UPDATED 03 NOVEMBER 2024

by Robert Ceran

Spinner fishing is one of my favorite ways to catch trout in almost any kind of water. In addition to being fun, it also regularly produces big fish that bite aggressively on these classic trout lures.

Another advantage of this technique is that it’s relatively easy to set up your gear and get started, making it an excellent technique for beginners.

In this article I’ll walk you through the basics of how to set up your gear for trout fishing with spinners, as well as the best lures, tactics and locations to help you catch more fish with this method.

Are spinners good for trout?

Yes, spinners are great for trout fishing, because their rotating blades produce strong vibrations in the water, which is very effective at triggering bites.

Another reason why these lures work so well is that the moving blades generate flashes of light in the water, creating an additional visual stimulus that resembles a small minnow behaving erratically.

These lures also make a excellent search baits, since you can easily cover a lot of water by casting while systematically moving around a lake or pond.

That’s why spinning for trout is usually my first tactic when exploring a new fishery.

Trout fishing spinner setup

The first thing you need to do is set up a good trout rod, reel and line. Here are the tackle components you’ll need:

• Rod: 6 to 7 foot, fast action, ultralight power spinning rod
• Reel: 1000 to 2000 size spinning reel
• Main line: 10 pound test braided line
• Swivel: Size 10 barrel or snap swivel
• Leader: 4 to 6 pound test fluorocarbon

The best trout fishing rod to use for this is an ultralight power rod for spinner fishing, since that will enable you to cast ultralight lures (such as a Rooster Tail) over longer distances.

If you’re going to fish in a stream with overhanging trees and bushes, it’s best to choose a shorter rod around 6 feet long.

On the other hand, if you’re going to be casting from the shore of a lake, it’s better to choose a longer rod between 7 and 8 feet, as that will increase your casting distance and will also improve your line management during lure retrieval.

My favorite size spinning reel to use for this technique is a 2000 size, since that’s light enough to work well with lightweight lines and small lures, but it’s also big enough to hold enough line for casting longer distances.

The best main line to use is a 10 lb test braid, since this has excellent casting properties, which increases your casting distance by 10 to 15% compared to other line types.

In addition to this, braid has almost zero stretch, which increases the sensitivity of the whole setup and enables you to feel every single vibration of your lure during retrieval.

If you don’t want to use braid, monofilament is also a good option as a main line for this type of fishing. Now let’s talk about the terminal tackle and leader rigging.

How to rig a spinner for trout fishing

If you’re spinner fishing for trout that aren’t line shy, you can tie your main line directly to a snap swivel, and then attach the snap to the eye of your lure.

The advantages of this rigging is that it is very easy to tie, and it’s also very easy to switch out your lures, since you just need to open and close your snap. Incidentally, this is also one of the best steelhead rigs.

However, in heavily fished lakes and rivers there’s a good chance that the fish are line shy, and this is especially true if you’re angling in clear water.

In that case it’s best to tie a 1 to 3 foot leader with 4 to 6 lb test fluorocarbon.

Fluorocarbon line has much lower visibility in the water compared to braid, and using a fluoro leader thus gives you more stealth.

Tie a size 10 swivel between your main line and the leader, and then tie the fluoro leader directly to the eye of your lure.

If you want to fish in deeper water or in a strong current, add one or more split shot weights above the swivel, which will help to get your lure down into the strike zone faster.

What is the best spinner for trout?

The 4 best trout spinners are:

• Rooster Tail: This lightweight lure works best for a slow retrieve speed. Needs additional weight if you want to fish it deep.
• Panther Martin: Heavier body than the Rooster Tail, helping to increase casting distance, and for getting it down into deeper water more effectively.
• Blue Fox Vibrax: These lures come with a vibrax blade mechanism that produces sounds by rubbing against the bell shaped body of the lure, thereby emitting stronger vibrations in the water than a regular lure.
• Mepps Aglia: A classic lure that has been around for many decades, and continues to catch fish reliably every season.

