Gotcha and I arranged to fish this afternoon on the Wando, but a boat issue changed our plans. No problem, Gotcha and I met at his super secret honey hole dock on the Stono River.
We threw frozen chunks of mullet. We threw electric chickens with red headed jigheads. We threw rootbeer, varied our casts, jumped up and down and shouted a lot, but we…yes we, for the first time in a long time, got skunked!
Oh well. It was still a beautiful trip.
Ummm. Did I say skunked? Not quite. Gotcha caught this huge pinefish and got it all the way to the dock before he broke off.
My dock has great shrimp,crabs and fish.U get on my dock by invitation only.Or wear a Bikini or in some cases Spandex.:)Heading out at 9 to Edisto.Will report later in the day.
I think your skunk swam up the Cooper. I had my first skunk at Bushy since we started fishing there two months ago.
Water salinity, according to my hydrometer, was around 1.008, which is really low. I took some water home in a bucket along with a few juvenile sea robins I caught in my cast net that I’ll put in my aquarium. I was really surprised to see the salinity that low. Even at Bushy, where it’s brackish, I expected a good bit higher.
They say that skunk is actually pretty good if you soak it in beer, but I don’t drink, so I just enjoyed the weather. Hey, at least we only used up a couple of hours of daylight, had no gnats, and didn’t have to clean a boat afterward. Seriously, though, I’m going to have to get someone out there to fix that dock. It used to produce fish. Definitely broken.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance Agency, Inc. https://stricklandmarine.net
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
I did a load test on the battery today, and it’s a gonner. (That’s why we couldn’t put the boat in Friday.)
All that hype over Odyssey batteries, and it only lasted all of 1.5 years. Oh, well, I went out and bought a $50 regular-joe battery to replace it today so I can get back on the water. I’ll hit Odyssey up for their warranty later. In the battery’s defense (sort of), it did sit for months without being used, but I’m not sure that excuses its premature failure because my wet-cell TM batteries sat the same time unused and not connected to a charger, and when I hooked them up to the charger last week, they were fully charged–hadn’t lost anything over the long sit, and the auto-charger didn’t even engage when I hooked it up (which surprised me, actually). The Odyssey, which has a perko off swith to all circuits, is toast, though. No offense to the Odyssey fans, but that’ll be my last high-gloss battery.
Anyway, I should have the juice back in the boat by tomorrow so we can go hunt some fishes this week.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance Agency, Inc. https://stricklandmarine.net
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
Hmmm, my Sears Platinum batteries (sample size of two) have been perfect, holding charge while sitting for months at times. I like that they can be mounted in any position except inverted and never need water. Enersys makes both Odyssey and Sears Platinum, but the design is possibly different (Sears designs their batteries, even though they outsource manufacturing). I have read these were essentially the same battery, but that was four years ago. They may have changed that over time.
How many Odyssey batteries have failed early on you?
I hate to say it but, I have 2 Wally World batteries 5+ years old. One still going strong, the other one is dying slowly. I believe Johnson Control makes their batteries.
JimIslander, I’ve only owned this one Odyssey, so I’m not saying they’re all junk or trying to deter YOU from buying one. I’m just saying that I won’t gamble another $250 on another one myself because that battery is promoted as being worth it’s premium price by way of lasting longer and being more durable than the regular wet cells, and my first one didn’t live up to that selling point or the price, failing me after a year and a half. I’ve had more than 20 boats in my life, have two now, and most of them have had at least two batteries each, and often three or four. Both of my current boats have three batteries each. Let’s just say this ain’t my first rodeo, and I’m not used to having batteries go defunct this early. This Odyssey came with the boat. Otherwise, it would have been a wet cell because I generally buy based on specs (CCA, AH, RM) alone, and wet cells usually have the leg up on AH per weight, so I usually buy the wet-cell batteries anyway.
Anyway, I was just a bit disappointed that the premium-priced supposed super battery failed me in a year and a half, so I’m going back to the regular, old stuff that has worked well for me in the past. I might not be as disappointed if it had been a cheap one. It just seems like every time I buy something that’s a lot more expensive, betting that I’ll “get what I paid for”, I get disappointed.
With that said, if you (or others) like your Odysseys, that’s great. Enjoy them. I’m not trying to talk you or anyone into not liking AGM’s or Odysseys. Buy what makes you happy. I’m sure plenty of people have great success stories about the same battery. Mine was a dud, so I’m going back to the plain, old batteries that served me fine for decades.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance Agency, Inc. https://stricklandmarine.net
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
Why is the salinity so low…? I would say this has been a normal rain year. Of course I live up in Charlotte now. Has there been a bunch of rain there that we have not had here n the last 3/4 weeks…?
Redfish Matt took that reading in the Cooper River. The power company dumps freshwater into the Cooper from Lake Moultrie daily at variable rates based on power demand, so depending on how much or little water they are pulling at a given time, and how far up the river he is, the salinity can swing. Rainfall has actually been low in Charleston for this month’s annual average.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance Agency, Inc. https://stricklandmarine.net
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
With that said, if you (or others) like your Odysseys, that’s great. Enjoy them. I’m not trying to talk you or anyone into not liking AGM’s or Odysseys. Buy what makes you happy. I’m sure plenty of people have great success stories about the same battery. Mine was a dud, so I’m going back to the plain, old batteries that served me fine for decades.
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AND, if you do buy one of these, buy from Sears. Although originally rebadged Odysseys, the current versions were designed by Sears. And they cost less an Odyssey. Things I like about this battery for casual marine use:
Can sit for long periods without significant discharge (significant if you boat infrequently)
Can discharge deeper and more cycles without damage
Can mount in any position but inverted and don’t need a vented mounting area
Can recharge 4-5 times faster than a comparable deep cycle wet cell
One thing to remember is not to simultaneously charge wet cell and AGM batteries at the same time, due to their different charge rates.
The main reason I used these batteries is the low self-discharge rate.
Sears does make good batteries. The set on the TM on the same boat are Sears deep-cycle batteries, and they are 100%. Unfortunately, the reasons you like the AGM’s didn’t hold up for me. The opposite did. That’s my disappointment. My wet-cell batteries lasted longer while the AGM discharged and failed with no apparent load. Maybe it was just a bad battery that slipped through the QA, but that’s partly my point. If I’m going to get bad batteries, I can do it for less.
Roger that on the charge rates. I always put individual batteries on independent banks, with dissimilar batteries on independent monitoring circuits, and I have a completely separate charger for this cranking battery.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance Agency, Inc. https://stricklandmarine.net
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
I’ve had great luck with Walmart marine batteries. I’ve got a pair now that are 5 years old and still perfect.
Edit: to stay on topic:smiley: I’ve been fishing around here for almost 60 years, and I still get skunked sometimes. Some days you catch 200, some days nothing. It keeps us humble
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Marine Surveying & Repair
Seriously, though, I’m going to have to get someone out there to fix that dock. It used to produce fish. Definitely broken.