Marlin with Minn Kota Raptors?

[Candylane]

Hey folks,

I am down in Mississippi and do some offshore and marsh fishing with my Marlin 280. Anchoring in the shallow waters when marsh fishing is always a bit of a project. I am intrigued by the concept of the Minn Kota Raptor's active anchoring system. I am curious if anyone has installed and used them on a Grady Marlin?

They seem to be popular on the inshore bay boats. I wasn't sure if they would hold on the larger boats.

 

[Goose]

Hey folks,

I am down in Mississippi and do some offshore and marsh fishing with my Marlin 280. Anchoring in the shallow waters when marsh fishing is always a bit of a project. I am intrigued by the concept of the Minn Kota Raptor's active anchoring system. I am curious if anyone has installed and used them on a Grady Marlin?

They seem to be popular on the inshore bay boats. I wasn't sure if they would hold on the larger boats.

I have the Rhodan 96' on my Marlin and love it.

 

[ROBERTH]

Goose, any pics of how it is mounted on your Marlin? Maybe I missed it in some other posts?

 

[Goose]

Here’s the link to what I posted. If you want any more pictures or anything specific let me know. I got it put on here locally in Panama City Beach. It does get too rough or windy for it to hold a spot but I normally don’t get out there to fish on those days anyway.

Trolling Motor on a 300 Marlin

I've always anchored or drifted over spots. While we were between boats my wife and I fished off friends boats with GPS anchored trolling motors. Well we bought the Marlin and the wife wanted a trolling motor on it. So, we got a trolling motor. The Rhodan 36V 96" shaft trolling motor works...

www.greatgrady.com

 

[Candylane]

Thanks for sharing Goose. That looks like a very interesting setup. I guess one of the advantages of your setup would be that I could use it both in the shallow marshes and as an offshore anchor. Versus the shallow water active anchor would only be good for the marsh.

How accurately does it hold in place in calm water? Some of the channels in the marsh may be 50' wide. I am wondering if it would keep the marlin in the middle or drift off too close to the edges and potentially get stuck.

 

[Goose]

Thanks for sharing Goose. That looks like a very interesting setup. I guess one of the advantages of your setup would be that I could use it both in the shallow marshes and as an offshore anchor. Versus the shallow water active anchor would only be good for the marsh.

How accurately does it hold in place in calm water? Some of the channels in the marsh may be 50' wide. I am wondering if it would keep the marlin in the middle or drift off too close to the edges and potentially get stuck.

Calm it’s spot on. Once the trolling motor gets out of its spot, I think it’s 5 feet or something like that, it beeps and shuts down. For me that’s 3 foot waves or larger and some decent wind (10 mph or so). Choppy waves and gusty wind will give me some issues at times but in 2 foot or less days I haven’t had any issues. I keep it as low as I can get it so it is close to a foot lower than my motors on the back.

 

[ROBERTH]

How long does it last for the battery life on a day? Assuming an average 2-3' day with moderate current?

 

[Goose]

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How long does it last for the battery life on a day? Assuming an average 2-3' day with moderate current?

Atleast 6 hours. I haven’t actually timed it but I’ve been out over 12 hours on a few occasions and subtracting 2 hours out and 2 hours back minus a few repositions to different spots. I haven’t had it die on me yet so I don’t know for sure. I turn it on as I’m trying to find the spot I want so it can get its GPS lock and usually turn it off once I’m back on the trailer when I shut everything down.

 

[Goose]

You had me curious so I went out and did the battery test on the motor. Used it for 3 1/2 or 4 hours on last Wednesday and it’s been sitting since then and the self test says I have 80 to 95% battery left. Not saying that’s gospel just what the test tells me according to the manual.

 

[ROBERTH]

That's pretty good actually. Thanks for checking.