BassMan11

Also.... In case of an emergency. You could pull the batteries out of your boat and run them with an inverter to power all sorts of things. Fridge, Freezer, even furnace for a short period of time. When moving into Lithium I went it with a "what else can I use these things for". Still 98% of the time they will just be for the trolling motor... but in a pinch.... I could have power anywhere.

Pros - Space and a little weight are some of the saving you would get with running a 24V battery. Another plus is the batteries not getting out of sync which can happen when you run 2 12 volts in series. That won't happen with a 24V. There is only 1 BMS to deal with as well. Charging connectivity is very simple for whichever onboard charger you use. Cons - No other use for the battery... just dedicated trolling motor. Chargers are a bit more expensive and you have less brand options types. You will need 2 chargers for the boat 1 for trolling motor and a 12 volt for cranking or house battery. I am sure there are more on both sides... but just a couple off the top of my head. BM

17 years?! That things owes you nothing lol. Better off getting another unit... hopefully to last another 17. Parts might be tough to source for this one.

We did drag around some large spoons in the areas we saw the Big Pike... I had something large on at one point but it came off. Most of the focus was on eye's though.

Disappointing from the perspective as you see a lot of successful trips and good camps.... we have had propane leaks, roof leaks, lackluster fishing, terrible weather, outfitter issues, equipment issues, etc. I wouldn't go back to the first 2 places if you paid me... especially after this last trip. The trips were still memorable.... but only from the company perspective.

After 2 more or less disappointing fly-in trips over the 10 years or so I decided to reach out to Mike. B to see what he would recommend for our 3rd Walleye and Pike Trip. Well we returned yesterday from White Owl Lake Outpost out of Hornepayne and I can safely say Mike knows what he is talking about. The Road Trip - Nothing notable from Southern and Eastern Ontario. Stayed in White River the night before which is only a short 1 hour drive to Hornepayne the next day which was great. HWY 631 to Hornepayne had lots of wildlife... we saw 7 bears and 4 moose on the combined drive in and out on a 80km road Very neat but also have an eye when driving. Flight - Short 10-15 minute flight from Forde Air base in Hornepayne into the Outpost. They use a Beaver which is a much smaller airplane than the usual Turbo Otter. One thing that was interesting is that even though we had a 100lb weight limit per person ,they flew in all of our overage for no cost. I assume this is due to consistent flights back and forth to the Lodge... so hopping over to the outpost at White Owl isn't out of the way. Very nice perk! Camp - Rustic but functional. It had running cold water at the sink and also a cold water shower behind the camp. These are fed by a gravity system and topped up with a pump down the dock. 3 bedrooms that can sleep 6... but 4 would be the perfect size. Wood stove (no wood processed). Standard Outhouse. Electric fridge, so the 2200 watt generator needs to be running about half the day to keep things cold. They provide lots of gas for this though. Propane stove and lots of pots, pans, plates, cups, etc. New BBQ and fish cooker in good working order. Boats were standard 14" Nadens with nice seats and no leaks. The camp itself to me needs some work and it could be really good. I think the focus is more or the Buck lake lodge portion of the operation... which makes sense because its most of the business. You also get a Garmin in reach for emergency purposes... but it is not much use... more on that later. The Weather - I feel like with its proximity to Lake Superior... the weather on the lake changes quickly. We had mostly overcast skies all week with a 15km west-ish wind. It rained in the afternoon almost everyday for an hour or 2 before usually clearing out by 5-6pm. All in all pretty good fishing weather for the most part. Also being June... the days were very long which was great. We ate dinner almost every night at 10pm.... felt like 7pm! White Owl Lake - The lake itself its a fairly structureless marshy bowl. Not your typical Canadian shield Walleye Lake. About 5km long and narrow, we were able to find high percentage spots fairly quickly and key in on them. I brought a larger side scan fish finder which cut the learning curve down drastically. Water is stained and dark. Also we couldn't find 1 shore lunch spot. Bummer! Little White Owl Lake - Can be navigated to via boat down a narrow channel. This lake sets up very different with more Rocky shoreline and depths down to 140'. Didn't stay in there very long as the bigger lake was producing more fish. Starr Lake - You can portage into Starr where there is a very nice 14' Lund Boat to use. The water is much clearer and the walleye were a different lighter colour which was very neat. We only fished it a short time as weather blew us off the lake. We caught fish... but nothing that set it apart from the big lake. The fishing - This was by far the best fly in fishing trip I have been on for numbers. Myself and 3 other non walleye fishermen boated 727 fish in 6.5 days on the water. Both Pike and Walleye were shallow and aggressive post spawn. 95% of fish were caught in 5-10 feet of water. Water temps were a consistent 60-65 degrees all week. Hot baits were bright paddle tail minnows (casted or trolled) and slow death spinner rigs, but a large variety of baits caught fish.... from wacky worms to mepps and a worm. We brought a flat of worms which was overkill in my opinion. I think I used 6 worms all week personally. Largest Walleye - 25" x 3 with the average fish being 16-18" Largest Pike - 38.5" (but saw larger chasing hooked walleye) Lots of prior visitors at the camp wrote their trip report on the walls of the cabin. One 5 man group said they had caught 1518 fish in 7 days. I do not doubt this. White Owl is teeming with fish. Constructive criticism - The communication with the outfitter is limited at best. We had a weather delay coming out but had no idea of flight status' or expected flight out times. We used the in reach but had no response until 4pm that day saying... "we are trying to get you out" All understandable but a heads up in the morning or throughout the day would have been appreciated. Plane arrived at 630pm and got us out eventually. All in all it was a fantastic trip. I'd like to thank Mike. B for his insight and recommendation on the outfitter and lake. It was everything we were looking for and more. Tight Lines, BM

