Spruce Run - Maiden Voyage on New Boat this Friday - Advice Welcome

[Jerseydix]

Maybe try it out in some smaller ponds until you get the real feel of everything. Spruce Run is a pretty unforgiveable lake if something goes wrong. Good luck, and as others said, wear you PFD.

[jimmythegreek]

take the batteries out and have them load tested, batteries plus will test for free. Its either the batteries which is likely, or the motor is going bad from water in it. Walmarts group 29maxx r good batteries and theyre 100 a piece, bring the old batteries for core deposit. Ur boat should have NO water in it, ur plug is leaking of theres a leak elsewhere, test in daytime to see where what.

[Offshoreafflicted]

I always remove the plug from the boat when storing it to let rain water drain from the bilge. I disconnect the batteries and take them in the garage to charge. Just remember to put the plug back in before you launch or it will be a short trip.

Water in your bilge is a concern. Small leaks tend to grow into big leaks. Find it and fix it.

The way I was taught to check for leaks is to fill the bilge with water when it's nice and dry on the trailer. You will see the water leaking out a lot easier than you can see it leaking in.

[Jersey Charlie]

Life jacket is a must. Set of oars and a GPS in case the fog sets in.

[Ken Lyons]

A bilge pump is a poor remedy for a leak. You should not have any water in the boat.
I also respectfully disagree. If you're using deep cycle batteries they should not be load tested. They are not designed for short burst of large current flows. That's for starting batteries. Deep cycles are designed to be drawn down down slowly. You should buy a cheap digital voltmeter and keep track of the voltages. If you let wet cell batteries sit for weeks they will self discharge. A fully charged battery should read at least 12.60 volts. SR is a big lake. You want to be sure you can get back.

[tycomps]

I'm using one of these for my 12v 55lb Minn Kota Endura Max (supposedly more efficient motor) and I push about 400lbs of stuff all day with it. It's a bit pricey being a deep cycle AGM, and heavy, but at 100ah it's a good match for MK's recommendation. I charge it overnight after each trip and the lowest it's been is 40% after a whole day of heavy use (fighting wind). The motor has a 'gas gauge' and so does the (cheap) MK battery box I have it in.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

ps- If you're looking for a smaller place to test the boat and fish Furnace is nearby.

[logs22]

Originally Posted by tycomps

I'm using one of these for my 12v 55lb Minn Kota Endura Max (supposedly more efficient motor) and I push about 400lbs of stuff all day with it. It's a bit pricey being a deep cycle AGM, and heavy, but at 100ah it's a good match for MK's recommendation. I charge it overnight after each trip and the lowest it's been is 40% after a whole day of heavy use (fighting wind). The motor has a 'gas gauge' and so does the (cheap) MK battery box I have it in.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

ps- If you're looking for a smaller place to test the boat and fish Furnace is nearby.

I ended up buying a cheap 30 lb transom clamp-on troller as a back up as well as two new 105 ah batteries. I would be fine with just the 30 lb motor, the 65 lb bow mounted motor is definitely overkill. With it hooked up to the two new batteries the little boat flies! I spent the entire day Sat. On the lake, the weather couldn't have been nicer. After a few hours I found a spot that seemed promising and I was marking tons of fish. I hooked into something fishing a rattle trap deep, probably about 20-25 ft and the fish started ripping drag. I didn't want the line to snap so I took my time getting the fish close to the boat. When I finally got him within 10 yard of boat I went to grab the net. For just a moment while I was grabbing the net I failed to keep tension on the line and the fish spit the hook. I actually never even got the fish to the surface so I have no idea what it was only that it was powerful and heavy. Maybe a hybrid? No more bites for the rest of the day. I stayed out until dark and watched some fireworks from the middle of the lake then headed back to the launch. Seems like I was only one getting out rather than getting in, there was at least five boats waiting to launch at 10 pm. All in all a great day! Very pleased with my investment in a fishing boat!

[Eskimo]

.

Originally Posted by logs22

I spent the entire day Sat. On the lake, the weather couldn't have been nicer.

Did you get caught in the rainstorm that evening? I couldn't believe it. The weather radar showed New Jersey was completely free of storms except for one tiny rain storm moving in from the West. That little storm headed straight for Spruce Run and soaked me. I felt like Charlie Brown with the rain cloud over his head.





.

[logs22]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

.



Did you get caught in the rainstorm that evening? I couldn't believe it. The weather radar showed New Jersey was completely free of storms except for one tiny rain storm moving in from the West. That little storm headed straight for Spruce Run and soaked me. I felt like Charlie Brown with the rain cloud over his head.


[IMG]https://media.tenor.com/images/4f082bfcec42f990dbfeec2074fd2ec9/tenor.gif

.

All I could think of was the movie white squall, that thing came in so fast and then was gone in 20 minutes and sun came out.....and so did the flies! I honestly felt like I was caught in the biblical locust plague, clouds of flies
So thick I had to stumble around with my eyes half closed trying to find where I packed the 99% DDT. That swarm also lasted about 20 minutes then tapered off. It was definitely an interesting day to be on the water:-)