13owhunter

24v Terrova (newest iPilot) here on a 18.5 foot aluminum with 2 lithium batteries. I have a kicker with throttle control and this setup works amazing for me. I can run all day if im careful to use the TM on lowest i can get away with. Trolling for browns in the spring on a calm day I can get 6 hours just using the TM (going slow) Pretty sure I got more bites because of a little more stealth on a few occasions. (less than 10 FOW) I am really impressed with how well itll steer in some wind and chop. If its so choppy it pulls the motor out of the water its too rough for me anyways. (get the longest shaft you can) I do all my steering with the remote with the ipilot set to "point it and forget it" mode. Whatever way you point it, itll continue to correct and go that direction indefinitely. This has saved many arguments with my dad and wife when i complain they arent keeping it straight when im setting gear. Really a game changer for me. I get to sit and relax a bit when Im fishing and not constantly worry about boat control. If you have a Minn Kota with iPilot and the auto pilot seems to be correcting too aggressively, you probably have it in the wrong mode. You have to put it in the "dumb" mode which will correct itself more gradually. I think the advanced mode is more for following contours in smaller waters. I run garmin electronics so I dont have the follow the countour option. Would be nice to have even though i dont think id use it too much.

Im surprised that there is this much talk about the need to charge TM batteries. With the amount of electronics most of us are running, the main house battery should be a bigger concern especially because that starts your main engine. I have two house batteries in my rig and theyll get under 12v without the kicker charging them in only a few hours if im running everything (2x graphs and 'ducers, radio, fishhawk, charging phone etc) If you have a 12v battery for the TM, get another. 2x lithium batteries should last a real long time if you have a kicker and use the TM for steering. Really not much different than a 24v TM other than the 24v likely has a bigger motor and more thrust. Descent lithium batteries are under $250 for 100ah these days. -My 2 cents

I leave mine in until we get a warmish day in December. Then I start both my main and kicker and run them until they are up to temp. At that point I yank the batteries and leave them inside for the rest of the winter. I like the idea of cutting down on the time my engines arent used an Im guaranteed to start the season without any surprises. This also forces me to inspect everything and make sure there are no issues with mice, water etc.

I'm running 2 Weize LiFePO4 100ah batteries from amazon for my terrova and couldnt be happier. They are down to $239 each and have great reviews. Charging with a 10x2 noco. Trolling slowly for 6 hours straight for BT in the spring they came home with about 20% juice left. No problem trolling all day using for auto pilot in conjunction with my kicker. They allegedly have a 10 year warranty which Im not sure I would trust long term. I do, however, trust Amazon to make it right should I receive a dud. A good 100ah AGM battery is $200 so it was a no brainer to me (and i paid $300 each) My boat is a bit imbalanced and I move them around often so weight savings was also important to me. IMO lead acid batteries will be obsolete sooner rather than later. They are better in almost all circumstances especially when the price keeps coming down.

Using a camera has been eye opening for me as shown in the video above. From my own experience, calibrating your fish hawk with a camera is the only way to guarantee your lures are running the way you want them to. Last time I was out I couldn't believe how my spoon was running when surface speed and fish hawk said I was trolling just over 2mph. Video suggested I was running on the fast end of things. Slightly faster and I think I would have lost effectiveness. Makes you wonder how many spoons you have that don't run effectively within the full speed range..... Wouldn't take much of a bend to impact speed range. Great info on this discussion...

While color can be important it is not the most important variable. I try making turns if I'm marking and not getting bit as you are both speeding up and slowing down your presentations at the same time. Outside rod gets bit and I'll bump up the speed and vice versa. Problem is that there are too many variables in this game to fully control. Control as many as you can and don't over think it. I don't change lures very frequently unless I'm seeing lots of streakers and no bites personally. I ran 2 of the same spoons every time out up until recently. Checking lines frequently to make sure they are running correctly is something you can control. My 2 cents..

Wanted to buy - Okuma Clarion reels. Looking for size 453 and potentially interested in other sizes as well. Must be in good shape. Whatcha got? Shoot me a PM. Thanks!

I set lines at 630, out at 1030. and had our first hit about a minute after I got my last rod set. After that we missed 3 hits in a row with 2 on the rigger with carbon 14 spoon and another on a slide diver. Ive had a pretty good hookup ratio this year but not today. Ended up with 6 kings and a couple of lakers. Kings all on wire slide divers with mag ring out 150-175. Lakers came on a 400 steel with large Spin Dr and meat. Total for the morning was 4 skippies, a small 2 year old and either a very small mature or very large 2 year old around 11-12#. Small mature? I fished 110 to 140 most of the morning. Had a great screen for the first couple of hours and then had a hard time getting any consistency on the screen. I spoke to a guy that was out solo walking back to the truck on the way out. Was that you HB2?

The term "stacker" can mean different things to different people. I am under the impression that the OP is talking about what I would call a cheater which attaches to the line and not a stacker which I would call a second release attached to the downrigger line. Running a stacker with a spoon above a FF can be a good technique and shouldn't have an issue with tangles as it's on a second rod. Often a fish comes in to the attractor and hits the spoon.

Stack with spoons only or your flasher will rotate on the way up and wind itself around your stacked line. This tends to really make a nice mess of things! I'd be wiling to bet a lot of us have made this mistake. I sure have....

Was wondering about this myself. We used to crush them on minnows back in the day in front of hedges. As soon as the minnow was under the boat far enough to not see it anymore you had a fish on all day long. We would have a contest to see how many fish you could catch on one minnow. Definitely not like the ones I'm seeing folks catch today. Most were 1.5 to 2#s. Still a riot on ultralights.

Would be amazing if someone made a high quality lever drag LC diver reel. Would be great to be able to get repeatable drag pressure without having to guess. I'll be upgrading my daiwa LC5s to saltists next year.

My rig is a bit out of balance due to the kicker and extra house battery in the back. Was downright difficult to make a 180 degree turn into the wind with a stiff breeze and some chop before I added the terrova up front. Would take full concentration which is not good. The TM up front pulls the bow in the right direction which really makes turning effortless. I really wanted that garmin force but couldn't bring myself to pony up the extra dough!

I just put a 24v terrova on my 19 footer this year and am running lithium batteries. I really cant see how any other AP system would be any easier to use and you get spot lock. It really works amazing especially paired with a kicker and throttle control. Only downside I can see is if its rough enough to pull the motor out of the water. I got the longest shaft I could and if its rough enough to pull it out to the point it wont steer the boat, its too rough to fish in my rig anyways. Shell go 10+ hours if its calm out which is plenty for me. Total game changer! No longer yelling at my dad, wife, buddy to steer the boat straight when im setting gear. Just need to be a bit more creative when accusing others of the tangles I create. =0)