While there are many other options on the market, the ones above are my all time favorites, and have caught countless fish for me over the years.

But keep in mind that each of these fishing lure brands comes in a multitude of sizes and colors, and in general it’s best to have as many different options as possible in your tackle box.

The fish can be quite picky at times, and having the right color combination can make the difference between catching your limit or going home empty handed.

If you’re fishing in a heavy current with deep water, you may also want to try out lures with extra weight, or with a torpedo shaped body, which sink faster and are specifically designed to fish in these conditions.

What is the best size spinner for trout?

The best lure size to use depends primarily on the size of the fish you’re expecting to catch.

Spinner blade sizeWeightRecommended use 07/64 oz.Small brown and brook trout in streams 11/8 oz.Small brown and brook trout in streams 23/16 oz. Average size rainbow and brown trout 31/4 oz.Average size rainbow and brown trout 43/8 oz.Big rainbow and brown trout 57/16 oz.Big rainbow and brown trout 65/8 oz.Steelhead

Trout Spinner Size Chart

The table above shows the recommended sizes for catching different species and sizes of fish.

While you sometimes catch small trout on a big lure and vice versa, in general there’s a clear correlation between the size of the lure and the size of the fish that you catch.

So if you’re targeting trophy fish, it’s better to choose one of the bigger sizes (3, 4, or even 5).

On the other hand, if you’re targeting small brookies or brownies in a shallow stream, go with the smallest size you can get away with (0 or even 00), as these small fish have a hard time getting a big lure into their mouth.

What color spinner should you use for trout?

The two best spinner colors for trout (that consistently catch most fish) are a golden blade with black body, or a silver blade with yellow body.

With that being said, it’s necessary to keep in mind that bites can be triggered to bite on a wide range of colors, and which one works best can be very different from fishery to fishery, and even from day to day on the same lake or river.

So you may encounter situations where the colors that usually produce the most fish don’t work, and you need to mix things up in order to get bites.

Because of this complexity, it’s important to have as many different colors in your tackle box as possible, in order to be able to do some testing in order to figure out what works best on any particular day.

In general, it’s best to use more subdued colors like blue or black on bright days with clear water conditions.

On the other hand, brighter colors such as yellow, chartreuse, or pink can work better on overcast days, or in stained waters, or if you’re fishing for trout at night.

Where to use spinners for trout

The great thing about this technique is that it’s easy to cover a lot of water, which means you can use it as a search bait to find locations where you can catch trout.

Here are some of the best places to cast your lures:

• The inlets of tributary streams of lakes
• Drop off zones along weed flats
• Shore points and other underwater structure
• Old river channels in reservoirs
• Stocking areas

When searching for hungry fish, it’s important to keep in mind that they tend to be more mobile than many other fish species, and don’t usually spend the whole day in one spot. So if you don’t get any bites, just move on to the next spot.

If you know the stocking area(s) of your lake, it’s always a good idea to start there, as some fish will stay close to these spots for a long time before they disperse in the lake.

How to catch trout with spinners

The best way to catch trout on spinners is by using it as a search bait to cover a lot of water in a short time.

The most common way to do this is to cast your lure out from shore, but you can also throw it from a boat or kayak, and you can even troll it.

Spinner fishing for trout in lakes

When casting from shore, divide the water in front of you into a pie chart, and cover it systematically with a series of casts that move from one side to the other (either clockwise or counterclockwise).

After you finish covering a particular spot this way, move on to the next one.

You’ll usually get very aggressive bites on these lures, so if you don’t get a bite, that either means there are no fish around, or they don’t want to eat your spinner. Because of this it’s best to keep on moving, until you find hungry fish.

Very often trout relate to the bottom, and can be found cruising 2 to 3 feet above the bottom. Because of this, it’s usually best to fish close to the bottom.

After casting it out, let it sink to the bottom before starting to retrieve it, and then retrieve it with your rod tip down to the water.

Casting spinners for trout from a boat

If you’re using a boat, this often gives you access to deeper water than casting from shore, which can be ideal for targeting fish during the summer, when they retreat into deeper water during the day.

