Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 1:48 PM
Subject: Fishing report for Jacksonville, Amelia Island and Ponte Vedra Florida for 02/10/03
Batteries, Trolling Motors and Chargers
This is a subject that one can talk about for days and with the battery technology changing every year, you have to put forth a lot of research to find the best that is out there.
Here is what I have done to ensure that I have the best of all when it comes to Batteries, Trolling Motors and Chargers.
I have read all that I could possibly find on batteries, written to battery companies with specific questions or concerns and tested several types of batteries. But most of all, no matter what they all say, the best way to find out what does work and what does not work, is to try it out for yourself. This is what I have done over the past ten years and with a lot of trial and error, laying on my head to remove the batteries or chargers that were supposed to perform better than the actually did, I have come up with a combination that I would say is BULLET PROOF.
I started with an inexpensive battery charger and conventional lead acid batteries. The first battery charger quit working about three weeks after I installed it. This was great, it was a charger that you mounted under a hatch cover or front deck and it was supposed to keep your batteries charged as long as it was plugged in. The system would have been fantastic, except for one little problem. The charger quit working and when it did it shorted out both of my batteries. Boy was I surprised when I picked up my charter, ran to the first spot, dropped the trolling motor in the water and "NO POWER". I scrambled for about ten minutes to figure out the problem but after I tested the batteries and found them dead, I was not happy. I went from spot to spot that day with the gas motor and when I wanted to fish an area, I put the anchor down and then pulled it then put it down then pulled it up and on and on. By the end of the day I was wishing that I had never seen that battery charger. I tried to be cheap and bought one that cost $99.
When I got back home, I removed the charger from the boat and back to the boating store to get another one. The sales guy at the store wanted to give me another charger instead of refunding my money. Normally I would not have let this slide but they assured me that the bad one was just a fluke and I would not have any more problems. I took the new one, went home and installed it with the new batteries that I had to buy because the two that were hooked up to the charger were now shorted out.
All was great for about two weeks, the charger worked as it was supposed to. Then came another day like the one with dead batteries. After I had determined that the charger was again the culprit and once again I had two dead as a door nail batteries, I was fit to be tied. This time when I went back to the boating store they could see the veins sticking out of my neck and new that the best thing for them was to refund my money for both the faulty charger and dead batteries.
I now was in a dilemma, what to do about an on board charger. I had remembered seeing one that was demonstrated submerged in an aquarium full of water. This had to be the one for me, a charger that the manufacturer was so confident in that they showed it working under water.
I purchased this charger and off I went, new charger and two new batteries in hand. Six months later the charger is still working just as it was advertised. After each trip, I would plug in my extension cord to the charger and each morning I would leave with fully charged batteries. Life was good. A couple of months later, I had noticed that my batteries were not lasting as long as when they were new. It seemed that I was only getting about 70% of the life out of them that I use to get. I tested them with a meter, tested the fluid, called some battery people and when I was about ready to give up and purchase two new batteries, I found someone that was a battery guru. He told me that a conventional lead acid battery that was used in a trolling motor application would over a period of time start to loose it ability to charge back up to 100%. He explained that the design of a conventional lead acid battery, even the ones marked DEEP CYCLE TROLLING MOTOR BATTERY would do the same. Being the hard head that I am, I wondered why a battery company would mark the battery deep cycle trolling motor battery of it only lasted me about 6 to 8 months. After two more sets of different brands of battery, I was convinced that he knew what he was talking about. See, I use my boat a good deal more than the recreational fisherperson and I use my trolling motor a bunch. Here is what was happening. I would fish all day using the trolling motor. In doing this I would drain my batteries down very low. After the day was done, I would plug the battery charger in and it would charge the batteries overnight. What happens to conventional lead acid batteries after they have been drained down a few times is they do not want to charge back to 100%, so after several times of draining the batteries down, they only come back to, lets say, 96%. Then a few more times and they only come back to 92% and so on. Pretty soon , your batteries are only able to be charged back to 70% or even less.
