I think the fish are rebelling at the wood!

[Durdy Daug]

What is a "on board battery charger"? Where do I get 1 and how do they work? I added a third battery already, even though my system is 12 volt, I am always concerned about running out of juice after a long day on the trolling motor. I have soooooo much to learn about the fish finders that I currently have on board. I have a really bad habit of buying stuff that I never learn how to use. Mostly cause someone recommends it, I charge it on my card then stress out with worrying about paying so must in interest, hate to throw my money away, but at the time I hear about this new thing, I convince myself not only that I need it, but that I need at least 2 or 3 of them!

[Durdy Daug]

I don't know how to check the seals, but I did buy a new prop, and an extra pin. If this trolling motor does go bad, well it least I will have a good excuse to get a 70#thrust 24 volt motor! Got to look at the good that can come from the bad...

[DEVOREFLYER]

Your boat should have come with a one or two bank on board charger. It's a battery charger that you plug into a 110v circuit at home to charge your batteries. Perhaps you are thinking about a charge on the run charger like this one. http://www.jonestrollingmotor.com/chargeontherun.htm

[JAG107]

I started out trolling with those "jet diver" type diving planes that you hook a leader to with the lure. I lost several of them hanging up on rocks in the Sierras. They take a LOT of the fight out of the fish, when you get a 1 lb fish it feels like a 5 lb weight coming up with no head shakes. So I switched to Leadcore. Thats like reeling in a rope when it's a small fish, but it's not such a bummer fight wise if its a good fish. Also I lose 75% of my stripers that way at Silverwood ( I usually troll scrounger flukes), but I land 95% of my bites when it's a downrig bite. Therefore, I only use leadcore as a last resort.
As for the happy troller, I didn't have any qualms about drilling a couple holes in my merc's aluminum lower unit. It's not like it's going to rust. My only real complaint about using that was being slowed down a little TOO much (1.0-1.2MPH). It's really tough to control the boat when it's windy with the plate down. And if you want to go faster than 1.2, but slower than 2.5-3.0, you have to throttle up, which I theorize might put the fish off (trout anyway, if it's quiet and not a lot of lake lice buzzing around, if that's the case it doesn't matter). I don't have any problems catching stripers going 3mph, and when I did try to troll plate-down at 1mph, I'd get nothing. I think they like those lures to be zipping a little more than the trout do.

[Durdy Daug]

Nice, thank you for the information. I'm going to try the concept of using a drift sock directly under the boat, attached to both of the bow cleats. If that doesn't work I will more likely just not troll. I've never been a fan of lake trolling anyhow, for tuna and Wahoo it is another story! I just sometimes get frustrated with the "No bite" days. Gets to me especially after 2 or 3 trips in a row of no action. I really don't mind too much if I don't actually get to land the fish. I just want the adriline rush of the strike and the fight, especially if I get to hear the drag screaming!

Gonna give it a go this Saturday, I see that the wind is supposed to be up, but a day off work is a day to fish, dispute the weather... Well that is until the wind gets to howling at 20+ MPH!

[NFCD I]

I can get my 18' Skeeter with a 100 HP Yamaha down to 2 mph by trimming the motor up. I can troll with my 80# 24V trolling motor, but it starts losing power after a few hours.
As far as the line in your motors, I pull my props after every trip. I also had to replace my seals in the big motor a few years back because of line.

[Durdy Daug]

Thanks for the advise, I will indeed pull the prop after every trip on the water. The main motor prop is a whole mother story. I'm gonna look at the boat and see just how difficult putting the downrigger on it will be. Hoping to get out Saturday...