In order to fish in deep water, it’s necessary to add additional split shot weights above the swivel on your rig. That way you can even use lightweight options (such as the Rooster Tail) to fish in deep water.

Spinner fishing for trout in rivers

When fishing for trout in streams and rivers, it’s important to stay mobile and cover as much water as possible.

That means you’ll be finished with one location in just a few casts, after which it’s time to move on to the next spot.

The only exception to this is if you get a short strike, and then try out a different style or color to try and trigger another bite from the same fish.

When casting a lure in a stream or river, it’s usually best to cast across the current, and then let the current carry it downstream while you retrieve it, thus forming an arc.

If you want to target a specific feeding lane, it’s best to cast slightly upstream of it, and let the lure swing into that area during the retrieve, as the current pushes it downstream.

Trolling for trout with spinners

Trolling is a great technique for catching more fish in lakes, as it enables you to cover more water with less effort than if casting your lure.

If you’re trolling for stocked rainbow trout, you can use the same setup and rigging as for casting from a boat, though you may want to add additional split shot weights to get your rig deeper in the water.

However, if you want to troll in deeper water than 10 to 15 feet, refer to our guide on trout rigging for trolling to get the best setup for your specific purposes.

The tiny .410 bore may be the smallest caliber shotgun widely available to the public, but it is still an incredibly effective hunting tool. Countless generations of hunters have gotten their start with a .410 thanks to the round’s low recoil. In recent years, advancements to .410 ammo have increased the speed, power, and effectiveness of these tiny shotshells all without creating a larger blow to the wallet. It’s not uncommon to find factory .410s for less than 50 cents per round these days, which is something in this economy. You can’t even get a candy bar for that these days.

There are also plenty of hunters out there who are returning to the .410 simply because they’re looking for a new challenge after having done it all with a 12- or 20-gauge. The smaller spread can make sporting clays fun again if you’ve mastered the other calibers. The .410 has also really taken off for turkey hunting as new modern loads have upped the range and power significantly. We know a self-defense market has also taken off for .410, but today we’re going to focus solely on .410 shotgun ammunition for hunting or clays purposes. These are the options we look for first whenever we head afield with an old .410 bore, and they’ll suit you well in your outdoor adventures, too.

The Best Rifled Slug for .410

Winchester Super-X .410 Gauge

Pros:

• Reliable, fast .410 slug.
• 2½- and 3-inch options.
• Packs a punch on smaller game

Cons:

• More expensive than other .410 rounds
• Doesn’t really have the kinetic energy for deer

While most hunters likely don’t think of using slugs with a .410, the proof is in the ballistics of the Super-Xs. Winchester manufactures both a 2½-inch, 1/5-ounce version and a 3-inch, ¼-ounce version of this hollow point, rifled slug. You’re looking at about 1,800 fps of muzzle velocity, which is nothing to sneeze at for a shotgun caliber this small. One area of caution we’ll note is the use of these slugs on deer. We’d advise against it, even if .410 is legal in your state. That’s because the muzzle energy is only 788 foot-pounds, and it slows to 403 foot-pounds at 50 yards, and 234 foot-pounds at 100 yards. And, yes, we do know that hunters have harvested deer with .410s before. However, we like to keep to a minimum kinetic energy of at least 1,000 foot-pounds. That said, we thought the Super-X deserved a spot on this list because it’s a dynamite round for coyotes and smaller feral hogs at close distances. I also like this round for pest control. It’ll do a real number on annoying woodchucks or other pests that are tearing up your backyard. In truth, I like these slugs for those mid-sized varmints better than a .22 or other rimfire. It just ends with a quicker, cleaner kill, which is something all hunters should strive for. At $7.99 for a box of five or $21.99 for 15, these rounds are a little more expensive than some other options, but they’ll get the job done for you effectively.

