Had an interesting situation the other day out fishing at one of the lakes that is trolling motor only. My battery, which is getting toward the end of it's life, just decided to die in a matter of minutes. I was about 1/4 mile from the ramp and the sun was going down. I started rowing while nico steered with the net. It was pretty lame. After a bit I decided to try my graph battery by touching the wire to the posts. Sure enough it worked fine and got us back to the ramp.

The battery is this little guy:
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=30289&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

It's a good graph battery so you don't have to run your graph off your main battery (possibly getting interference) and it's 20 bucks that will get you back to the ramp in a pinch.

Hey rob,if ya need an emergency batterie i have a optima I can lend you.I got it from a friend of mine and don't know what kind of shape it's in but if you want it you can have it.I haven't charged it and have had it for a couple months.I was going to use it in my boat but got 2 new batteries when I upgraded my trolling motor.
just let me know if you want it,Swampy

thanks Dave man, appreciate it :)

Hey Rob,

How long do you think you can run a small trolling motor with one of those 7amp batteries? I am thinking about putting a trolling motor on my pontoon but not if I have to get a full size battery.

Thanks for any info.

I ended up getting a motorcycle sized deep cycle battery for my pontoon boat. They make them for golf carts. It works great and lasts all day on the lake if I just use it to make major moves.
These batteries cost around $50.

I have a 10 amp battery that I used with a 30 lb thrust troller before I got a normal trolling battery. It was only good for about 30-45 minutes.