Exactly.

You might have trouble with a 45" shaft on that boat if the wind kicks up.... usually those shorter shafts are for bass boats which are much lower to the water than deep V hulls.. that is why the guy got rid of it in the first place. You also bought an regular I-pilot motor, not an I-pilot link. So its just a GPS motor and does not have the capability to hook up to a fish finder. You would have to upgrade the head unit if you wanted that. If you do that, then you'll have to buy a Humminbird fish finder that is compatible for Link... check below. https://minnkota.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/support/compatibility/link As for batteries... if you have confined space 2 100ah mini lithium trolling motor batteries might be a good option. There are some budget brands who make them which get decent reviews right now. Getting into higher tech electronic outfits for your boat is not a cheap endeavor. Its a "do it right the first time and try and make it last as long as possible" type of thing. Good luck BM

Looking to do some upgrading so selling my HDS 7 Gen 2 Touch. Works great just switching over most electronics to Garmin Comes with the following: Sun cover Power Cable 2D 83/200 transducer 6' Lowrance Network cable 6' NMEA2000 cable Minn Kota trolling motor US2 adapter $600 Will ship anywhere in Ontario for $20 PM me for details

Most here know the market. Toys have been inflated for 4 years now and really if anything, prices are down this year. You're also looking for a boat at the worst time of the year so everything is top dollar. 5K for that old worn out boat 4.5 hours away isn't worth it so a good pass imo. There will be deals on places like kijiji and marketplace.... but you better be refreshing a few times hourly because they're gone almost immediately. Happy hunting

I had my auto tilt and trim fail on an 08 ETEC 75...... I could have bought another motor for the price they wanted for a new one. Luckily found a salvage but still very expensive. I wouldn't buy an Evinrude or Johnson now that they are out of the game. As for that boat.... keep looking unless you're getting a screaming deal. It's seen some things. Like the trailer though.

There is a reason you're seeing 70lb Powerdrives for sale online and not Terrova's.