The Best Dual-Purpose Round

Remington American Clay & Field

Pros:

• Dual-purpose round perfect for field and clay
• Quality primer
• Low price point
• Hulls are perfect for reloading

Cons:

• Limited amount of shot sizes available

Shooters know Remington is one of the brands to go to for affordability and reliability, and the American Clay & Fields are a nice option that covers both of those bases. We’ve seen these rounds on sale for just over 50 cents a round if you catch them at the right time. These are lead shot loads that use Remington’s popular STS primers. The muzzle velocity is approximately 1,275 fps for these rounds that are meant for both hunting and clay shooting. It’s nice to seamlessly go from one passion to another without having to adjust for a different round in between. Remington makes these shells in No. 9 and 8 shot sizes with a shell length of 2½ inches respectively. In a hunting scenario, we like the No. 8 shells for doves and pigeons on private lands where lead shot is legal to use. For skeet and clay, we like the No. 9 option as a target load. It’s hard to go wrong with either of these game loads. Normally priced, these rounds go for about $17.99 a box, which isn’t bad for 24 shotgun shells. Pick up a few at a time, and they’ll last you a few seasons of fun target and wing shooting.

The Best-Long Range Turkey Load

HeviShot Hevi-18 410 bore

Pros:

• Turkey-dropping power
• Long-range ability
• High pellet count for a .410

Cons:

• Extremely high price tag

Ammo manufacturers have really started to push the .410 to its limits to create some of the best turkey loads on the planet right now. If you start comparing specs, you’ll find some comparable ballistics to larger rounds coming from the tiny .410 with none of the nasty kick. Hevi-Shot makes these rounds in No. 7 and 9 shot sizes. The Hevi-18s use dense tungsten super shot (TSS) in place of lead. The cool thing about tungsten is that it’s heavier than lead, which allows hunters the opportunity to drop down shot sizes without losing effective range or stopping power. If you’re introducing a youngster to turkey hunting but are worried about bringing down a bird with a .410 bore, these are probably the best shells to consider. The muzzle velocity of these loads is about 1,090 fps. Another nice plus to these is that tungsten is often considered non-toxic in many places. That makes it an option for public lands. The huge downside to TSS rounds is the price. These rounds go for about $45 for a box of five, or roughly $9 a shell. These are probably the most expensive .410 shells on the market right now as a result. We realize these rounds aren’t for everyone; but for hunters who want to be able to reach out and bag those Toms that like to hang up at 30-40 yards from your setup, these shells will get the job done.

The Best Option for Waterfowl

Hevi-Shot Bismuth

Pros:

• Non-toxic shot for public land
• Denser than steel shot

Cons:

• Extremely tight pattern
• Price tag

You don’t hear about hunting waterfowl with a .410 bore too often. It’s not something that many hunters attempt. It’s understandable when you consider that many .410 guns meant for waterfowl come with a full choke installed. You often end up with an extremely tight pattern that makes the birds much harder to hit. For that reason, this is one instance where we don’t recommend a .410 for a beginner. Waterfowl hunting with a caliber this small is for the more advanced duck hunters who have already done it all with a 12- or 20-gauge and are looking for a better challenge. If you are going to hunt ducks with a .410, Hevi-Shot’s Heavy Bismuth shotgun ammo is the one to consider. It’s non-toxic, so you can use it on public land, and Bismuth is slightly denser than steel, which means it’s going to have better range and lethality in those scenarios. The only downside is that Bismuth is more expensive than steel. You’re looking at about $55 for a box of 25, or about $2.25 a round. Not cheap, but also not too bad in the grand scheme of things. Especially when you factor in the hot velocity of 1,300 fps from the muzzle. Hevi-Shot offers these rounds in No. 4 and 6 shot sizes that will help you limit out and push your shooting skills to the limit.

