Got Downriggers...Figured Out The Battery Problem I Was Having
California Fishing
Sep 3, 2023 12:52:10 #
woodguru
Loc: El Dorado Ca
The last few months I've been plagued by a trolling motor/battery problem, keep in mind these are fancy group 31 Lithiums with "smart" battery technology. A few months back I went to put the charger to the batteries, and it gave me a full reading, I'm figuring okay, I only used it for an hour or so last time out, and they are good for a solid day of all day use.
My wife and I trolled for about an hour and the thing shut off, the breaker was tripped. Nothing was hot, I reset the breaker and it worked for about ten minutes.
Without the trolling motor to use spot lock for jigging, the notion of jigging for Kokanee was a dead issue. Everybody at Pardee has been doing really well on both nice Trout and Kokanee at around 40 to 60 feet, I said screw it and ordered a pair of Scotty 1106 downriggers and the versa trac mounts that work on the Lowe boats.
Back to the trolling batteries. I disconnected the 24v connections and charged them each separately, that went like it should when charging as a connected pair in 24v mode showed they were full. I finally read an article that explained what was going on with them. As a pair, the charger reads the fullest battery, meaning that the charger quits when the fullest battery is topped off, leaving the drained one drained. Then as you are using them under loads, the lowest battery runs the show and shuts things down to protect from over discharging...which is exactly what was happening.
So now it's fresh start with fully charged batteries that should perform like they used to, I'm going to put a disconnect switch between batteries and charge them separately. It is recommended that you charge separately every year or so to match the batteries up, but I'm just going to keep them matched.
My wife and I trolled for about an hour and the thing shut off, the breaker was tripped. Nothing was hot, I reset the breaker and it worked for about ten minutes.
Without the trolling motor to use spot lock for jigging, the notion of jigging for Kokanee was a dead issue. Everybody at Pardee has been doing really well on both nice Trout and Kokanee at around 40 to 60 feet, I said screw it and ordered a pair of Scotty 1106 downriggers and the versa trac mounts that work on the Lowe boats.
Back to the trolling batteries. I disconnected the 24v connections and charged them each separately, that went like it should when charging as a connected pair in 24v mode showed they were full. I finally read an article that explained what was going on with them. As a pair, the charger reads the fullest battery, meaning that the charger quits when the fullest battery is topped off, leaving the drained one drained. Then as you are using them under loads, the lowest battery runs the show and shuts things down to protect from over discharging...which is exactly what was happening.
So now it's fresh start with fully charged batteries that should perform like they used to, I'm going to put a disconnect switch between batteries and charge them separately. It is recommended that you charge separately every year or so to match the batteries up, but I'm just going to keep them matched.
Sep 3, 2023 12:55:36 #
woodguru
Loc: El Dorado Ca
So Pardee closes for the season this weekend, I'll switch gears to higher Sierra lakes such as Lower Bear Reservoir, Silver, Caples. I had a guy taking out some wood this weekend that fishes all of them, he's been hammering some of the biggest Kokanee I've seen in New Melones...I'll try to get to Berryessa as well.
Sep 3, 2023 14:02:05 #
Glad to hear that you were able to get to the bottom of your battery issue! You had some vexing symptoms there, before you figured it out!
Sep 3, 2023 14:53:13 #
I've told people that before myself and with your starting batteries if you have a switch on them don't ever put it on both it'll only charge one the same as what you're getting with your other batteries that was from Jeff from upstate New York Small Engine marine mechanic 50 years
Sep 3, 2023 15:08:54 #
woodguru
Loc: El Dorado Ca
Barnacles wrote:
Glad to hear that you were able to get to the bottom of your battery issue! You had some vexing symptoms there, before you figured it out!
