tbayboy

I bought mine (2 12v60ah size 24) from canbat early last season and was very happy with them. I left them at the charge they were at when I put the boat away last fall (70% or so) and they stayed that way all winter (inside a garage heated at 10 degrees). Topped them up for opener last week just fine. Two 6 hour days since then and they seem to be working as well as last year. No complaints at all.

Starting/Cranking battery is a whole other thing. There are some lithium batteries now that can be used apparently but there's also a lot of info about how they could void your motors warranty (different power ranges or something like that) and from what I saw you couldn't use the alternator without a bunch of extra stuff. I'm sure that'll change in the next little while but I decided to put that off and stuck with a big AGM for my starter and electronics/house power You could absolutely use a small(ish) lithium for the house needs (size it based on your transducer/graphs/etc). I hooked up a meter to the battery and went around turning everything on and came up with about 4amp so a 60ah batter would do me 15 hours (roughly). But since I had just bought a new big group 31 agm for the starter and all the wiring for the rest of the boats electronics was already setup for that I left it as is. If I end up with a lot more electronics I might consider a dedicated battery but it's not worth it for me at the moment. The noco charger I have is 3 banks and can do any mix of battery types so it can charge my 2 lithiums and the agm starter (https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08G3DLYX8/)

What I read and was told was anywhere from 50%+ is good for longer term storage (https://battlebornbatteries.com/faq-how-to-winterize-your-batteries , https://explorevanx.com/blog/how-to-store-lifepo4-12v-batteries, https://www.evlithium.com/Blog/how-to-store-lifepo4-batteries-for-long-term.html and others). The idea is to ensure any residual self discharge won't put you in a danger level where you kill the battery as apparently the batttery monitoring systems can't detect/help with this slow drain. But that does bring up one point that I really found when investigating last winter: because its relatively new tech for our use cases (using them as deep cycle batteries in a boat) the info is really all over the place. How best to charge, how to store, how to protect them, what to look for when buying - you'll find a lot of different answers to any given question. Hopefully that all settles as more people use them in situations like us but for now I'd just recommend making sure to not trust any one source of info and if you can get an answer from the seller/warrantor that would be best (canbat told me they'd be fine at anything over 50% for the winter - https://www.canbat.com/faq-lithium-iron-phosphate-lifepo4/) Oh and for my case they're stored in the boat in a heated (10 degrees) garage. Storing them in below freezing and especially charging in below freezing is a whole different thing. Now someone remind me to follow up here next month when I take the boat out and find out that all the answers are wrong and I'm out of power 10 feet from the dock

I picked up a couple 12v60ah lifepo4's from canbat (canbat.com) for my 80lb ulterra last spring after the original lead acid's hit their end of life. They were really good guys to deal with and were very responsive when I was asking questions varying from capacity needs (they didn't push to upsell) to post sizes etc. Found quite a few reviews of the company that were good and they do a 10 year warranty and I didn't want to deal with any cross border stuff. I also picked up a Norco charger (3 bank charger - 2 for these guys) which works great - don't forget to include that in your budget. After one season I'm really happy. The bluetooth app makes it really easy to use tell how much juice you have left (will show me how many hours at the current draw and so on) and over the winter I don't do anything - they were at 70% after the last time on the water and they're still at 70% here in March.

There's great smallmouth fishing in Kipawa depending on where on the lake your at - maybe you can change their mind I know not everyone is thrilled with that but I love it - walleye morning/evening and bass in the afternoon. You can see some in this shared photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KAvuCnQGR64iXagX8

I had the same issue as you and it was just what Randy/Akrisoner etc have mentioned: barely running the big motor at all (trolling motor fishing) but running all the rest of the boat (graphs, livewell, etc) off the same cranking battery. New boat owner so didn't really think about it much until I got the dreaded 'click click' when trying to start the motor in the middle of the lake... it ain't fun going 2 miles back to dock on a trolling motor against the wind :(. For a bit more detail: that was 2 years of never charging it other that whatever little bit it would get off the big motor. After it died I learned of my mistakes and started topping it off all the time but it wouldn't keep a great charge after that so got a new battery and now I top it up regularly rather than counting on the alternator and I keep one of those car battery boosters and spare boosting cables in the boat.

I was there yesterday as well (1-3pm). Sad shell of what it was before unfortunately. I never cared that much about the deals but there really was absolutely nothing this time. Quick notes compared to the last one (2019 I guess - wow) - normally 2 halls (go in at entrance 5 and a bunch is there then some stuff back in the other side (entrance 1). This time just the one area. Basically 3 or 4 aisles stretched over a couple big rooms. - Not too busy but it was a weekday afternoon - I swear it's the ATV show now. Every spot big enough had a collection of argos/atvs/side by sides. - Couple legend boats a couple guys pushing lithium batteries, that was about it for boating stuff - Hunting variety seemed about the same maybe (not a hunter so couldn't say for sure) - Only a couple tackle dealers, none of the regulars I usually buy from during the show, was hoping to get some trolling gear but didn't bother - We usually have fun with the 'extras' but other than the archery range there wasn't any: no birds of prey, no pellet gun range, no MNR with the beavers and snakes, etc - pretty sure I counted 5 hair dressings place that kept leaping out at my wife. - There were seminars I suppose but I didn't bother waiting for any. - Maybe 10 or 12 outfitters with booths, very quiet. - Best thing was the lady selling cheescake tarts - pretty much sums it up.

