28 July. Janet M & Hell's Belle

[Tawn]

I worked for Capt Kenny on the Janet M today. It wasn't wide open, but a semi-steady pick in Eastern Bay. For what ever reason very few of the Happy Harbor boats had trips this morning and a couple guys were giving away spot so we ended up with about 120 for 6 people before we even left. As it turned out I'm glad we had spot to burn because the only way we could get the fish to come on was dropping 2-3 for every hooked bait. It burned up a lot of spot but it kept them with us. By 11 we had them all and went perch fishing.

I loaned my boat to a good friend so he could take some family out. He didn't leave until around 2 and he had to stop and get his spot. He found a pile of better fish further north and limited out in 20 minutes. He had the same problem with the meter-windlass as I did Thursday. Being somewhat unfamiliar with my electronics, instead of fighting the problem like I did, he just turned off the regular fishfinder and found his fish on the sidescan.

After a few cocktails at the Harbor, I had a moment of clarity regarding the fishfinder. This spring I had my battery switch replaced and the wiring redone to the way I thought it should be . Prior to the battery switch replacement, the windlass was wired to a single battery and the electronics came off a second battery. Now they both draw off the batteries simultaneously. I'm now convinced the draw of the windlass is sufficient to cause the meter to go bat **** crazy. Not sure what I'm going to do about it, but at least I know now.

First pic is of the fishbox an the Janet M, the second is of my buddy and his family on my boat.