I went out late Friday for some night fishing for Crappie under a bridge. It did not go well.
I had fished this spot earlier in the week for a couple of hours and did okay, but on Friday night there were boats lining up on both sides of me shortly after I got there, so maintaining boat position was particularly important.
I had noticed that my Spot Lock feature on my trolling motor did not hold position well the first time I had gone out, but didn't think much of it. Especially since I was using a conventional Danforth anchor this time.
The wind was blowing pretty good and it took a couple of tries to get the anchor to set well, but it did eventually. I was in about 45 feet of water, so had about 130 feet of anchor line out and had some sway, but not too bad. All was good. Then the wind shifted.
It actually calmed way down first and then shifted, so it wasn't like I was immediately out of position, but I did need to reset the anchor.
First Lesson: When setting an anchor in strong wind, that anchor can get seriously set. As in, it ain't ever going to see air again. I tried all the tricks and got to the point I was afraid I was going to rip the cleat out. I had to cut the line. Bummer, but I can just use the Spot Lock... or not.
Second Lesson: Spot Lock doesn't work worth a damn when there is a giant metal bridge between the trolling motor and the GPS satellites. Apparently the slightly different position I was in Friday made this situation much worse than it was the first time I was there. It kept losing the GPS signal and then over reacting when it reacquired it. The further out of position the boat is when it reads the GPS, the harder the motor runs to get back in position. Then it would lose signal again and overshoot the mark again. Rinse and repeat...
I had to cut the trip short.
Has anyone used Box Anchors? One off the bow and another off the stern looks like it might be the solution.
I had fished this spot earlier in the week for a couple of hours and did okay, but on Friday night there were boats lining up on both sides of me shortly after I got there, so maintaining boat position was particularly important.
I had noticed that my Spot Lock feature on my trolling motor did not hold position well the first time I had gone out, but didn't think much of it. Especially since I was using a conventional Danforth anchor this time.
The wind was blowing pretty good and it took a couple of tries to get the anchor to set well, but it did eventually. I was in about 45 feet of water, so had about 130 feet of anchor line out and had some sway, but not too bad. All was good. Then the wind shifted.
It actually calmed way down first and then shifted, so it wasn't like I was immediately out of position, but I did need to reset the anchor.
First Lesson: When setting an anchor in strong wind, that anchor can get seriously set. As in, it ain't ever going to see air again. I tried all the tricks and got to the point I was afraid I was going to rip the cleat out. I had to cut the line. Bummer, but I can just use the Spot Lock... or not.
Second Lesson: Spot Lock doesn't work worth a damn when there is a giant metal bridge between the trolling motor and the GPS satellites. Apparently the slightly different position I was in Friday made this situation much worse than it was the first time I was there. It kept losing the GPS signal and then over reacting when it reacquired it. The further out of position the boat is when it reads the GPS, the harder the motor runs to get back in position. Then it would lose signal again and overshoot the mark again. Rinse and repeat...
I had to cut the trip short.
Has anyone used Box Anchors? One off the bow and another off the stern looks like it might be the solution.
