PawleysDude

Thanks, I appreciate your help. I’ll give that a try. Maybe with a little practice…

Thanks, yeah I think I’d like them if I can get this part figured out. I’m using only a hook, wacky style. Sorry, but I can’t picture where you are squeezing - on the sides of the small hook portion of the ring?

When I scanned thru this forum, it looks like a lot of folks are using the crossover rings for wacky rigs. I tried my first one today and thought I really liked it until I tried to remove the hook from the ring. Before I was done, I ended up destroying both the senko and the ring. What's the secret for sliding the hook out of the ring hole without it hanging on the barb? All suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

A little quality showing up but not much quantity. It's fall feeding frenzy time, but the weather keeps jumping between summer and winter. Lows in the upper 20's last week, with 80's expected by Thursday. Crazy weather.

Thanks, seems to be the way to go, and I’m all about easy way outs. I’m running a NoCo Genius onboard charger with an AGM mode, so hopefully I’m covered there. Thanks to everybody for all the excellent feedback!

That's what I have now. I just don't like the idea of never checking fluid level in the battery when I am recharging it frequently. As I mentioned, my boat's configuration requires me to disconnect all wires and remove the batteries in order to check fluid levels. That's why I want to replace them with sealed batteries.

Thanks, I'll check them out.

Thanks for the feedback. I’m on a small lake. There’s no outboard. It’s wired for lights but never turn them on, and I rarely use the live well unless an occasional day fishing for crappie. The batteries are strictly for the trolling motor, a small 5” Lowrance and the bilge pump.

Since when does buying a battery require an electrical engineering degree? I'm thoroughly confused and would appreciate suggestions. Here's the situation... I've got an old 16' Tracker aluminum bass boat docked on a small lake. It's powered by an equally old 12V trolling motor rated for 40# thrust. It came with two Group 24 marine starting batteries, wired in parallel. Essentially, the only other power usage is a small depth finder and an automatic bilge pump that runs briefly when we get rain. A typical trip is 3-5 hours long. The volt meter on the boat usually reads 12.7V at full charge, and about 12.3-12.4V after fishing several hours, if that gives any indication of typical battery consumption. I almost always charge them immediately after fishing with an onboard 5amp 1-bank charger. The problem is these wet-cell batteries are located in a very difficult location to access. To even check the liquid level in the batteries requires disconnecting all the wiring and removing them from the boat, a tough process for a tired old man with a bad back. I am resigned to the fact they need to be replaced with sealed batteries, but I am at a loss for what to buy. I plan to stay with 2 batteries in parallel. I also hope to replace the trolling motor within the next year, but will stay with a 12V 45-55# range. My priorities are: 1) Sealed and maintenance-free 2) Cost - a big priority 3) Ideally a Group 24 size battery for cost reasons but also because this size trays are already installed and a PIA to replace. I’m leaning toward this battery - https://tinyurl.com/yc8e49tu - but I know nothing about AGM batteries. It’s called a starting battery, but claims to also function well as both starting and deep-cycle. I would appreciate any feedback about this type of battery pro & cons, or other suggestions. Thanks for your help.

Thank you very much! Their search option struck out on my serial number but a search by model number ID’ed the year of manufacture as well as a list of available parts. I appreciate your help.

I've got an older MotorGuide 12V trolling motor. Serial # 9D112716. By any chance, is the year of manufacture coded in there somewhere? If anyone knows how to decode it, I'd appreciate it. Google failed me on this search. Thanks for your help.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a sucker for any new topwater plug that comes along. Topwater is my passion, and I can throw it all day and be happy as long as I get bit every now and then. But I'm beginning to wonder if I got suckered by Z-Man's Hellraizer. When I picked one up early this spring, I was impressed by its action and sound, but I've thrown it off and on all summer with very little success. I've had a consistent summer bite on both a buzzbait and a whopper plopper, but when I pick up the Hellraizer, it's like I'm fishing a different lake. It's about to move from my active box to my storage box, probably never to be seen again. Before I do that, is anybody fishing this bait with success? Any suggestions before I give up on it? Thanks for your comments.

Thanks, that should be doable. A couple questions... Would I see a voltage drop right away or do I need to let the TM run a bit? How much voltage drop, more or less, would you consider acceptable? Thanks! Thanks. Yeah, I was afraid of that. I know that replacing the batteries is a part of life, but this boat is permanently docked at the bottom of a steep hill and when the time comes I'll probably be looking for some younger, more able help, so I'm trying to avoid that step until I know it's time. ? With the poor man's test, how much voltage drop would be acceptable? Appreciate your help.

Ugh…. Thanks for the feedback. I figured that was the best thing to do but it’s an old Tracker that has been “reconfigured” and getting the batteries in and out is a royal PIA. I was hoping to avoid that ordeal. Guess I just need to suck it up.

I'm using two identical wet batteries connected in parallel to run my 12V trolling motor, depthfinder, etc. It's a small boat with no other propulsion. I charge the batteries with a NOCO permanent mount single-bank charger. It works fine for me but recently it feels like run time on the batteries has decreased. I want to test the charge level of each battery independently after fully charged and then again after time on the water. I assume I will need to disconnect one of the jumper cables between the two batteries while I'm testing, right? Does it matter if it's positive or negative? I'll be testing with a multimeter. Anything I'm overlooking? Anything else I should do that would be helpful? Thanks for your help. ?