Some nice fish there. Cheers. BM

80lb Terrova and be done with it. I assume being a bow rider its a glass boat to the extra power will be nice. You can buy a single 24V Lithium battery but most applications you'll need 2 12V batteries in series. New there is only a $350 difference between a 55 and 80. If you're making the investment, always go bigger if you can.

Interesting stuff KAR. Now these are Lithium-Ion which are a bit different than LIFeP04 batteries but seem to still have a BMS inside them. Looks like the starting battery I would need for 800 CCA would be just over $600CDN (which is a bit steep for a starting battery) but only weighs 5lbs which is pretty neat. Hopefully the price comes down as more of these type of batteries come to the market. Deep cycles have a lot of different applications where not many people care about the weight of the starting battery in their car, truck or RV.

Hey Arki, ACR's work great with Lead acid or AGM starting and house battery set up. I currently have one for sale now though lol. According to the smart shunt it would take about 30 hours of straight use with my 3 fish finders (at full brightness), the livewell, and the radio at half volume to kill the 100ah house battery. Low temp charging cut off will save your battery (below 0 degree's). For me if I was on a trip and we were flirting around 0 / -1 I just wouldn't charge them since mine does not have the cut off. Also when the temp sensor gets back to above freezing the BMS will let the battery start charging again. Right now there isn't really a work around from the "type" of battery perspective. If I were a tournament guy and this was a concern that might cost me money.... maybe a space heater or insulated compartments... but from what I gather even the pro's say these batteries can last days on a single charge. The self heating batteries would be more for off grid or RV applications to keep the battery warm when it gets down below -20. This still won't help with the cold charging issue. BM

Its also funny because all the brands LIFeP04 battery cells and materials used to make them are coming from China..... all of them. Then they are put together where ever after that with BMS's and sensors... but the "cheap Chinese" battery argument doesn't really fly right now.

I did forget to mention the warranty might be a reason why the extra $$$$... although the 11 year is more like 6 according to the fine print and their customer service seems to not get very good reviews as of recent. Still a good battery though.

Well I made the jump into LiFEP04 batteries after smothering myself with information. I think I have a learned a few things I can pass along to the average fisherman who is in the market for new batteries for their trolling motor or house battery setup. First off - Yes I know Dakota Lithium seem to be the standard in fishing... there is also Battleborn, Relion, and Millertech which are all high end batteries all over $1000 CDN. I would assume there is a reason these batteries are 3X the price of some reputable budget brands, but for me those aren't really options. Probably has something to do with cell grade (which is a whole other can of worms). There is also middle of the road companies such as Amped, or Ionic who also get great reviews but are in the $6-700 range I narrowed down my list to 3 brands who all get good reviews across several fishing and off-grid forums as well as Youtube which are all approximately in the same price range - $400ish AOLithium Power Queen Li time These brands seem to keep rising to the top of budget category. My first choice was AOlithium with built in Bluetooth connectivity but they are currently sold out and I am impulsive. So I went with the Power Queen 12V 100ah on sale at the time for $319 a piece. Bluetooth connectivity to monitor battery capacity was important for me though as when a Lithium battery dies it dies and not being able to re-deploy an Ulterra trolling motor is an issue. So I bought a device made by a company called Victron call a smart shunt. The devices monitors your battery system and its health. Whether its 12, 24, or 36 volts. You have all sort of historical data such as number of cycles, average charging amperage, average ah draw, etc. Not necessary in all scenrio's but more info the better imo. Another option the Power Queen batteries do not have but others do (Li Time Trolling motor edition) is low temp charging cut off. These batteries do not like being charged when its below 0C and it can ruin the battery. So if your boat is outside all fishing season, this is something to consider. LiFEP04 batteries are more like mini computers then a conventional battery. Inside they have a BMS (Battery management system) which is essentially a brain that will protect the battery from over charging, over current, shorting (no more welding wrenches), high temp, and low temp by shutting the battery off if it senses any of these issues. So with that in mind... they can also be a bit more finicky than a standard Lead Acid or AGM battery. They also make 24 and 36 volt single batteries instead of wiring multiple batteries in series. Lots of pro's and con's there to read about. My setup is a 24 volt system for the Ulterra and then a house battery for all of the electronics. I decided to go with 2 100ah group size 31 in series for the trolling motor and then a mini 100ah house battery as I have a compartment size constraint. My 4th battery will stay a standard AGM starting battery for the motor. They do make LifeP04 starting batteries but they are expensive and there are not many companies that make them at this time. Out - 2 group size 31 Nautilus XD AGM's - 103ah - 71lbs each 1 Group size 24 Nautilus XD AGM - 79ah - 60lbs In - 2 group size 31 LiFEP04's - 100ah - 25lbs each 1 Group size 24(ish) LiFEP04 - 100ah - 19lbs Current price to purchase - AGM batteries - $1701 plus tax LiFEP04 - $1157 plus tax My AGM's lasted 8 years and still have life left so I was able to sell them. I have no complaints about those batteries... made heavy duty.... but that is a 133lb weight savings, 15ah gain, and over $500 cost savings. Will they Power Queens last 8 years? Jury is out on that as there are no long term reviews on these types of batteries. They claim they will, but we will see. Lastly are chargers - Multi bank chargers with the a Lithium setting work great. I opted to go with a 24 volt onboard charger as cell balancing may be better across both batteries when in series. Again this is something I will monitor. Below are a couple of pictures.. wiring will be cleaned up a bit but wanted to make sure everything is in working order. Trolling motor setup with charger and smart shunt House battery compartment Smart Shunt app main page Hope this helps Cheers BM

