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By LakeofthewoodsMN · Posted
On the south end... The big basin, otherwise known as Big Traverse Bay, is ice free. Zippel Bay and Four Mile Bay are ice free as well. Everything is shaping up nicely for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th. With the walleye / sauger season currently closed, most anglers are targeting sturgeon and pike. Some sturgeon anglers are fishing at the mouth of the Rainy River, but most sturgeon are targeted in Four Mile Bay or the Rainy River. Hence, pike are the targeted species on the south shore and various bays currently. Pike fishing this time of year is a unique opportunity, as LOW is border water with Canada, the pike season is open year round. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. Back bays hold pike as they go through the various stages of the spawn. Deadbait under a bobber, spinners, spoons and shallow diving crankbaits are all viable options. Four Mile Bay, Bostic Bay and Zippel Bay are all small water and boats of various sizes work well. On the Rainy River... Great news this week as we learned sturgeon will not be placed on the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The organization had to make a decision by June 30 and listing sturgeon could have ended sturgeon fishing. Thankfully, after looking at the many success stories across the nation, including LOW and the Rainy River, sturgeon fishing and successful sturgeon management continues. A good week sturgeon fishing on the Rainy River. Speaking to some sturgeon aficionados, fishing will actually get even better as water temps rise. Four Mile Bay at the mouth of the Rainy River near the Wheeler's Point Boat Ramp is still producing good numbers of fish, as are various holes along the 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale. The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st. Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing. One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker. Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle... A few spots with rotten ice, but as a rule, most of the Angle is showing off open water. In these parts, most are looking ahead to the MN Fishing Opener. Based on late ice fishing success, it should be a good one. -
By leech~~ · Posted
Nice fish. I moved to the Sartell area last summer and just thought it was windy like this everyday up here? 🤭 -
By Rick G · Posted
Crazy windy again today.... This is has been the norm this spring. Between the wind and the cold fronts, fishing has been more challenging for me than most years. Panfish have been moving in and out of the shallows quite a bit. One day they are up in the slop, the next they are out relating to cabbage or the newly sprouting lilly pads. Today eye guy and I found them in 4-5 ft of water, hanging close to any tree branches that happened to be laying in the water. Bigger fish were liking a 1/32 head and a Bobby Garland baby shad. Highlight of the day way this healthy 15incher -
By monstermoose78 · Posted
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By monstermoose78 · Posted
As I typed that here came a hen. IMG_7032.mov IMG_7032.mov -
By monstermoose78 · Posted
So far this morning nothing but non turkeys. -
By monstermoose78 · Posted
Well yesterday I got a little excited and let a turkey get to close and I hit the blind!! -
By smurfy · Posted
good......you?? living the dream..in my basement playing internet thug right now!!!!!! 🤣 working on getting the boat ready.......bought a new cheatmaster locator for the boat so working on that. waiting for warmer weather to start my garden!!! -
By monstermoose78 · Posted
How is everyone doing? Holy moly it’s chilly this morning I stayed in bed and will hunt later today when it warms up.
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Question
Jeremy airjer W
The trailer lights are giving you trouble and you’re not sure where to begin. The first thing you need to determine is what is or is not working. There are two things that will make your lights work incorrectly. One obviously is the lack off power which will result in everything working except for one light. The other is grounding issues which will usually cause strange things to happen.
Power Issues
This first part will deal with power issues. Our objective is to narrow down the possibilities until we have isolated the problem. The information below already assumes that you have checked or replaced the bulbs just incase they where burnt out.
The first thing I want to do is find out if it is the truck or the trailer. The simplest way to check the truck is with a test light.
Since most of us use a four flat style connector I will be basing everything on that. Whether it’s an aftermarket four way connector or a 7 pin to four adapter the male terminal on the four way connector on the vehicle is the ground. Simply hook the test light to the ground then turn on the trucks lights and four way flashers and probe the other three terminals. If the other three terminals light/flash the test light than you can be reasonable confident that the vehicle side of the wiring is fine.