It has now taken me a two years to find out that conventional lead acid batteries and me, don't get along in a trolling motor application. My new Dual Pro charger was working just as the Charging Systems International people said it would but now I needed to find a battery that would last more than 8 months in a trolling motor application. Back to the reading room, I went. I called battery manufacturers, other guides and anyone else that said they knew about batteries. A few months later, I found the battery guru. This person knew more about batteries than all of the 50 plus people that I had already conversed with and he knew about all of the new battery technology that was just coming out. We must have talked for hours about batteries and charging systems. I told him of my woes and told me that I was not the only one out there that was having the same problems with batteries. He did tell me something that made me feel great. I told him that I had a Charging Systems International Dual Pro charger and he said that this is by far the best one made and all of the professional bass fisherman that depend on their batteries to be fully charged, depend on Dual Pro Chargers. These guys do the same that I do, use the trolling motor day after day and HAVE TO have charged batteries when the trolling motor hits the water.
The battery guru told me a lot about batteries. He told me about lead acid (conventional batteries), Gel Cell batteries and a new technology called Glass Mat batteries. These new batteries did not leak, could be mounted on their sides, did not come apart from pounding them in rough seas, would charge back up at 100% after being completely dead over 400 times, ( if you drain a conventional battery down to nothing, even one time, good luck in ever getting it to take a charge), lasted 6 to 8 times longer than conventional batteries, were 25 to 30 percent lighter than conventional batteries, came back to a full charge in less than 1/2 of the time as a conventional battery and held a full charge all day. What was I doing with conventional batteries?
Now that I am a semi battery and battery charger guru I was in like flint. I knew that the Dual Pro battery charger was the only one for me and just so happens, Dual Pro makes glass mat batteries so where is the problem. There is no problem any more. I have been using Dual Pro battery chargers for 9 years and still have the original charger that has been taken from five boats and is currently being used in my shop to keep my tractor and small batteries charged. These chargers are in my opinion the only ones to purchase (they are bullet proof). You can get these chargers in single, dual or triple battery chargers. They make chargers from 5 to 15 amp, freshwater or saltwater models. Best of all, they work and keep on working. Their website is www.dualpro.com.
I now also have several of their new Lightning Series batteries and to date they are performing just as the battery guru said they would, flawlessly. These batteries come in three different sizes and should last you many years. Check them out at www.dualpro.com.
Over the past 10 years, I have found that there is only one bullet proof trolling motor, a MotorGuide.
You often hear me talking about the products that I use and to date I have not endorsed any product that did not work for me. I am on the water much more than any recreational angler and if my stuff is not bullet proof, then it will surely break under the hard demands of a charter guide.
Now for a little fishing report:
The ocean is still producing big numbers of seabass on most of the close in reefs. Be careful of the sharks that are mixed in with them. They are called dog sharks and have a fin in their second dorsal fin, just like a stingray. When you grab them to get your hook back, they will try to swing their tail around and burry that spine in your flesh.
The Mayport Princess is still reporting big numbers if nice vermilion snappers, amberjacks, and a few snapper.
The jetties is getting fired up for sheepshead. Try a fresh live shrimp or a fiddler, right up near the rocks. Try switching the line on your sheepshead pole to PowerPro. This line is much more sensitive and you should be able to feel the bite much better.
The jetties are also producing a few drum and redfish. Try a fresh clam or blue crab on the bottom.
The creeks are almost trying to act like they hold fish. The reds are still in a holding pattern but another week of warmer weather and we should start to see some fair action in these shallow waters.
The bass are just starting to bed up in Lake George and the crappie are bending a few poles in Crescent and Lake George.
How would you like to go fishing with Capt. Jim?
For charter information please call me at 904 757 7550 or email me at jim@fishingwithjim.com. Don't forget to watch my TV show, every Tuesday at 7pm and Sundays at 8:30am on cable channel 7 in Jacksonville, Clay County and the Beaches and Thursdays at 7:30, Saturdays at 1:30 p.m., Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m pm on channel 22 and 2 in St. Augustine and St. Johns County.
Remember mom and dad, spend some time with your sons and daughters taking them fishing and you will not be looking for them come Friday and Saturday nights, as they will be home in bed waiting to go the next day.
Don't forget to check out my website for other information on fishing this area, the products that I use and charter info at www.fishingwithjim.com/ or www.hammondfishing.com.
Good Fishing
Capt. Jim Hammond
904 757 7550
jim@fishingwithjim.com
http://www.fishingwithjim.com
http://www.hammondfishing.com
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