Question for you boat guys/night fishing/lights

[chevyman097 2,579]

I have a boat question for the boat guys here. Even though its a gun board. Oh well, we need something to talk about right!

 

I want to do some night fishing. So im going to have to get lights. Thats the easy part. Im trying to find a good battery thats going to last. What should i be looking for. Im going to do a set up that runs the lights separate from my cranking battery.  I What should i expect to get out of the battery as far as how long it will run some basic running lights and a couple led head lights.  There are so many battery types i dont even know where to start or whats going to give me the longest life out of my fishing trip.

 

Also any suggestions on fish finder that i can set up with detachable base that i can move from the front to the rear of the boat and vice versa.  Ive been eyeing the lowrance brand But cant tell if any of them offer a detachable base/mount.

[Long Shot 1,287]

Deep cycle rv/marine type Batteries,

 

But look at the other way around. LED lights draw less per lumen output. So light selection is as important as the battery if not more so.

 

Why wouldn't you run lights and cranking from the same batt? Charging from the motor charging coil?

 

Eta; what I mean by that question is why not use a hybrid deep cycle/cranking batt?

Edited November 6, 2015 by Long Shot

[David Mark 2,452]

I'll second Long Shot on the Deep Cycle Marine Batteries.

There are several makes. Go for the best you can afford.

 

I had three batteries on my boat. One for the front trolling motor, one for the rear trolling motor and one for the electronics.

My local lakes are electric motor only. I had the rear motor locked straight and would steer with the front foot control motor.

I had a switch up front that I could use to kick the back motor on. Two 55 pound thrust mottos going simultaneously would

Push that little 15 foot boat pretty fast.

 

Also I would strongly recommend an on board charging system. Last thing you want to do after a full day of fishing is have to pull all the batteries out to set them up on chargers.

[chevyman097 2,579]

I already have the trolling motor hooked to the cranking battery and it's what came on the boat. Not a real big battey. It's run dead on me once already just trolling. Thankfully the motor pull starts really easy. I figured a larger battery might be a good idea for extra accessories.

[David Mark 2,452]

With the set up you described I would recommend an independent battery for your trolling motor and use the cranking battery

For your gas start up battery and accessories.

[Long Shot 1,287]

http://www.galttech.com/research/sports/best-marine-battery.php

 

^^^Pretty good overview^^^

 

Running a trolling motor on you cranking battery won't make for a happy fisherman.

 

If you have room in the boat what you have in mind is best way to go, one deep cycle and one cranking=no compromise.

 

My little 16' john boat, space and weight was always a premium so the compromise (hybrid) was my choice.

[Dogster 577]

I suggest Optima, blue top, series 31 marine. Longest lasting deep cycle, short of Lithium-ion. Pricey, but well worth it. I have 4 in my bass boat, only had to replace 1 in 4 years. They can also be positioned in ANY position, even laid over on the side.  I agree with the separate battery for trolling motor, running off the crankin battery you're gonna have a bad time! The lights however, should be OK off the crankin battery, especially if you use LEDs. should they start to dim a little, just crank up & recharge!

[gunfun 3,931]

As said above, deep cycle marine are the standard for a reason. Gel Cells are cool, but if you run them down and charge them up a lot they fail very soon. We had a lot of stuff on our "house" DC system vs the starting DC system, with isolator switches. Things like RADAR and fridges kill them quick if your charging system is off, such as when you are drifting with the engines down, or alternator problems. 

 

One setup we found to be a bit more practical actually was golfcart batteries. They don't have as impressive numbers, but they are designed to be run down to nothing and recharged constantly so they survive it better.

[G O B 3,516]

Use 2 of the same rv/boat deep cycle batteries, isolate them from each other with rectifiers, so both charge off the motor, but the cranking load and the lighting/trollin motor load go to seperate batteries.

This way you will always have cranking power, and can start the motor . Swap the batteries every couple months to even the wear. This way the loss of one battery will not leave you dead in the water, and a dead engine will not leave you without lights a night.

 For a small boat look into how thw placement of the batteries affects you trim.

[gunfun 3,931]

By the way, the last season I fished we had some kit in the way the whole summer that I only had a chance to install when things slowed down. Driving headlights and spotlights on a boat are never enough you want some over the fog, some under it, etc. Some pointing in every which direction. Anyway I got a chance to hook a remote controlled spotlight/headlight to replace a dead one. It was HID, and not exactly low power draw, but well it was low power draw and just amazing. That one light drew as much power as 1.5 of those standard sealed beam """""""waterproof"""""" halogen jobbies that are standard. However it made more visibility than 6 of them by probably double. HID needs to cool if you shut it off, and most of the newer ones have a protection circuit to keep you from ruining them. Also they don't put out full intensity for the first 20 or so seconds. But when they kick in, they are awesome. So if you are setting up your boat for driving around night fishing, you want some.