I am more than happy with the performance of my ipilot 80lb with the conditions today at the edisto 40. There was a stiff 20kt wind and 3+ft white capping waves at a tight frequency. It was way worse than reefcast and NWS said it was going to be yesterday.
The anchor function held solid where I put it. I had to fish off the front to help keep the motor in the water, that’s how bad the waves were.
Later we set up at ■■■■■■■ island and worked a rip with the tide going full bore. It had no problems holding the edge and my friend who never fished salt water before landed a nice bonnethead.
The icing on the cake was idling up big bay creek past all the docks. I put the engine in gear and put the trolling motor down. I used the heading hold function, set it to 5 and sat back. It kept the boat straight ahead, no back and forth with the steering wheel.
I had my doubts at first but I am now a firm believer. It really is a game changer.
Hydra-Sports 22 Bay Sport
225 Rude
14’ Stumpnocker
15 Rude
Good deal, Matt. I’m going to put mine to work at 4ki in the morning. Taking the wife and daughter, so I really hope the seas aren’t bad or i’ll hear hear about it for a long time.
I use two “dual purpose” marine/crank batteries; Duracrafts. They work great for about 6 hours, pretty good for about 2 more. If you aint caught no fish in that time, you need to head on home anyway! What kind of life are you all getting on your batteries?
I ran mine all day yesterday at 4ki and a few other stops and still had 3 out of 4 bars lit up when I tested it. I have run them hard for 3 days without charging. I have 2 group 27’s.
I ran mine all day yesterday at 4ki and a few other stops and still had 3 out of 4 bars lit up when I tested it. I have run them hard for 3 days without charging. I have 2 group 27’s.
'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki
How did you do? The buoy looked a whole lot better for you on Sunday. Did you limit out on endangered black sea bass?
Dilly, I ended up buying 2 new group 31 batteries from Carolina International. They were on sale for 78$ each. 180 min reserve capacity Exide batteries with the international logo on them. I think I am going to try trolling for kings, we will see how long it lasts doing that. During anchor hold it only runs 4 or 5. I will probably need 9 or 10 for trolling speeds.
Hydra-Sports 22 Bay Sport
225 Rude
14’ Stumpnocker
15 Rude
No, we didn’t limit out, but the totals went like this:
6 keeper BSB
2 ringtails, thrown back
100 bluefish
100,000,0000,000 undersized BSB
1 overslot red that ate a BSB on the way up on a chicken rig. Was the weirdest thing reeling up a huge redfish and a small BSB at the same time.