I have stayed at Wajashk several times over the last 20 years.... great spot on the French.

What a beautiful last couple of days West of Ottawa. Really gets the soft water and boat tinkering juices flowing!

Pretty crazy stuff. Side imaging is still very useful as a tool and provides a lot that Livescope can't. Having the historical data with side scan where you can drop waypoints around structure is useful... and then you can scope the crap out of it to find fish. I'm a tech guy so i like all this stuff... but from a cost perspective.... yikes. I went with the original PS-22 Panoptix transducer... 1/3 the price, less power consumption, no black box. Still a huge upgrade from a jigging application perspective... forward vu is obviously lacking in comparison to LS but is still useable. Its really just a gateway setup lol.

Totally agree. I run 4 AGM's (2 31's and 2 24's) on a Lund 1675 Pro Guide lol. 2 trolling motor a house and a starter. That is 340lbs in batteries! I currently have an ACR that charges the starting battery first from the motor's alternator then flips over to the house battery when the starter is topped up. This set up doesn't work with Lithiums so it will stay that was for a bit.

Hey Bill I had read that optimal charging temps for AGM's were over 32F... but i guess there are non optimal charging conditions. With Lithium charging below 32 can damage the cells and ruin the battery, hence why some of them have the cold temp charging shut off if the battery gets to cold. In my garage I won't have that problem. I got 4 seasons out of my AGM's and lots of life left... sold them fairly quickly.

I did a bunch of research into Lithium phosphate's and 2 budget friendly brands kept coming back time after time as a good deal that are built well that are easy to order from Amazon. Li Time - $369 Power Queen - $349 The basic models do not have low temp charging cut offs, but then again your AGM's are not supposed to be charged below 0C either. No bluetooth either. AOL Lithium seems to be also very well made according to several reviews but you need to order from their website. I pulled the trigger on 2 Power Queen 100ah's as my AGM's are just too heavy. cutting the trolling motor battery weight from 140lbs to 50lbs is significant enough to make the switch. My current AGM's are Nautilus AGM extreme XD's group size 31's - $665 each currently at CT. If you have the money and want to go with Dakota, Ionic, or Battleborn that is great as well. But the few battery brands above seem to be a good budget option with a decent reputation thus far. Time will tell. BM