Hi Terry, that'll be the next real test when I get it back on the water. This morning fresh off the charger the multimeter shows 13.0, with everything on was 12.75(ish). When cranking (in the driveway with mufflers) it would drop to 11.8 or so and then pop back up. At the end of a couple hours of playing around with stuff I was in the 12.65 range (with no alternator as I just started the motor for a few seconds to ensure it would turn over). Next time on the water I'll get some better "real" measurements. Might also try measuring each item individually when I get a chance.

Good thinking Sinker. The truck had cables and 2 different booster batteries of course - lot of good those do in the truck After charging the battery overnight its back to its old self - ran everything for about an hour or so (both graphs, radio, bilge bump on and off, etc) while starting up the motor several times and it seems to be ok (voltage didn't take any nose dives) but definitely going to drop the charger on it whenever I have a chance especially if its one of those heavy electronics, not much main motor days.

Hey all, going to bring this oldish topic back to life because the same thing happened to me today and I'd love your thoughts. I've had this boat for 3 years, brand new so new batteries etc. Never had a problem but I recently upgraded the helix 7 to the helix 10 and its higher power transducer (800mv to 2.7a draw according to specs). My guess is that the extra draw of the bigger transducer/display killed the battery when I wasn't watching (didn't have low voltage alert set). Luckily the trolling motor has its own set of batteries that held up to get us back to the dock while I googled how to pull start an etec 90 (its not pretty). So... I actually thought the dealer had the finder hooked up to the trolling motor batteries but when the finder shut down every time I tried to get the motor to turn over it was pretty clear that wasn't the case (sometimes you should just do you're own wiring so you know...). Anyhow, I've never charged the starter, figuring the alternator would take care of it. The boat has a minkota 2 bank charger but from what I can tell thats only set up for the trolling batteries so yeah... dumb me. And honestly I spend way more time on the trolling motor than the big engine so I guess it was never getting enough time for the alternator to charge it up and now with the higher draw it killed it I guess? I've got it on a 10a charger now and will see how it goes after it juices up but had a couple questions: 1) If I've got 2 group 31 deep cycle batteries in series for the trolling motor: (https://labatteries.com/product/00/dc31dt/Deka-DC31DT-Marine-Master-DeepCycle-Group-31-12-Volt-650-CCA190-Res-Cap). The trolling motor is an ulterra 80 w/ipilot auto stow and deploy etc. Should I hook the finder up to that that bank to keep the starter battery for just that one use or is it normal to use the motors battery? 2) I see notes above about cranking batteries that are a mix cranking/deep cycle. If I've managed to kill this battery (3 years old so I hope not but...) should I consider one of these (happy to pay money to reduce chance of this fun day happening again)? The current battery is a Deja 24M7: https://www.nationwide-battery.com/deka/24m7.php. Fairly generic flooded battery by the looks of it. So... what would you all do?

I had the mini and it was great ... until I missed the landing on the boat... Here's some videos I pushed that aren't at full resolution so if your happy with these you'd be more than happy with the original. https://photos.app.goo.gl/V7JXfWtdsizaJqkL6 Before dropping it in the lake it worked well and at the 'sale' prices I don't think you'd go wrong. With the new version you'll get: 1) Better connectivity and range - if your flying it close to you then its fine. If you want to fly it a km (or more) away then the upgraded connectivity might be worth it 2) better camera - but only if your doing some serious videography. For stuff you post to you tube you'll be more than happy 3) Better motors - can handle wind a bit better but it's still a small drone - there's limits. Myself - I'm really torn, I have the fly more package for the original so I still have extra batteries and the case and so on so I might just buy the discounted original (just the drone) but I'm also a gadget nerd so I'm tempted by the new one just because its new. Right now the $ diffs is about $200 CDN (for the fly more packs): $725 vs $520 give or take.

Not yet, was kinda wondering if they were going to get around to it...

Yeah I think your right - there seems to be a lot of hammer handles (and some a bit bigger - had a couple 24" pike as well so far). Its a convenient spot being across the road more or less and good cover on windy days but I might have to get off my *ss and toss the yak on the rook and drive down to the actual lake. Thanks for all the feedback everyone, I'll update if I find anything else worth posting.