The Best Budget Upland and Small Game Shells

Winchester Super-X Upland and Small Game

Pros:

• Wide variety of shot sizes
• Affordable
• Availability

Cons:

• Toxic shot
• Challenging for upland hunters

Again, you’ll hear about fewer hunters using .410 for upland game simply because the range and spread are greatly reduced when using one of these tiny shotguns. It can be done, but just like with waterfowl, it’s probably only best attempted by seasoned hunters who are ready for a new challenge. For small game such as squirrels and rabbits, however, it’s a little more doable. Winchester manufactures several high brass variants in .410 in shot sizes ranging from No. 4 to 7.5. I’ve also used the 11/16-ounce loads with No. 6 shot for a little pest control around the house in the past. I can personally attest to the knockdown power of the Super-X line, which is why I use it in nearly all of my firearms. The muzzle velocity is anywhere from 1,100 to 1,135 fps, depending on the shot size and load. There’s something here for almost every hunting scenario. Along with being ultra reliable, Super-X is surprisingly affordable. You’ll usually find it going for about $21 for a box of 25—around 88 cents a round. The other nice thing is the accessibility of these shells. They’re sold practically everywhere, and they’re often still on the shelf even during shortages. It all adds up toward making these some of our favorite general-purpose .410 bore shells to use each season.

The Best Dedicated Skeet and Sporting Clays Round

Federal Top Gun

Pros:

• Affordable dedicated skeet and clays round
• Reliable Federal primers
• Fast muzzle velocity

Cons:

• Something of a niche round

If you’re truly looking for a real challenge on the skeet or sporting clays range, switching over to a .410 is a sure way to do it. If you can get consistent with a .410 on clay targets, everything else will seem easy by comparison. Federal Premium makes what we think is the best quality dedicated target round in the Top Gun. They make a few variants, a No. 9, ½ shot charge, and a No. 6, 11/16 shot charge. The difference is the No. 6 shot rounds are about 200 fps faster. They are doing about 1,330 fps at the muzzle. There is also a No. 7.5, ½-ounce shot charge option that’s also doing the same speed. These are strictly for target shooting on private lands because they are lead. The other thing we love about these rounds is the affordability. They go for about $17.99 a box, or around 72 cents a round. It’s a nice option to get into competing without breaking the bank.

The Most Affordable Target Round

Aguila Competition

Pros:

• Wide array of shot sizes available
• Extremely affordable

Cons:

• Has a reputation for being dirty

Affordability is a big thing when you’re shooting a lot of shells for competition. Which is why we really like Aguila’s competition rounds. A 25-round box goes for around $16.99, or less than 70 cents a round. These would be a solid choice if you’re helping outfit one of the many clay shooting teams that are popping up as an extracurricular activity in schools across the country. Aguila makes its .410 options in 00B, 7 ½, 8, and 9 shot. The No. 9 shot options has a choice of a ½-ounce or ¾-ounce load. All the shot types are doing about 1,275 fps at the muzzle, which is not bad at all for the price point. Aguila also has a solid reputation for being reliable and accurate, both important aspects of competition. The downside to Aguila is that the ammo has a reputation for shooting extremely dirty almost universally across the whole line. But if you don’t mind a little extra cleaning, this is a solid option that won’t break the bank.

For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram For original videos, check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.

READ MORE: THE 8 BEST .410 SHOTGUNS

If you are interested in making homemade sausage, you are in the right place. I have been making sausage for decades, and I’d like to share with you my comprehensive tutorial on how to make sausage at home.

I’ve learned a lot in the decade-plus since I first wrote instructions on how to make sausage. Each year I learn a new tip or trick, a bit more about meat science, how to get a better bind, which casings are better than others, etc.

This will be a fairly comprehensive article on homemade sausage, meant to get you started, with a sample sausage recipe at the bottom. But understand that making sausage is a process, one you will not perfect the first time out. Perfection comes with practice, precision, plus a little luck.

Why Make Homemade Sausage?

Fair question. After all, even small supermarkets sell several kinds of sausages. The reason is that making your own gives you control. Control over the meat and fat, control over the seasonings, control over the grind, the size and thickness of the links, control over whether your homemade sausages are smoked or fresh.

Anyone reading this who hunts or raises livestock will also want to learn how to make sausage. After all, it’s a wonderful thing to make when you bring home a deer, or some ducks, a mess of pheasants, or after your annual hog slaughter.

