How Much Juice Do I Need? - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Baja_Traveler · 03-28-2012, 08:23 PM

+1 what Drake said. I always throw one of those big sponges under the hatch even though I have a manual bilge pump. Pumps won't get the sand out of the hull that invariably creeps in from beach launches, where a sponge will.

I run both my FF and bait tank on one battery, and they will last all day if I'm careful to not run them when not needed.

When I fish the bay bass tournaments and want both running all day long (I use the bait tank as a livewell until the weigh boat comes around), or I've got the kayak down in Baja, I have a flexible 11 watt solar panel I bungie to the fore deck that keeps the battery going indefinitely so long as the sun is shining.

Running a 6 volt battery for the bait tank is a good idea though, since the typical bait pump puts out more water than is needed at 12 volts. For me it's just easier to keep everything at 12 volts for ease of solar charging.

03-28-2012, 08:23 PM	#8
Baja_Traveler Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Table 17, Bay Park Fish Co. Posts: 943	+1 what Drake said. I always throw one of those big sponges under the hatch even though I have a manual bilge pump. Pumps won't get the sand out of the hull that invariably creeps in from beach launches, where a sponge will. I run both my FF and bait tank on one battery, and they will last all day if I'm careful to not run them when not needed. When I fish the bay bass tournaments and want both running all day long (I use the bait tank as a livewell until the weigh boat comes around), or I've got the kayak down in Baja, I have a flexible 11 watt solar panel I bungie to the fore deck that keeps the battery going indefinitely so long as the sun is shining. Running a 6 volt battery for the bait tank is a good idea though, since the typical bait pump puts out more water than is needed at 12 volts. For me it's just easier to keep everything at 12 volts for ease of solar charging.