Use a Rowboat or a Canoe for Fishing in an Electric-Motor-Only Lake?

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 09:04:32 -0400, "Rich P"
wrote:

You going to get a boat Harry?


Rich P


Almost bought one earlier this year, but didn't pull the trigger when
the tranny on the truck s**t the bed.


Harry J aka Thundercat
Brooklyn Bill's Tackle Shop Fishing Team
http://www.brooklynbillstackleshop.com
Share the knowledge, compete on execution.

Thanks for all the great information people here have shared with me! I
didn't expect to receive so much relevant and helpful info all in one
message thread. I appreciate the help that people have offered.

o Is this realistic to use a trolling motor to push a
rowboat for a distance of 1 mile back and fro?

Sure, it can do it. I run a 20' bass boat miles and miles
on the electric int he course of a day. Then I am running
a 36Volt off three batteries in series. My 24 Volt motors
running off two in series work ok too.

... Its not too much, but if you go with a small cheap
motor you won't go very fast, and you may find a strong
wind will over come the force of your motor. Go big and
you won't have that problem.

... I am using two group 27 Trojan batteries on that boat.
By the end of an 8 hour tournament its getting a bit weak,
but it does the job.

8 hours of running time on a trolling motor is _much_ more than I
expect to use. Great! This means using a trolling motor on a rowboat is
quite practical for my very moderate use as long as I use a powerful
trolling motor with enough number of batteries. I have a question
though: What does "two group 27 Trojan batteries" mean? How many
batteries are we talking about here? How many in a group?

Well, a canoe moves so easily you won't need as a big
of a trolling motor. Batteries on the other hand are
quite heavy. ... You don't need much anchor to hold a
canoe in place. I used a relatively light mushroom
anchor in mine it works fine in any circumstances I
have tried so far.

Good to know these. This means canoe is also a practical alternative.

DO NOT ANCHOR FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE CANOE.

Thanks for pointing this out. I will keep this in mind.

If your primary motivation fishing go larger. Get a
big wide beam flat bottom john boat with lots of room
to fish. Mount a fishing seat in the front and go with
a bow mount foot controlled trolling motor. I have a
65 lb thrust mounted on a Waco 2050-16 and I can fish
all day with it going almost non stop. I am using two
group 27 Trojan batteries on that boat. By the end of
an 8 hour tournament its getting a bit weak, but it
does the job. Its a very stable boat and I can keep
fishing even when the wakes of passing wake board
boats start to bounce me up and down.

Thanks for your suggestion. Based on your suggestion and other
suggestions in this thread, I have a feeling that using a rowboat is a
better choice for fishing. The benefits of using a rowboat a
1. As suggested by many people, a row boat can hold more stuff.
2. Moreover, it is a stable fishing platform. It is a big plus.
3. I can mount a gas engine on it and use it near coastal area.
4. I can permanently mount most of the devices on a rowboat.
On the other hand, a canoe will be mounted on the top of
my car, and I will not be able to permanently mount any
of the device on the canoe.

The downside is that I will not be able to use a rowboat in a river. I
expect to do some boating in a river. But I will only do this once a
year at the most. I likely will rent a canoe instead of using my own
canoe. Therefore, not able to use it in a river is not really a concern
to me.

Jay Chan

... I had a 15'long by 42"wide jon boat the 40lb thrust
minkota hand operated trolling motor moved me the boat
and my fishing partner along with all our gear. ...
all this stuff including us and we trolled, ran the
lights, fish finder and spot light for never less than
5 hours and had power to spare. ...

This sounds very encouraging. This means using a trolling motor on a
rowboat is a practical choice for an electric-only lake.

I probably will get a semi-V boat instead of a jon boat. The reason is
that I also intend to use it in protected coastal area (of course with
a gas engine).

Thanks.

Jay Chan

Just for your info, here in NJ you have to register any
boat that has power other than man power. Even an 8 foot
canoe, if under electric power, needs to be registered.
Any boat under 12' and man powered can go unregistered.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that.

Jay Chan

Thundercat wrote:
On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 09:04:32 -0400, "Rich P"
wrote:


You going to get a boat Harry?


Rich P



Almost bought one earlier this year, but didn't pull the trigger when
the tranny on the truck s**t the bed.
Shouldn't you learn how to swim before getting a boat?

pat

wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks for all the great information people here have shared with me! I
didn't expect to receive so much relevant and helpful info all in one
message thread. I appreciate the help that people have offered.


Yer welcome

o Is this realistic to use a trolling motor to push a
rowboat for a distance of 1 mile back and fro?

Sure, it can do it. I run a 20' bass boat miles and miles
on the electric int he course of a day. Then I am running
a 36Volt off three batteries in series. My 24 Volt motors
running off two in series work ok too.

... Its not too much, but if you go with a small cheap
motor you won't go very fast, and you may find a strong
wind will over come the force of your motor. Go big and
you won't have that problem.

... I am using two group 27 Trojan batteries on that boat.
By the end of an 8 hour tournament its getting a bit weak,
but it does the job.

8 hours of running time on a trolling motor is _much_ more than I
expect to use. Great! This means using a trolling motor on a rowboat is
quite practical for my very moderate use as long as I use a powerful
trolling motor with enough number of batteries. I have a question
though: What does "two group 27 Trojan batteries" mean? How many
batteries are we talking about here? How many in a group?

Two as in the number of batteries in series necessary to supply 24 volts to
my 24 volt trolling motor. Group 27 is the size. Group 31 would be larger.
Group 24 would smaller.