Making sausage can be as easy or as hard as you want. Whipping together a batch of homemade sausage without casings is as easy as making meatloaf, which is very similar actually.

Casing links is a little trickier, but it ain’t rocket science. Oh, and yes, there is a little science to know about sausage making.

Basics

At it’s core, sausage is meat + fat + salt, kneaded until it binds to itself. That’s it.

Obviously most of us want to add more seasonings, or maybe stuff the sausage into casings. Or smoke it. We’ll get to all of that below. Let’s break the magic equation above down to its components.

Meat for Homemade Sausage

Any meat will do. I’ve made sausage with lots of weird things, from woodcock and beaver to standards like pork, beef and chicken. I’ve even made fish sausages. My collection of sausage recipes is broken down by general meat type, so that should help you choose one after reading this tutorial.

Unfrozen meat binds to itself better than thawed meat, and pork binds to itself better than other meats. A good compromise is to use your thawed game meats and some never-frozen pork shoulder or belly.

The gnarlier the meat in terms of connective tissue, the more times you will want to grind it. Most sausages I make are ground twice. More on that in a moment.

Fat in Making Sausage

Let’s talk fat. Homemade sausage almost always has pork fat in it, because, well, it’s superior to other fats in terms of melting point, availability and flavor. The best pork fat is fatback, off the back of the hog. Belly is OK, but a little soft. Shoulder is a nice compromise and easy to get.

Leaf lard, or any fat from the interior of any animal, will be harder than fat on the outside of the animal. It’s so hard — meaning it has a higher melting point — that I won’t use it from lambs, goats or cattle, whose fat has a higher melting point to begin with.

Oh, and if you want to use fat from deer, elk, moose or any other cervid, read my article on cooking deer fat here. Short version: Use very little in homemade sausage. Note: pronghorn aren’t cervids, so their fat is fine to use.

Beef fat, or that from other bovids like bison, nilgai, oryx, yak or musk ox, is perfectly fine when harvested from the outside of the body cavity. It can be too hard when taken from the inside, but it does depend on the animal’s diet.

Bird fat is too soft for making sausage, unless you are making an emulsified sausage, like a hot dog.

Never use lard. Previously rendered fat won’t work in normal homemade sausage.

In terms of percentage, you will want no less than about 15 percent, and no more than about 35 percent. I shoot for about 20 to 25 percent normally.

Salt and Curing Salt

You need salt to make sausage. Period. The very word sausage comes from the Latin salsus, meaning “salted.” My recipes use kosher salt because it’s readily available and lacks additives like anti-caking agents, which can mar the flavor of your links.

I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you use it too, my volume measurements will be the same. Morton’s kosher salt is cut differently, so volumetric measurements won’t be the same — you’ll have to go by weight.

Which is why salting by weight is way, way, way better. When you do that, you can use whatever salt you want in homemade sausage. I really like using salt I’ve harvested from the Pacific Ocean for this, because, well, I am weird like that.

Along those lines, avoid weird salt. Like those black and bright red Hawaiian salts. Or flavored salts. Also avoid salt with really big crystals because it won’t mix evenly in your sausages.

A general rule for fresh homemade sausage is to use between 1 and 2 percent salt by total weight of the meat and fat. So for a standard 5-pound batch, which is 2268 grams, at minimum, I’d use about 23 grams of salt, which is about 5 1/2 teaspoons. In reality, I prefer my sausage saltier, so I add about 1.5 percent by weight.

Curing salt is not evil. There, I said it.

For the purposes of this discussion we’re talking about sodium nitrite, which is used in smoked sausages. It is there for food safety — it can prevent listeria and botulism — as well as flavor. It’s why hams, pastrami and corned beef have that rosy, hammy flavor.

And for everyone who thinks they’re not getting nitrites by eating “uncured” products, know that the manufacturers are lying to you. There’s a loophole in the regulations that says if you use celery powder, you can say you aren’t curing meats. Well, celery powder is loaded with sodium nitrite, so there you go.

