Save Your Day With
a Battery
By Mark Hicks
Marine batteries are the beating heart of your bass boat.
They start your outboard, and power your trolling motor,
depthfinders, GPS units, live-wells, bilge pumps, running lights
and more. Many bass fishermen are more concerned about their
deep cycle trolling motor batteries than their starter battery.
However, a dead starter battery is often the culprit that spoils
a fishing day.
I was the victim of a dead battery when I fished a hot summer
bass tournament on Kentucky Lake. My partner and I had caught
heavy limits of bass in the first hour of fishing, and I ran my
live-well pumps continuously all day because the air temperature
climbed to 100 degrees by midmorning.
I was also using my GPS units continuously because we were
fishing offshore structures far from the nearest bank. The GPS
on my console helped me return to the productive ledges I had
found in practice; the GPS unit on the bow kept me precisely in
casting range of the sweet spots.
We had fished one of my better ledges for a few hours that
afternoon when the GPS on my bow suddenly quit. I soon
discovered that everything electrical on my boat was out, except
my trolling motor. I was blind without my electronics, and I was
concerned about the fish in the live-wells. I went in early, and
we lost 45 minutes of fishing time to avoid killing any bass.
I could have continued fishing that day if I had had a battery
switch installed in my boat, as I do now. I learned about the
advantages of the switch from Blain Schwarzel of Schwarzel
Marine in Hockingport, Ohio. Schwarzel Marine caters mainly to
bass fishermen and is the hub of all things bass fishing in
southeast Ohio and western West Virginia, especially as it
pertains to the Ohio River.
“Big, color GPS units have large hard drives that really suck
the juice,” Schwarzel said. “And, many bass boats now have four
live-well pumps. If you run them all day, that’s a heavy drain
on your starter battery.”
A battery switch lets you instantly jump a dead starter battery
to one of the trolling motor batteries, so you can continue
fishing. It’s like having jumper cables permanently installed
that you can turn on or off.
Ever try to start your outboard after launching the boat,
only to find that the starter battery was dead? This is a common
dilemma for many bass fishermen, because we often leave
something on in the boat--such as a depthfinder--from one
weekend to the next. If you have a battery switch installed,
simply turn it on to start the engine. By the time you run to
your first fishing hole, the outboard’s alternator should have
charged the starter battery enough to bring it back to life.
“If you only have enough on-board or clip-on battery chargers
for the trolling motor batteries, just turn on the battery
switch,” Schwarzel said. “Then your starter battery will be
charged, too.”
I was glad I installed a battery switch in my bass boat when
I fished a tournament on Lake Erie out of Sandusky, Ohio. The
weather was so nasty that the tournament should have been
canceled. The storm was a classic nor’easter. Strong winds had
blown all night, and they stirred up 8- to 10-foot waves that
crashed into the Ohio shoreline.
I ran farther than I should have that day in those miserable
conditions. My partner and I took quite a pounding, but the boat
withstood the punishment. I cut the time close on the way back,
as usual. I was about 6 miles out, riding roller-coaster waves,
when my outboard sounded off with a continuous alarm.
I didn’t know it at the time, but my outboard’s alternator
had quit on me earlier in the day. I shut off the engine,
crawled back to the bilge compartment to avoid being tossed
overboard, and checked the outboard oil. It was plenty full.
Then I returned to the console seat and tried to start the
engine to check the water pressure. Instead of the familiar
sound of my outboard kicking to life, all I heard was the
relentless wind and the swish of whitecaps cresting the swells.
I crawled back to the bilge, turned on the Perko switch, and
tried the key again. The engine sparked to life, and we made it
in with no time to spare. I didn’t have a great catch of
smallmouth bass that day, but I finished high enough to collect
a check. Without the battery switch, I would have been
disqualified for being late.
Schwarzel has installed about 40 battery switches. This is
something that most fishermen can do themselves. Here’s how.
Installing the Battery Switch
First, you need an on/off, two-position battery switch.
Schwarzel prefers the Perko brand, which is widely available at
marina outlets. A four-position switch works, too, if that’s all
you can find locally. That’s what I have in my boat.
You also need red and black 6-gauge wire and six heavy-duty
wire connectors that are big enough to fit the bolts on the
battery switch and the posts on the batteries. Schwarzel
reinforces the wire-to-connector fittings by covering them with
heat-shrink plastic.
Find a place in your battery compartment where you can mount
the battery switch as close as possible to the starter battery
and the common (ground) trolling motor battery. Which one is the
common battery? You can find it by locating the wires that lead
to the trolling motor on the bow. One wire should be red; the
other black. The black wire will be connected to the common
trolling motor battery.
Now, connect one end of a black wire to the negative post of
the starter battery and the other end to the negative post of
the common trolling motor battery. The black wire does not
connect to the battery switch.
You need two red wires. One connects to the No. 1 position on
the back of a four-position battery switch (which should be
labeled) and to the positive post of the common trolling motor
battery.
The second red wire connects to the common post of the
battery switch (it should be labeled) and to the positive post
of the starter battery.
Finally, secure the battery switch inside the bilge area with
screws. Be sure not to drill holes through the hull or into the
gas tank or live-wells. The transom is the safest bet.
When the battery switch is in the off position, the starter
battery and the common trolling motor battery work
independently, the normal setup.
When the battery switch is turned on (or to All with a
four-position switch), it ties the batteries together. Your
starter battery can draw power from the common trolling motor
battery and vice versa.
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