Article by Capt. Steve Katz
Reely Wired
Electricity is one of the key ingredients to a successful fishing trip or even just an afternoon cruise.
Unfortunately, electricity can be a mystery, it's invisible, comes in many forms and can be hard to identify.
This time of the season, electric fishing reels are used to supplement traditional fishing gear. There are two main types of electric fishing reels, the type used in conjunction with a rod for deep dropping or operating the teasers/dredge from a rod. The second type is permanently mounted overhead near the helm, used to operate the fishing teasers/dredge.
These electric reels are not just used to reduce the physical labor needed, often they can automate the deployment and retrieval process of fishing equipment.
Why are electric reels important for teasers and or dredges? It is the retrieval! Most electric reels have a distance counter that can be pre-set at a given distance from the boat. The teaser rig is deployed manually from the electric reel, then when it needs to be retrieved, either due to clearing the lines because of a fish hooked-up or the boat is moving positions, a quick button press can start the reel to retrieve the teaser and automatically stop at the preset distance from the boat. The automatic retrieval process allows the crew to tend to other tasks while the teaser is brought back to the boat, and certainly eliminating the hand cranking is one less time-consuming task required in a busy cockpit while fishing.
When it comes to top-of-the-line high tech, Lindgren Pitman in Pompano, Florida, has built an overhead electric teaser reel system that is interconnected with your existing Garmin multifunction display and can be controlled by the Garmin touch screen for deployment and retrieval.
These electric reels use a lot of electricity to power their large motors needed to pull a heavy teaser or dredge against the forward motion of the boat or a massive fish from deep drop depths. The amount of electricity (amperage and voltage) varies depending on the brand and model and so does their connection method to the boat.
How do you know how to prepare your boat for electric fishing reels?
I have noticed that fishing crews often change, upgrade or add to their assortment of electric reels and they do not want to rewire their boat each time there is an equipment change. For flexibility and to save time and cost its best to prepare the boat with the electrical circuit that will meet the needs of most any electric fishing reel.
Fortunately, this is easy if you wire your boat for the most powerful reels, this will allow you to configure the fuse/circuit breaker and plug to meet just about any manufacturer's requirements. LP and Hooker electric reels are some of the most powerful reels, requiring up to 30 amps of power at either 12V or 24 DC battery power (not AC shore power). To accommodate the amperage requirement in the cockpit or helm, the wiring needs to be able to carry the load. To be sure all variables are accounted for, #6-gauge wire is recommended and falls within the ABYC standards. If the wire size is too small, the voltage available under load is reduced and the low voltage can cause performance issues or even damage to the electric reel. This wire should be connected directly to a ship’s battery or a dedicated battery and not tied into the boat's electrical panel or other junction etc. Imagine retrieving two dredges at the same time, pulling up to 60 amps instantly can overload existing boat circuits.
How to choose the fuse or circuit breaker for the wiring?
In most cases, a fuse or circuit breaker is designed to protect the wire and needs to be located as close as possible (7”) to the source of power. While a #6 wire can carry as much as 80 amps, based on ABYC calculations, the circuit breaker or fuse for electric reels is often 30 amps for LP and Hooker.
Luckily, the manufacturer of electric reels usually includes a detailed wiring diagram, indicating the wire size, connections, circuit breaker etc. LP has one of the best wiring diagrams that can be used for most any electric reel system. Even if you are not using LP reels now, their wiring diagram has become an industry standard and preparing your boat to meet the LP requirements will meet the needs of most any electric reel on the market.
Not every reel manufacturer provides enough information on how to wire their electric reels. Recently I prepared wiring for a pair of Shimano Beastmaster 9000A electric reels to be used as teaser reels. I was not able to locate the amperage requirements of the reel in the published specifications, so I called Shimano, they indicated they did not publish or know the amperage requirements, just that the reel needed 12 Volts and to use the included power cord clips to attach the wire to a battery. Permanently mounted on a sportfish, these reels would need a proper breaker or fuse, in this case I was able to measure the current under load and install the proper size circuit breaker to protect the wire meeting ABYC standards.
Using the correct plug and receptacles is also particularly important, as it needs to be able to carry the load of the reel. Hubbell makes a special plug and receptacle for fishing equipment that is not interchangeable with other marine plugs and receptacles. While it may look like a shore power plug, it is designed differently and is not interchangeable. You should not use a shore power plug and receptacle for your DC powered electric reels since it could be confused for shore power and improperly connected to the wrong source of power.
Installing and maintaining the proper wiring circuit for electric reels will allow you to focus on fishing while offshore instead of dealing with electrical problems.§