Testing out embedding photos. This is the decent fish so far: Aha, it worked! For those of you using google photos this page helped a lot: https://sites.google.com/site/picasaresources/Home/Picasa-FAQ/google-photos-1/how-to/how-to-get-a-direct-link-to-an-image

Yep - black mud bottom everywhere, deepest is maybe 5' in the middle of the channel leading into the marsh proper but more like 3' in the pads. The back half of the pads is pretty full of grass and other assorted weeds with occasional holes, near the one side there's more open water under the pads and thats where I've been concentrating with frogs. Looks like google maps has upgraded our area - here's a good idea of what I mean: So I launch in the "lake/pond" side and go down the channel to the right into the miles of pads. So far all of my fish have been in the channel, mostly where it joins the lake/pond.

Well got out for a couple hours today between errands (why are "vacations" at the cottage always full of work to do?). Tried focusing on the more open water - the mouth of the channel and down the channel a bit going slow using a senko and a chatter bait. Other than a couple little nibbles on the senko (local bluegills etc I'd assume) it was quiet. Then switched back to a white/chartreuse spinner bait with colorado blades and got 4 pike in about 20 minutes (one 24" the other three were snot rockets). So the spinner bait is staying tied on (its also responsible for all of the bass including one decent one). So after 3 days of a couple hours each day the only sure thing is the one spot I expected: the mouths of the canals as the enter/exit the "pond/lake". Still no idea about the acres of pads but at least there's been no skunks.

That sounds like fun - keep meaning to try fly fishing, maybe this is an excuse though I'm not sure a kayak is the best learning platform. And yeah there's duck hunters here every year - they love the marsh, my wife isn't so sure about the gunshots going off

In the channel and pond its about 5' deep and there are some open patches in the real marshy stuff thats about the same depth. The biggest problem is that there really doesn't appear to be any moving water in the marshy bits so I think IronMaker might be right that the stagnant water with the heat this time of year just isn't able to hold fish. The open water takes about 30 minutes to totally cover which I do with a spinner bait (with some success) but other than that I'm kind of guessing. Going to go out this morning with: 1) Spinner bait (or maybe chatterbait) 2) Senko 3) Texas rigged lizard with a bullet weight 4) Frog - gotta keep trying, so much fun if there's anything under there.

Thanks guys, I think your onto something with the finesse approaches - I was going to try a senko tomorrow, hadn't thought of the slip bobber but yeah that could be a great idea (with the kayak its hard to do any kind of stationary fishing but the float would fix that). Any other thoughts?

Hey everyone. I've got a place where I can walk my kayak down the road and into a marsh. I've been fishing it a couple days now with some success but not loads so I thought I'd see what the experts think. As an aside - anyone know how to post photos from google photos? The preview is fine but when I post it says "You are not allowed to use that image extension on this community". Until I figure that out please refer to this link for photos: https://goo.gl/photos/1ioxAB3xUUBhvfmDA So here's the scoop - its a full out marsh but they county has dug out a small pond and a channel about 1/2 way to the lake proper. The channel is about 15' wide and the sides are standard reeds (5-6' hight) with an undercut, waters about 4-5' deep mid channel: That then opens up into a giant marsh of lilly pads, weeds and grass. Its a mile long and a 1/2 mile wide and frank I have no idea where to even begin. I've been tossing frogs all over the place trying to focus where there's open water under the pads and near by but there's really no current to speak of. The nice thing is that I have the place to myself - the boats can't get in here and I know there's fish - got one nice largie and a couple dinks plus a pike but those were all in the deeper water tossing spinner baits (where the dug out pond goes into the channel). So if you were in my boat (or my kayak I suppose) - what would you be trying? Looking forward to the ideas. Sean

Well I figure they'll help with the mice . Seriously other than the terrible stink the let loose if you frighten/touch them they're harmless so I'm ok with them being down there (its a 150 your old farmhouse - critters come with the deed of ownership). Of course if they make their way up to the bedrooms there may be an issue.

They take up residence in my cellar in the fall when they're bedding down for the winter (our place is just off the marsh). Gotta admit it was quite a shock to move a paint can and find 3 snakes on the shelf. Then a big guy warming on a radiator pipe. Here's a couple videos and pics https://goo.gl/photos/xzLSfhfAUmXcx7hV6

Damn thanks Rob. Guess thats the downside with the 3 year license - forget to check it. Sure enough I'm down to 27 days!

I've been on XploreNet in the bay of quinte region for a couple months now. No 4g on my tower yet (its a dish pointed at a tower really) but apparently this one is getting upgraded in May. That said I'm getting enough speed for netflix and streamed the Jays playoff games but just barely (usually around 3Mbps downstream, cap of 250G). Using it for streaming audio, all the various phones/tablets etc (typing this up on it) and I'm happy so far but its only the weekends I'm at the cottage and only a couple months in so I can't speak to anything long term.

Third vote for the shad raps. Jointed especially (perch and shad colorus)