Vexing would be a mild way to put it, I got out about four or five times in a few month period and fishing can be pretty screwed up without a trolling motor. I'm going to put a smaller pitch prop on the main motor so that I have a slower trolling speed for the faster trout trolling as a backup...it does about a 3.1mph troll with a 19p 4 blade, I should get down around 2.6 or so with a 17p 3 blade
Sep 3, 2023 15:43:30 #
woodguru wrote:
Vexing would be a mild way to put it, I got out about four or five times in a few month period and fishing can be pretty screwed up without a trolling motor. I'm going to put a smaller pitch prop on the main motor so that I have a slower trolling speed for the faster trout trolling as a backup...it does about a 3.1mph troll with a 19p 4 blade, I should get down around 2.6 or so with a 17p 3 blade
Have u considered installing a trolling shield on your main motor. I’m sure u have a larger hp motor than my 70hp, but with the trolling shield deployed I can troll down to 1.6 mph.easily. Plus when raised it really helps getting on plane a lot quicker. Just my opinion. P.S we are heading to Berryessa the first week of October. Will be camping at Marky Cove for a week. Gonna concentrate on the trout/salmon trolling and jigging, along with some bass fishing. Should be good, I hope. Had some great days there in October. If you can make it, PM.me. Fishing with some great fellow stagers! Wife’s welcome! A limit of salmon last October!
Sep 3, 2023 17:45:20 #
woodguru
Loc: El Dorado Ca
Still above water wrote:
Have u considered installing a trolling shield on ... (show quote)
Nice fish, I will figure on making it over there for at least a day
Sep 3, 2023 18:18:05 #
woodguru wrote:
Nice fish, I will figure on making it over there for at least a day
You’re more then welcome to camp with us, or just meet up for a day!
Sep 3, 2023 18:22:47 #
woodguru wrote:
Nice fish, I will figure on making it over there for at least a day
Love to talk with you about your new Lowe . I’m in the market for a new boat and Lowe is high on my list!
Sep 3, 2023 20:10:30 #
woodguru
Loc: El Dorado Ca
Still above water wrote:
Love to talk with you about your new Lowe . I’m in the market for a new boat and Lowe is high on my list!
Heck, you can do better than that and check it out first hand
Sep 4, 2023 11:20:43 #
woodguru wrote:
Heck, you can do better than that and check it out first hand
My mistake. We will be camping at Putah Creek not Markley cove.
Sep 4, 2023 12:38:01 #
woodguru
Loc: El Dorado Ca
Still above water wrote:
My mistake. We will be camping at Putah Creek not Markley cove.
Is anyone you know doing any days before then? My wife and I are talking about booking the Thanksgiving holiday again, probably like Wednesday to Sunday. I'm thinking of going one day this week or next as well.
The trolling battery issues really had me shut down the last few months, I was glad to find I had been outsmarted by smart batteries.
I put a new fishfinder on the driver's side that has the full lake mapping, what a game changer it is to see the depths on the whole lake rather than find shallow spots the hard way
Sep 4, 2023 14:14:11 #
woodguru wrote:
Is anyone you know doing any days before then? My ... (show quote)
Glad u figured out the battery issue. As far fishing Berryessa prior to our trip in October , no I’m not aware of any of my buddies heading up there. But don’t let that discourage you from making a trip up there. Weather is starting to cool a bit which might help, but I’m sure with your new downriggers and great electronics u should be able to find them. One buddy is at lake Almanor right now chasing the smallmouth and my other buddies and I have been concentrating on the the Napa and Petaluma rivers for the stripers. Heading to the Napa tomorrow!
Sep 4, 2023 14:44:53 #
If u plan on heading up there next week and u haven’t changed out your prop on your main motor I would suggest that u troll with the downriggers using SpeedyShinner lures. 3.1 mph is within their recommended trolling speed for optimum lure action. I prefer 2.6 to 2.8 with a 60 ft setback, but 3.1 should work. U can also use the old standby. Dragging a five gallon bucket or a sea anchor!😂😂
Sep 4, 2023 15:25:48 #
On another note my friend. Have u thought about changing out the stainless cables on your new downriggers to 120 pound braided downrigger line. It greatly eliminates the electrical current emitted by the stainless cable and eliminates the annoying noise on the boat. Read great things about the change especially on electric downriggers. Haven’t done it yet on my manual Cannon downriggers but seriously considering it.
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