What if one of the terminals does not light up the test light? If it’s an aftermarket harness and everything else on the truck is working than the harness itself may be at fault since the aftermarket harness uses the same power that is provided to the lights on the vehicle. If it’s a factory wiring setup than the fuses are first on my list of things to check. Typical factory trailer wiring will have there own fuses for each function of the trailer wiring.
What if all the terminals don’t illuminate the test light? My first thought is bad ground. We have all had some pretty shady looking connectors and if there green they aren’t going to work.
If there clean then I would try finding another way of grounding the test light and rechecking the three terminals (when finding another ground source it doesn’t hurt to make sure it is a good ground by checking a wire that you know has power to it to make sure the test light lights up). If the test light lights up then we know we can concentrate on the ground if the test light still doesn’t light up then we need to dig a little deeper into the aftermarket harness or there may be a problem with the 7 to 4 adapter. If you suspect the adapter you can remove it and check the running light, left turn and right turn pins on the seven way connector. If they work at the 7 pin, than the adapter is likely your problem.
So the truck checks out fine. Now what? The first thing I would do is look at all the exposed wiring on the trailer. Some things you should look for are broken wires, pinched wires, corroded connections, and bare wires. Connection made with either wire nuts or scotch locks should also be looked at carefully as many times they can be the cause of the failure since they do not “seal” out the elements which allows the wires to corrode.
Also pay close attention to the lead buttons on the bottom of the bulbs. I have run into many of these where the buttons have worn out and causing them to loose contact with the socket. In this case the buttons have worn enough that they are touching, the symptom was that the brake lights would be on as soon as the customer turned on the tail lights.
More often than not trailer lighting problems can be resolved by repairing one of the problems mentioned above.
If the wiring looks to be in good shape, than the next step is to check for power at the socket. Again the simplest way is to use a test light. Socket for the tail/brake light will have two contacts on the bottom. One will supply power when the brake/turn signal is applied and the other when the lights are turned on.
(Photo courtesy of Shackbash)
If there is no power than its as simple as tracing that circuit back until you find the source of the power loss.
Ground Issues
So your trailer lights are acting weird one light blinks opposite the other when it’s not supposed to. When you step on the brakes all the lights go out. The lights are really dim. The lights flicker when traveling down the road. These are all possible ground issues and are not that hard to figure out.
The first thing I do when I suspect a bad ground is hook up a test light to a known good ground on the vehicle (preferable the negative battery terminal using a long jumper wire). Next, with the trailer plugged in to the vehicle and with the symptom present, touch the test light to the trailer (preferable a clean metal surface). If the test light at any point lights up then there is a main ground issue with the trailer. Usually between the trailer plug-in and where the white wire is attached to the trailer. Make sure that the area where the white wire is attached is clean and corrosion free, as well as the wire and/or connector. A star washer does a good job between the wiring terminal and the trailer frame to make a good ground contact, or in between the washer and the nut on the back of the taillight.
(Photo courtesy of Shackbash)
There still can be isolated ground issues that will not light up the test light in the scenario above. This could be anything from a corroded socket, poor contact between the lens assembly ground post and the trailer, or the socket ground wire and the trailer. All of these can be checked buy using a jumper wire to a good ground and then grounding the suspected component to see if the problem corrects itself.
(This lens assembly uses the mounting bolts to ground itself to the trailer - Photo courtesy of Shackbash)
Most trailer lighting issues can be solved with simple repairs. Remember to start with the simple things first.
-Identify any and all issues that may be present.
-Determine if the source of the problem is the vehicle or the trailer.
-If it’s the vehicle check fuses and connections
-If it’s the trailer check the wiring, bulbs, sockets, and connections
-Make sure there is a good power supply and a good ground. These are the two most common problems.
Special thanks to Shackbash, Marine_man, and 4wanderingeyes for there help!
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Jeremy airjer W
Heres a couple quick reference guides.
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