Choosing The Right Battery For Your Fishing Electronics And Motorized Kayak
By: Tyler Hicks
The sport of fishing has grown in technological sophistication with the advent of ever improving sonar, imaging, and mapping technology. Likewise kayak fishing has grown with Old Town’s Sportsman line of fishing kayak, including the award-winning AutoPilot and 106 Powered by Minn Kota. Choosing the right battery to power your motorized fishing kayak or kayak fishing electronics is critical to successful days on the water.
WHICH BATTERY IS RIGHT FOR ME? LEAD ACID VS LITHIUM
The first decision most anglers must make is whether to invest in sealed lead acid (SLA) or lithium iron phosphate batteries. SLA have the advantage of being more affordable and widely available. However, about 80% of Old Town kayak anglers use lithium batteries and with good reason. Lithium is considerably lighter, often 50 to 60% lighter than SLA. Per cycle lithium maintains a higher voltage output deeper into a cycle than SLA providing for better performance for those long days on the water. While lithium may cost 3 or 4X more than SLA it offers the advantage of providing more than 2000+ cycles in its lifetime, four to five times that of SLA. In the end, for all but the most expensive lithium batteries, the cost per cycle is cheaper for lithium. The good news is lithium batteries are continually falling in price and may soon render SLA obsolete. However, SLA are still a great choice for the angler on a budget, for those planning on using their batteries in the off season in extreme cold (e.g. ice fisherman), and allows use of the battery meter on Old Town Sportsman powered kayaks.
FISH FINDERS & ACCESSORIES: HOW MUCH POWER DO I NEED?
Whether powering your fishfinder, lights, or your Minn Kota trolling motor you will be using 12 volt batteries (although some fishfinders can run on higher voltage). 12 volt batteries come with amp hour (Ah) ratings. These ratings describe the relative amount of current, in amps per hour, a battery can deliver across a specific amount of time. For example, a 10 Ah battery should be able to deliver 1 amp per hour for 10 hours. However, this relationship is not linear and as amperage draw increases the amount of time a battery will last declines. A 10 Ah will not last a full hour with a 10 amp draw. Additionally, other factors such as temperature and battery age and depth of draw will affect battery performance.
The most common equipment that kayak anglers power on their fishing kayaks is their fish finders. Fish finders on powered fishing kayaks, such as the 106 Powered by Minn Kota and AutoPilot, should have their own independent power source to prevent interference from the motors. Most fish finders will draw between 0.25 and 1 amp per hour. Screen size and brightness contributes greatly to amperage draw. For example, my Humminbird Helix 5 Chirp DI G2 will draw about 0.5 amps per hour and with a 10 or 12 Ah battery I can have two full days on the water without needing to recharge. However, my HELIX 7 Chirp Mega DI GPS G3N will draw almost 0.8 amps per hour and will only give me a full day on the water plus a few hours the next day before needing to recharge on the same battery.
In general if you are using 5” or smaller screens on your fish finder I recommend 12 Ah or less battery size as any bigger is simply overkill and wasted space and weight. However, if you are running larger fishfinders with 7” screens or greater and/or are also running additional accessories such as LED lights and USB chargers for cameras and phones then you will want to consider 12 Ah batteries or larger. Additionally, if you plan on doing road trips or tourney events where recharging nightly is not possible then you will want to consider purchasing multiple batteries or larger 18 to 25 Ah batteries to meet your power needs.
SPORTSMAN 106 POWERED BY MINN KOTA & AUTOPILOT: HOW MUCH POWER DO I NEED?
Determining what your power needs are for your 106 Powered by Minn Kota or AutoPilot kayaks will vary greatly depending on the conditions in which you fish and how long you plan on spending on the water on an average day. For most anglers between 50 and 100 Ah batteries will suffice. Higher capacity batteries up to 150 Ah are available on the market, in lithium only (see video), and will fit inside the provided group 27 sized Old Town battery boxes.
As these kayaks were designed primarily with electric propulsion in mind it’s better to invest in a larger battery than a smaller one so you don’t end up paddling back to the launch. That being said, if you primarily fish half days on flat water without a lot of trolling, spot lock usage, or current to deal with, then 50 Ah might be plenty. However, if you spend long days on the water or deal with current, high winds, long periods of trolling, or heavy use of spot lock then 100 Ah or more is recommended. Conservative use of your trolling motor will greatly improve the battery life of your trolling motor battery. Zipping around at your highest speed setting will more quickly exhaust your battery than cruising at 0.5 miles per hour slower than your top speed.
POWER YOUR WAY TO MORE FISH
There are many quality batteries on the market and several have strong ties to the kayak fishing community. Shop and ask around before making your purchase. The price of lithium batteries is falling dramatically while quality and features, such as bluetooth battery monitors, continue to improve. In the same way it makes sense to invest in quality electronics and motorized kayaks it also makes sense to make the most of those investments by getting the right battery or batteries to meet your needs.