Well, a canoe moves so easily you won't need as a big
of a trolling motor. Batteries on the other hand are
quite heavy. ... You don't need much anchor to hold a
canoe in place. I used a relatively light mushroom
anchor in mine it works fine in any circumstances I
have tried so far.

Good to know these. This means canoe is also a practical alternative.


It is somewhat practical, but a wide jon boat is much nicer to fish out of
due to increased stability.

DO NOT ANCHOR FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE CANOE.

Thanks for pointing this out. I will keep this in mind.

If your primary motivation fishing go larger. Get a
big wide beam flat bottom john boat with lots of room
to fish. Mount a fishing seat in the front and go with
a bow mount foot controlled trolling motor. I have a
65 lb thrust mounted on a Waco 2050-16 and I can fish
all day with it going almost non stop. I am using two
group 27 Trojan batteries on that boat. By the end of
an 8 hour tournament its getting a bit weak, but it
does the job. Its a very stable boat and I can keep
fishing even when the wakes of passing wake board
boats start to bounce me up and down.

Thanks for your suggestion. Based on your suggestion and other
suggestions in this thread, I have a feeling that using a rowboat is a
better choice for fishing. The benefits of using a rowboat a
1. As suggested by many people, a row boat can hold more stuff.
2. Moreover, it is a stable fishing platform. It is a big plus.
3. I can mount a gas engine on it and use it near coastal area.
4. I can permanently mount most of the devices on a rowboat.
On the other hand, a canoe will be mounted on the top of
my car, and I will not be able to permanently mount any
of the device on the canoe.

The downside is that I will not be able to use a rowboat in a river. I
expect to do some boating in a river.

Depends on the river. I run a 20' bass boat on the river here. I see no
reason a row boat couldn't be used on a river along with an appropriate
outboard. Now if you are talking lots of long shallow areas with lots of
rocks to dodge around a canoe would be better and a rubber boat might be
better yet.

But I will only do this once a
year at the most. I likely will rent a canoe instead of using my own
canoe. Therefore, not able to use it in a river is not really a concern
to me.

Knowing what you plan to do and the conditions you plan to do it in is
always best when making watercraft choices. As you can tell no boat is
suitable for all applications.


--
Bob La Londe

Win a Tackle Pack
Jig Fishing - Tips and Techniques Contest
Courtesy of Siebler Custom Baits
http://www.YumaBassMan.com

wrote in message
oups.com...
... I had a 15'long by 42"wide jon boat the 40lb thrust
minkota hand operated trolling motor moved me the boat
and my fishing partner along with all our gear. ...
all this stuff including us and we trolled, ran the
lights, fish finder and spot light for never less than
5 hours and had power to spare. ...

This sounds very encouraging. This means using a trolling motor on a
rowboat is a practical choice for an electric-only lake.

I probably will get a semi-V boat instead of a jon boat. The reason is
that I also intend to use it in protected coastal area (of course with
a gas engine).

Thanks.

Jay Chan



Semi V or V-front is a good choice.


--
Bob La Londe

Win a Tackle Pack
Jig Fishing - Tips and Techniques Contest
Courtesy of Siebler Custom Baits
http://www.YumaBassMan.com

... I have a question though: What does "two
group 27 Trojan batteries" mean? How many batteries
are we talking about here? How many in a group?

Two as in the number of batteries in series necessary to supply 24 volts to
my 24 volt trolling motor. Group 27 is the size. Group 31 would be larger.
Group 24 would smaller.

This means you have 4 batteries, and two in each group. This sounds
like more batteries than I have expected. May be I can make do with a
12-volt motor with 2 batteries (of course with a small rowboat, not a
20-ft boat).

Thanks for the info.

Depends on the river. I run a 20' bass boat on the river here. I see no
reason a row boat couldn't be used on a river along with an appropriate
outboard. Now if you are talking lots of long shallow areas with lots of
rocks to dodge around a canoe would be better and a rubber boat might be
better yet.

No, I am not likely to use a rowboat in the section of river that I
have in mind. That section of river is primarily for canoes. No
problem. I just have to rent one.

Jay Chan

Semi V or V-front is a good choice.

Yes, this is what I have in mind. Thanks.

Jay Chan

wrote in message
oups.com...
... I have a question though: What does "two
group 27 Trojan batteries" mean? How many batteries
are we talking about here? How many in a group?

Two as in the number of batteries in series necessary to supply 24 volts
to
my 24 volt trolling motor. Group 27 is the size. Group 31 would be
larger.
Group 24 would smaller.

This means you have 4 batteries, and two in each group. This sounds
like more batteries than I have expected. May be I can make do with a
12-volt motor with 2 batteries (of course with a small rowboat, not a
20-ft boat).


I have no clue how you got that.


Two as in the number of batteries.

In series. That means conencted end to end.

Group 27 is the size. Has nothing to do with a group or number of
batteries.

Two 12 volt (group/size 27) batteries connected in series provides 24 volts
adequate for using the 65 Lb thrust trolling motor on my 16 foot boat all
day.

On my 20 boat I have three batteries connected in series to provide 36 volts
to my 109 lb trolling motor.

(See the pattern here?)

In your case if you found that a single battery was in adequate to power
your 12 volt trolling motor as long as you need you could add a second
identical battery in parrellel.

Two 12 volt batteries in parrallel will still give you 12 volts, but you
will have increased capacity.


--
Bob La Londe

Win a Tackle Pack
Jig Fishing - Tips and Techniques Contest
Courtesy of Siebler Custom Baits
http://www.YumaBassMan.com