Good friends.

Over the years I have introduced friends of mine. That isn't a word I use freely and I have been blessed with just a few. My thought is that my friends need to know one another. Having approached my battery gremlin and had a moderate success I woke this morning to a pretty healthy charge in my TM system. Having the day off and able to shuffle some things aside I had to head beck to yesterdays location. Now to the friend part. Ernie and I have been friends for over 15 years and done a lot of outdoor stuff together. I would give him my checkbook and a key to my house with a clear conscience. The last time he crappie fished was in my boat before I left for TN. Having the batteries and time I just needed him in the back of the boat. Had I called he would have had a list of things that needed done so I just drove to his house, woke him up and off we went. A late start didn't get us to the ramp til almost 9 and we fished about 3 1/2 hrs. Wind was already up and a down wind run was easy and we had a fish in the box in 5 minutes. As yesterday the bite slowed as the day progressed and the power was getting low so all totaled we boated 18 and kept 7, which will decorate Ernie's dinner table this evening. As fish go, it was an OK or lackluster day by some folks standards. By my standards it was a stellar day with one of the best folks I know. No pics but one did bump the 13" mark. I can't wait to get Charlie in the boat, been a while since I fished with him too. One little hint, 2 rods had beetle spins on them and kept us quite busy. Just sayin.......

Glad ya had a good day on the water. 7 makes dinner round here. But time on water with friends is priceless.

Being with friends & doing something together makes any day - great - memorable
just plain enjoyable with good memories..
Thanks for sharing

Glad you got your battery problem sorted out skeet, do you have an on board charger? Well if you can swing it get one, best investment I made in a long time. Got my first one about 12 years ago, not a real fancy one, single bank loved it. Two years ago I got a 2 bank one as my first charger crapped out well worth the investment. Now I am so lazy I sometimes forget to even plug it in. Going to make up a jumper connector to my rear battery so if I run the main trolling battery down I can just connect to the rear battery and run off of it. I already have a connector on it and only need makeup a cable. Going to buy a 20' jumper cable from harbor freight, cut the ends off put a anderson power products connector, brand don't really matter, and a female trolling motor connector on the other end.......me thinks that should workout ok.
And what Mike said, I normally only keep 8 or so, and that's plenty.

All my friends have Jay Oh Bees.....I have to fish alone most of the time, but when I have somebody in the back seat I gel with it makes a super day! Glad you did good!

Glad you and your friend had a good trip. I have 2 or 3 good friends that I fish with and I really enjoy our time together. As Andy stated the on board chargers work well. I have two of them on my boat, one for the 24 volt batteries and the other for the cranking battery. I also have an in line switch to change from one set of batteries to the other set. I carry 4 trolling batteries and one cranking. I'm looking forward to getting back on the water, been shut down with having a pacemaker put in on 10-22. Will be ready for Florida I hope.

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Originally Posted by Anchor Man

Glad you and your friend had a good trip. I have 2 or 3 good friends that I fish with and I really enjoy our time together. As Andy stated the on board chargers work well. I have two of them on my boat, one for the 24 volt batteries and the other for the cranking battery. I also have an in line switch to change from one set of batteries to the other set. I carry 4 trolling batteries and one cranking. I'm looking forward to getting back on the water, been shut down with having a pacemaker put in on 10-22. Will be ready for Florida I hope.

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Hope everything is progressing forward for you.
Looking forward to seeing you and Eliene (?) at Lake Crescent.

Days like this make memories that will never fade.

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Originally Posted by flycaster

Hope everything is progressing forward for you.
Looking forward to seeing you and Eliene (?) at Lake Crescent.

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Lets try Eileen. You were close. Hope the pacemaker is 220, you're gonna need it at Crescent this year. I have had onboard chargers for quite some time, but here's a tidbit that some might not know. There has to be SOME juice in the battery for the charger to register that it is low and go to work bringing it up to where it should be. A flat battery has to be charged with a conventional charger a little bit, I gave mine about an hour each, and then the on board will take over. Learned that a while back through someone else s problem but had never had it happen to me. When I set up for yesterdays trip I never thought to check the battery level by the little indicator on the top of the MK, but you can bet I will in the future. I met a man once in a Gander Mountain store that had 5 boats, 2 at his salt water house and 3 at his home on lake Murray near Columbia , SC. Said he wound up replacing at least 2 per year from lightning damage. That said I have a hard time leaving mine plugged up 24/7. I'm just cheap and don't want to spend the $. End result now is that I have changed my pre trip inspection to include Battery level, even if it is just the cheesy little thing on the TM. One other small thing is that these things generate a lot of heat when they do their job. If they are attached to a wood/fiberglass bulkhead there is a risk of fire or damage to the bulkhead, mostly delamination of the wood and glass. Stacking several washers between the charger and bulkhead helps them to operate cooler and last longer too. I can't take credit for any of this info, it was handed down from my marine tech in TN who was extra sharp. Looking forward to this coming Saturday. Should I not make it Y'all have fun and get a bunch.
And Yelim, you're exactly right.

Interesting information Skeetbum, thanks for sharing.

Friends are the best gift in life anyone can receive...And I have made several right here on this sight!!! People think TnT mean something Dyanmic or Explosive...It stands for Tim and Tim....My best friend's name is Tim and we have hunted, fished, played softball and ran around together for over 40 years and I'd trust him with my last dollar or my life. Good friends are hard to come by and should be cherished!!!!

A man much smarter and experienced than I told me in my early twenties that if I finished this life with enough true friends to fill one hand I would be very fortunate. I have several but haven't filled that hand yet. They're more valuable to me than hard currency.

no true'r words ever spoken.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

A man much smarter and experienced than I told me in my early twenties that if I finished this life with enough true friends to fill one hand I would be very fortunate. I have several but haven't filled that hand yet. They're more valuable to me than hard currency.

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BOY! Ain't that the truth!

^^^^ what he said.