pro troll black box boat voltage signature

[Seamus]

I searched the posts and did not see any old ones on this.,   Ran into a guy pulling out at Mexico late last year and he was very enthusiastic over the benefits of using his pro troll black box and adjusting his voltage signature in the water.   He may even be on LOU, not sure.   Before I consider getting my own, frankly I have never heard of it or seen any the other captains using it.    any thoughts on it?

 

[Tim Bromund]

This topic comes up occasionally and you'll get a variety of opinions on it.  some think it's snake oil and some think it helps.  My opinion is that it depends on what your boat is doing. 

 

Based on my own personal experience, I'll say that if you have a boat with no electrical/grounding issues it won't do anything for you.  If your boat DOES have any electrical issues, it can help tremendously. 

 

When I first got my Thompson in 2002, I really struggled to get a rigger bite, we caught a ton of fish off the riggers on my previous boat, but I couldn't buy a rigger bite on the new one, tons of diver and core bites , but the riggers were dead.  I did the test with the multimeter and found that the voltage at my rigger cables was in the .1-.2v range.  So I bought a Cabela's black box (same as the Pro Troll, just re-badged for Cabelas, and after I installed it, I immediately started getting rigger bites again.

 

Over the years I almost completely rewired the boat and somewhere along the way I corrected whatever the problem was and it hasn't been necessary for a number of years now and it's no longer even on the boat, but I am 100% convinced it helped initially.  I went from being able to count the number of rigger bites over the course of a full season on both hands with a couple fingers to spare, to my riggers being the hottest setup on the boat on many days.

 

Tim

[tandmbait]

read this it tells all about this and how to test ur boat.

 

http://www.protroll.com/books/?id=5

[Seamus]

Interesting comment Tim and thanks for the link tandmbait.

 

what is interesting about your comment Tim is I had riggers mounted on a "bayliner" rigged for trolling for years, ( I know!  I was one of them) and I did quite well off the riggers, for being a "bayliner,"   bought the Grady last year from a guy that used it only for Walleye in Lake Erie, not trolling and put my Cannons on it, even one new one, and had my first season with a big downturn in rigger production, given same areas and tackle,....I have a lot of electronics and wires on the boat,...I did test once and was in the .5 range, which is close I thought.  It might be worth considering.

[Tim Bromund]

Interesting comment Tim and thanks for the link tandmbait.

 

what is interesting about your comment Tim is I had riggers mounted on a "bayliner" rigged for trolling for years, ( I know!  I was one of them) and I did quite well off the riggers, for being a "bayliner,"   bought the Grady last year from a guy that used it only for Walleye in Lake Erie, not trolling and put my Cannons on it, even one new one, and had my first season with a big downturn in rigger production, given same areas and tackle,....I have a lot of electronics and wires on the boat,...I did test once and was in the .5 range, which is close I thought.  It might be worth considering.

My previous boat was a "bayliner" as well.

[Frogger]

^{From previous experience, with damn near almost buying a black box for the same issue mentioned, rigger bites went to nothing.  Did some investigating on the matter.  I think someone attached some literature as well with how to find if your having the electric bleed into the water.  My rig when measured off the cable into the water was giving off 1.3 volts into the water.  This with an ohm meter Black neg touching cable, positive lead on the battery.  Heres where it gets interesting, unplug the down rigger, get the same voltage after its unplugged.  So for whatever its worth, it stayed in the cable.  Changed out the board.  No Help.  Took apart the motor to see  if the bushings were shorting on the case. No luck.   Called Cannon and found out that the earlier Mag 10as had it in the system but was not advertised.  New models have it pasted (Ion control) on the unit.  As a matter of fact the pricy models allow you to control (adjust) the voltage, I think Marlins?  Not sure but its there now.  Purchased 4 new downriggers with the PIC.  Volts measure .60 .  I guess they say you want to be somewhere around .65   Started catching fish again.  My other options were to go to 200 lb Pro Braid for cable, then I risk losing the auto shut off and risk losing a probe and ball.   I guess I settled for an excuse needing new downriggers.  As far as what others mentioned, my boat is aluminum so I had to take all electronics out, batteries out, and go one for one to find the culprit.  They say if you take the leads and place the positive in the water, and the neg on the battery you should read a neutral reading of .67 or so.  severely less or more you have a ground issue, or something of that nature.  The Black box, apparently they swear by them on the west cost for the salmon, especially the commercial fisherman from what I read.  When I looked at them, and saw the amount of work you need to do to run them and use them, I was out.  That was just me.  I hope in the future that a new color spoon that starts catching more kings turns into "you have to get a black box".........}

[Seamus]

Frogger, thanks for the excellent post as well. I am trying to find out how much they are their website gives Pro Bass as a dealer but not listed as a product on the website. I will check out Fat Nancys and Screwey loueys, I like to support the local independents as much as possible.

[Frogger]

Your welcome. Bass pro in Auburn did have one for 120.00. It looked like it was worth 10.00. I hope you make out. I left a lot out so I wouldn't tie up the thread but if you have any questions id be glad to help any way I can. Mike

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[Blue Knight]

I would seriously suggest looking into a Scotty Black Box if one is required. That's the company that came out with the system originally but before you invest any cash just check and make sure you have a voltage problem. The Scottys are the only one's used out west in BC.

[Seamus]

Thanks Blue Night. the Seamus Grady is still tucked away at Chalks but hope to get it out in March and start down this investigated road. Hmm! BC. I am a business consultant and spending a week in BC with a client. I will find some time to talk to some of the fishing kind out there,...great input thanks

[lakebound88]

The boxes help. If you can eliminate the voltage leak. You can save the money too. Verify good clean grounds inside and out.

But nothing wrong with a bayliner. Had two so far.

Nick

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