One of the biggest trends in fishing right now is the mass shift to lithium power for our bass boats. Countless brands are selling this relatively new power source for marine use because it offers many benefits. Longtime northern California pro Stan Lafever made the switch to lithium last year while he was competing on the APEX Pro Tour, and here’s what he learned about this type of battery from a real-world tournament angler’s perspective.
Fast Charging
One of the biggest fears of tournament anglers is that their batteries will not get a full charge overnight before an event. This causes plenty of worry for anglers, but Lafever says those fears are virtually erased with lithium batteries. He runs three Bionenno 12V, 100Ah LFP batteries in his Nitro, and one of his biggest takeaways from using them was how quickly they charged.
“I knew about lithium before I made the switch, and the weight savings were always mentioned, but I didn’t realize how fast they would charge back up,” he said. “That’s a big deal at a tournament, especially at multi-day events at places like Shasta or Clear Lake where you have so many boats plugged in together at the same small grid.”
Because of this fear of not getting his batteries charged, Lafever got into the habit of getting plugged in before everyone else. “I always got back to get plugged in first, and it was a big relief to see how fast my Bioenno batteries would get to 100 percent,” he said. “Usually, it was 45 minutes to an hour, and they were fully charged. I’d usually have fully charged batteries before the rest of the guys even plugged in.”
Hotel electricity isn’t always the most reliable either, and even when the entire system went down at one event, Lefever was fine for the next day. “At one of the events, the entire grid was down,” he said. “I didn’t even charge them overnight, and I fished the second day of the tournament and had no issues.”
Impressive Power
Another benefit of lithium batteries is that they run strong all the way through their cycle instead of slowing down as they die when using traditional batteries. This impressive power supply was tested when Lafever had engine troubles and had to use his trolling motor to get back.
“I had one tournament last year when I had an engine failure. It turned out to be something simple later, but I had to use my trolling motor to get me in,” he said. “I was wide open going 3.3 miles an hour for three hours and it never let down one bit, even fighting the wind to get back. The Bionenno batteries were flawless.”
Weight Savings, Performance, and Warranty
Lithium batteries weigh roughly a third of other marine batteries and have substantial weight savings. While Lafever is admittedly not a “speed guy” with his boat, he has noticed some performance changes.
“I’m not a speed guy and my Nitro is big and kind of a tank, anyways,” he said. “I gained maybe a mile an hour by changing to lithium, but physically getting the batteries in and out is a huge difference. You can feel how easy it is to lift them.”
Last year was the first full year running lithium trolling batteries in his boat, and Lafever came away impressed. “This was my first experience running them for my trolling motor and I was very impressed,” he said. “I had some experience with another brand of lithium for my starter battery and had problems with them, but I had zero issues with my Bioenno trolling motor batteries last season and they are still in my boat.”
Bionenno offers an amazing 20-year warranty on its batteries, and even though Lefever hasn’t had a single issue, it gives him peace of mind knowing they stand behind their product.
“The length of their warranty says a lot right there,” he said. “They’ve also been in business longer than 10 years, so you know they are established and here to stay. Many lithium battery companies are ‘fly by night,’ and you keep seeing more of them popping up. The fact that Bioenno is here to stay is big, and believe me, I’ve heard from my fellow tournament competitors complain about the service with other battery companies.”
Another plus for Lefever is that the batteries from Bioenno are assembled and tested here in America. “They are all assembled right here in California and that’s a big deal for me,” he said.
Lithium batteries have become a great way for bass anglers to increase the overall performance of their rigs. Choosing the right setup for your needs comes down to researching the brand and choosing a reputable brand that is here for the long haul.
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