WNY Tony

accidental post

PK, thanks for the feedback. I guess I have a question: hypothetically, if I had some wire either positive or negative that was missing some insulation from it being burnt off .... what would be the worst case scenario now that I have the wiring setup correctly? Is it that I would be losing ground, blowing fuses, etc? Where does the risk of fire come into play now that it is hooked up correctly? I ask this not because I am questioning your statements, but rather I don't fully understand what the potential ramifactions could be of missing insulation. I understand if the wire diameter was reduced, it could generate more heat, but I don't fully understand if missing insulation leads to heat (and fire). Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I was planning on taking the boat out this weekend on Honeoye to chase some walleye ... maybe rethinking that until I can look at each wire 100% inspection, etc. Thanks.

Great news! I checked voltage at the battery and at the alternator, and got 14.6 Volts in both locations while the motor was running. Battery Voltage when the motor was not running was 12.4V. From what I understand, this means that my alternator is OK? I have inspected all my wires, and tested all of my electronic equipment, and those still work. Still scratching my head as to what would have cause the amount of smoke that was generated in such a short period of time. I guess I will take it out this weekend for some extended use and see if anything materializes. Should I check anything else at this point? Thanks for the suggestions.

What does "letting the smoke out of the wires" exactly mean? That sounds less expensive than an alternator (insert prayer here).

I am not 100% certain of what accessories were in reverse, but I believe it was the bilge pump, fish-finder, and lights (at some point, several of them merge into a havier gauge wire). The wires for the motor starter were setup correct, but I guess that would not matter once something is in reverse polarity? There was an inline fuse on the positive side of the accessory cable.

I will have to look into that. I did just roll the boat out and fired the motor up. Everything looked fine and worked fine including the tachometer, which I thought had to have a working rectifier as well to operate. This may be wishful thinking on my part.

I need some advice. My new-to-me boat was setup with two batteries in the rear stoarge units, one on the port side of the boat, one on the starboard. There were two batteries because he had run electric riggers. My downriggers are manual, and therefore I only need one battery in the rear for starting and for accessories. I chose to move the extra battery to the bow as I installed a trolling motor up there, and this weight distribution is better for the boat it seems. Now this is where I ran into trouble... I took all of the accessory electric wires that were run to the "extra" rear battery, and I snaked them back to the starting battery. When I went to hook them up to the battery, I mistakenly hooked the accessories up in reverse polarity. Within 5-10 seconds something was generating smoke somewhere in the rear of the boat/motor. I obviosuly freaked out, and disconnected everything, and let the dust settle. Upon review, the motor starter cables were correctly hooked up, and accessories were hooked in reverse polarity. I ran into trouble because I mistook my positive starter cable for the motor as a negative because it was black (it only had a small red dot onto it), and just plopped the black negative accessory cables right onto it without double checking anything. I am hoping for some help. I don't understand why this would occur given that nothing was powered on in the entire boat? I insepcted all of the wiring I could see, and everything looks good, no discoloration at any terminals, no insulation missing, etc. I tested the electronics, lights, radio, fish-finder, bilge pump, livewell pumps, all turned on after I let everything cool off and hooked it up properly. I did test the power trim/tilt on the motor which works fine, but I have not started the motor yet (in the garage), frankly scared that I did something to it. Can anyone shed some light on what I may have done. Is it possible to have damaged my motor at all? Sorry for any ignorant questions, 12V setups have never been my strong suit. Thanks.

Hello. I am relatively new to fishing for coldwater species such as trout and salmon. I have been out a few times on Lake Ontario for browns this spring, but it seems like the weather has not been cooperating and everytime I can get out to fish, there is a stiff wind out of the North and renders my boat useless on that body of water. That leads me to what I need help with. I want to spend some time trying my luck on some of the Finger Lakes such as Canandaigua, Seneca, or Cayuga for any trout/salmon that I can get to right now. I am working on getting downrigger and Dipsy setups for getting deeper, but in the mean-time, are there some areas on any of the lakes I described where some top-water (top 30 FOW) trolling could be worth my while? I ask because most of the reports I read are indicating fish are deeper than that, which I couldn't access at this point without the riggers or dipsies ready to go. Any advice on where to start with this would be greatly appreciated! I live in the Rochester area, so preference would be the north ends of the lakes I described, but really looking for any suggestions. Thanks a lot!

sold. Thanks.

