space I had. I also like the pretty red and green lights. Pages 474 and 475 of the Bass Pro Shops 2009 Master Catalog has the dimensions of 4 brands of chargers. The only other mfg of chargers I considered was Quest and that was too big also. My previous on-board charger was two bank called a Mighty Mite and it served well for 15+ years and may be still working fine on a boat I used to have. Having a charger that will (a Pro Mariner quote) "charge your batteries 2 to 3 times faster than leading traditional chargers" is not necessarily a good thing for deep cycle batteries. Maybe that is why the others are "leading".

Another piece of advice, go with a company that has claim handlers that actually know how to handle boat claims. Auto/Home companies don't necessarily have the expertise. I worked for one of the larger insurance companies for over 43 years. Sam's advice is right on, lawyers are expensive.

Way2slow, when charger shopping, I considered the Pro Mariner like you got, but the physical size was too large. There was another spec that the charger has that eliminated it even more. The possibility of a charge rate of 30A for one battery if the other two are fully charged. I did some research about proper battery charging that changed my thought of the proper size charger- From the Exide web site: All batteries should be recharged as soon as possible following a discharge with a constant voltage charger. However, to recharge in the shortest period of time, raise the charging voltage to 14.40 volts for a 12 volt battery (2.40 volts per cell for series strings of batteries). The charger should incorporate a current limit feature. The maximum recommended charging current for the battery is shown below: Model Current (Amps) 12V U1 4.5 A 12V Group 22NF 6.0 A 12V Group 24 8.0 A 12V Group 27 10.5 A 12V Group 31 13.5 A

I just installed a 3 bank Dual Pro in my boat and based the brand decision on two factors. #1-It has the smallest foot print of any comparable brand. #2-It is in just about every bass boat that I have been in.

McCoy is better for spinning gear. Braid is even better.

About 80% or more of the bass I catch is when wacky rigging finesse and Trick worms. I use 30# braid.

Whatever you come up with, each battery needs to be held down independently. A solid hold down on two opposite sides will keep them in place during encounters with waves and boat wakes.

If it is a rivet and you can get to both ends, just get some help and whack it with a hammer while the other person holds a hammer against the other end. If it still leaks, you can do what the others suggest. No leak is normal.

When it comes to pounds of thrust or horse power for boat motors, there is no such thing as "enough". For electric, it's the max you can afford and for gas motors, it's the max rating of the boat or max allowed on restricted bodies of water. Anything less than maximum is a compromise.

daviscw, Sexy Shad skirt with a white Zoom double tail trailer, chrome blade, 1/4 oz, slow steady retrieve about 2'-3' deep. 50# Stealth

A little slow on the pond today. The water temp ranged for 41 to 45 degrees and didn't start warming up until after noon when the clouds moved out. The largest caught was 4# 4oz. Only caught them on the Chatterbait and Trap. No one was working at the construction site this morning or afternoon, so I couldn't find out what is going on.

I use the uni-knot of every connection except Tx rigging. I use the Palomar knot for Tx rigging to have a shorter knot for the sinker to have contact with.

No, not on Wednesday. I am going today though.

fatboyjoe, if you are getting knot breakage with a uni-uni knot, you need to improve your knot tying skills.

http://www.lowrance.com/en/Products/Marine/LowranceNET-Marine-Networking-System/Sample-LowranceNET-Marine-Network/

s13john, this time of year, I only go if there is a warming trend. Its supposed to be about 60 tomorrow and close to 70 Thursday. I'll be launching around 9:30-10:00 at the 701 ramp. Wed night is supposed to be above freezing and that will help a lot.

5/0 Gammy offset round bend.

PM sent

You did a nice job with the decking. You will also regret using that loop carpet. It is a hook magnet. You might as well remove all the barbs off all the hooks that will be in your boat. I have fished with a guy that did his fiberglass bassboat with that kind of carpet. Good luck

jig, the only solution is to put more weight at the back of the boat or get a longer boat. Put the trolling motor battery at the transom and run a circuit to the front to plug in you motor and electronics. Carry an extra battery if you have one. Just having the gas motor on it will help some with the weight addition. I noticed last week that my friend now has a transom electric motor added, that will serve as a rudder somewhat. He does not keep the gas motor on all the time since he fishes electric only lakes the most. I used a transom electric motor along with the bow mount motor on the 12' jon I used to have when I wasn't using a gas motor. I carried three group 27 batteries with all at the transom since my bow motor was 24V and the transom electric was 12V.

Truckman, your statement "Lighter hooksets are not an option " in referring to using braids is incorrect in application. With braids having zero stretch, a lesser hook set than used with monos is required to keep from ripping the hooks out. All it takes is a wrist or forearm motion to get a solid hookset.

rippin_lips, the Power Pro claim is misleading. It is true that the red color disappears in 15' of clear water, but the line does not disappear. When the red color of the spectrum is filtered out by the water, the line appears dark brown to black.

One of the best features of baids is the zero memory. When you make the first cast of the day and have some slack, you don't have a slinky toy laying on the water. It is not affected by line twist like monos are. You can have a line that is the diameter of 10# mono but has a breaking strength of 50#.

None will unless it is night time with no moon light.

A friend of mine has the short transom Grizzly 1448 and when he fishes alone, the back of the boat acts like a kite in the wind. The narrower front has less displacement and therefore the front sinks a lot deeper. Even when I fish with him and we use a small outboard, the back of the boat still sits a lot higher than the front. The only time the front is level with the back or higher is when using the outboard to change fishing spots. The longer models may sit on the water better or even the square front rivited jons may have more front displacement. We weigh about the same (around 170#). If I weighed twice as much, maybe it would float level with both of us.