It’s confession time. I have to admit I am a person with split personalities. When it comes to projects, big or small, there are times they are attacked with immediate vengeance and completed within short order. Other times I am the world’s worst procrastinator and pay the price. Like last week.
Several months back, OK maybe a year ago, I purchased a new trolling motor for my boat. It was time for an upgrade and the new electric motor has functions the old one did not. All winter I looked at the box every time I stepped into my barn and thought I should really get started with the installation.
“It’s not hard at all to install,” several of my experienced fishing friends reiterated, so I wasn’t in that big of a rush.
Then reality hit. With the first few days of decent weather I was ready to get the boat out and begin whipping baits with long rods covering large amounts of open water looking for hungry crappie and walleye. Then I noticed the box and realized it was time to finally install the new trolling motor.
For the most part, I feel I have rudimentary knowledge and experience to work on most things but evidently installing a new trolling motor wasn’t one of them. My friends told me the installation wouldn’t take more than a few hours. “It’s a snap,” most of them said, so I was confident it wouldn’t take long.
Removal of the old motor wasn’t so bad, even though whoever put the original motor on must have had the smallest hands in the world. Getting to some of the bolts was almost impossible. But perseverance finally prevailed and the old motor was soon sitting on the floor. This is where things started to get a little jiggy.
With the new Minn Kota properly placed on the boat’s bow and holes drilled, it was time to begin the mounting process. Some bolts were fairly easy to put in place but a few others were a different story. There sure isn’t much room in the bow of a bass boat. A couple anchor bolts needed to be located in an area even a mouse couldn’t crawl through. Finally, after several hours and with some help from my friend Jeff, the motor was eventually secured to the front of my boat.
“Well, the hard part is over,” or so I thought.
Next came the wiring. After unscrewing and pulling off the bow panel there was a conglomeration of wires. There were power wires, transducer wires, switch wires, hdmi, and ethernet cables. Disconnecting those that would not be used and installing the new ones went fairly well. Although again my sausage-fingered hands are not made to work in tiny places.
With that taken care of, next up was installing and routing the new wires. I was feeling proud when the last zip tie was placed on the new transducer cable that linked the trolling motor to the Hummingbird sonar. I stowed and deployed the motor several times. My increased confidence immediately fell off the table. I had inadvertently left too much slack in the hdmi cable and it became smashed, almost in half, between the motor’s deployment arm and the base. For those that know, these types of specialized wires cannot be spliced so another one was immediately ordered.
After receiving the new wire, work again started on getting the motor installed. Everything was checked and double-checked and it was time for the finishing touches. All that was left was to hook the new self-contained trolling motor transducer cable to the back of the sonar. No luck. The cable had a different style plug so a special adapter cable had to ordered.
After a week of working on that motor, including time waiting on new cables, the final connection was made and all that was left was to get the boat on the water for a “field test.”
I had all winter to install that new motor, but I paid the price for my procrastination. Instead of working on the boat, I could have been fishing instead. During that time (last week) friends were sending me pictures, emails and texts of the fish they were catching. I should have been out there with them but instead I spent a week cussing and discussing the installation of that Minn Kota motor.
With the job finally complete, I was pleased. My wife thought maybe I should write a column on why it’s not good to procrastinate and maybe offer a tip or two on installing a bow mounted electric motor. “That’s a great story idea,” I mentioned. “After all I have gained valuable experience.”
So here is the biggest tip I can give anyone wanting to install a motor on their own. If your friends tell you it’s only a several hour project, figure on a week!
TURKEY TALK
Hunters still have time to apply for spring turkey reserved hunts by visiting on.IN.gov/reservedhunt.
The online method is the only way to apply for the hunts on Fish and Wildlife Areas, National Refuges and selected reservoir properties. No late entries will be accepted. Applicants must possess a hunting license that is valid for the hunt for which they are applying. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 17.
All hunters will be selected through a random computerized drawing. An email will be sent to applicants when draws have been completed. Applicants will be able to view draw results online within two weeks after the application period closes March 17.
This spring’s much awaited turkey hunting season runs from April 24 through May 12. Youth season is set for April 20-21.