I have two lightly used Cannon Mag 10's with extendable booms (3 years old), also includes the weight retrieving rope attachments, electric plugs/cord, and swivel bases. Everything is in great condition. I can sell them with single rod holders or double rod holders on them. Price is $625 for both riggers, swivel bases, and the double rod holders. I can drop it to $575 if I sell them with single rod holders. I am located in the Rochester area. I am trying to post a picture, but it seems to be timing out. I can email them to interested parties in the mean time. Thank you.

I am looking to add some nice quality rod holders onto my recently purchased 17' starcraft. I am new to trolling, and experienced a failure yesterday on a Cabela's Quick-draw plastic Rod holder. It was definitely driven by operator error as it snapped when I got snagged (drag was too tight, but my leader was 10 lb fluoro, and expected that to fail before the rod holder). Lesson learned, need stronger equipment. I am looking for the best bang for the buck for something that could be used for planers, flat-lining, and downriggers. I may end up getting into some dipsy diver setups, but again, I am new to this sport, and don't want to limit my options moving forward. I have read some very mixed reviews on the Tite-Lok brand, and also seen more consistent positive feedback on the Big Jon rod holders. Clearly it appears that there are some holders in the $100+ range each (Cisco's, etc), and that might be where I have to go, but I was looking for some suggestions or feedback about the Big Jon's or any other all-metal rod holders in the $50-$60 range each. Am I going to regret not going all-out on these? Also looking for some suggestions on proper setups for a max of 6 rods on a 17' aluminum boat (i.e. where along the gunwale should I place them for my stated applications). My downriggers have a rod holder on them as well, but outside of those, I am looking to start fresh. The only constraint that I have for setup is that I want something that I can have another base for in teh front of the boat so that when I am bass fishing on my casting deck, I have a rod holder up there as well. Thanks in advance for the help!

I was out in the same area on Sunday morning as well. We came out of I-Bay and headed east towards Webster. The water temp was 43.8 degrees almost the entire way (12' - 20' FOW). This was actually my first time trolling for browns or any trout ever, and I was shocked to see how clear the water was. Everything that I had read for tips suggested finding muddy water and anywhere that the water temp was warmer than the surrounding areas. I couldn't find either yesterday as it was gin clear and within 2/10's of a degree no matter where I went ... LOL. We did go 1 for 1 boating a small 4 lb brown. It was the first time in my new boat, so I was just happy to be out there and learning. I learned a lot, including the need for a properly set drag, and for non-plastic rod holders (broke one when a lure got snagged on the bottom). I guess I expected the 10 lb flouro leader to fail before my rod holder did. It sounds like we weren't the only ones who struggled to find them Sunday morning.

Yes, all good feedback about my boat being a limiting factor in the summer time and way off shore, no doubt. I am simply looking to test the waters on this type of fishing, and spring brown trout will suffice. If I catch the bug, I will upgrade boats. Thanks for your input, and ceratinly keep it coming if you have any other advice. Greatly appreciated.

Hello all, I am new to the site, and new to trolling. I have chased bass and pike for years, but want to expand my horizons into trout and salmon. I am reading the site each night gathering valuable information, but wanted to ask a few questions to help me get established with the right equipment the first time and get out there fishing ASAP. Existing Boat: I have a 14' Alumacraft Utility Boat 25hp tiller, roughly 66" widest point. Based on this, I will definitely be limiting myself to ideal weather conditions and relatively close to shore. Therefore, I want to setup for flatlining, inline planers, and dipsey divers. Not looking into downrigging at this point. Here are my questions ... 1. How critical is it to have Line-counting reels for the type of fishing I have described above? I have the ability to acquire some Daiwa 27H and 47H level-wind reels very reasonably, but am concerned I will not be happy with these. Do you guys have effective alternatives to line counting reels, or should I just save my pennies and buy the LC reels. Also, what is the ideal size of reel for what I am looking for? I thought a 27 size would be more appropriate? 2. I recently bought some Shimano Downrigger Rods (I know, I am not planning on rigging, but thought they would work for in line planers). Will these work well enough for dipsey divers, or do I need separate equipment to run those? 3. I have read that Precision Trolling is a must have book for this type of fishing, and I have ordered it. Any other books that you would recommend? 4. I have never fished the Niagara Bar, so I am unsure of the typical conditions there. Would I be pushing my luck in a 14' aluminum boat there given the right conditions? 5. Any other major do's or don'ts you would tell someone starting into this journey. I am eager to learn, and would appreciate any feedback to this post. Thanks!