Anyway, rant over. Use one or the other when you are making smoked sausages.

Additives

Not all additives are bad in sausage. I’ve used a lot of them, rejected most, and a few I have turned to repeatedly because they give you a better link. What I am talking about are things like vegetable fibers, dry milk, binders, etc. that can improve the texture of homemade sausage.

Dry milk and a product called C-bind, from The Sausage Maker (it’s carrot fiber) will both help your links retain more moisture. Not usually a problem with fresh sausages, but very useful for smoked sausages.

Butcher and Packer has a “special meat binder” that is really good, and you only need tiny amounts to improve the bind of your sausage. They don’t say what it is, but I imagine it’s ground up fairy wings or gold dust or something…

Equipment for Homemade Sausage

Alas, you cannot make homemade sausage without equipment. At the very least you need a grinder. I will not condone making sausage with a food processor any more. I used to, and you might see it as an option in some old recipes here, but it’s gross. Don’t.

Can you make homemade sausage without a grinder? Um, you can, but it’s a terrible process. You need to hand mince pounds of meat and fat without it heating up, then jam it into casings through a wide funnel. I’ve done it, and it sucks.

Grinders

At the very least you need the KitchenAid grinder attachment, which is fine for very small batches. I have used mine, off and on, since the early 2000s. But it’s not for anyone serious about things.

I use a Weston 1/2 horsepower commercial grade grinder. I like it a lot because it’s sturdy and it’s all steel. Some cheap grinders have plastic innards that will die if, say, you get a piece of bird shot jammed in the blade; good grinders have an emergency shut off that prevents the motor from seizing.

Another good grinder I’ve used is a LEM grinder. I recommend the 1/2 horsepower and the 0.35 horsepower models. Don’t bother with dual grind grinders. They jam easier and are hard to clean.

Stuffers

For the love of all that’s holy, don’t use your grinder as a stuffer! Running finished sausage that you worked so hard to get a good bind through an augur that shears apart that bind is crazy. Buy a stuffer or just make uncased sausage.

I hate the Weston stuffers because they leave too much meat in them when the plunger is all the way down. A few other companies use this design, and it’s silly. Butcher & Packer, the Sausage Maker and LEM make good stuffers.

Yes, it’s a few hundred bucks, but they last forever, are easy to clean and they make really good links.

Casings

I only use natural casings. I don’t like collagen casings because they are barely edible, if at all, and when they are they taste nasty. But you do you.

Hog casings are the norm, and they come in a variety of widths, which have some traditional recipes associated with them. Bockwurst, for example, needs a wide casing. Weisswurst needs a skinny one, or even a sheep casing.

Sheep casings are awesome when you are done making sausage with them, but they rip easily and will cause you to swear while trying to fill them. Consider getting “pre-tubed” sheep casings, which are easir to put on the stuffer.

Beef casings are very wide and are only really used in fresh sausages for recipes where the eater can’t eat pork. They’re mostly used in salami.

The gold standard of casing companies is Butcher and Packer. No one else comes close.

Other Random Stuff

I like to have a big needle or a sausage pricker (cue Beavis and Butthead laughter) to pierce the casings of the finished sausage to remove air pockets.

You’ll want something to hang your links from. I use a wooden clothes drying rack.

Spice grinders are useful for, well, grinding spices. Freshly ground spices make a difference.

Actually Making Homemade Sausage

OK, you’re all set. Now what?

A really short tutorial on how to make sausage would look something like this:

• Cut meat and fat into pieces that fit into the grinder.
• Add the required salt and/or sugar, mix then put in the fridge overnight
• Grind once coarsely
• Grind a second time with lots of seasonings.
• Chill the meat well, then add liquid, whatever seasonings you didn’t want all ground up, and mix really well for a couple minutes. You’re done if you are making uncased sausage.
• Put the mix into the stuffer, put the casings on the stuffer, then make a big coil.
• Make the links from the coil. Tie them off. Hang for a while to “bloom.” Cook and eat.

Before we get into the basic recipe below, I’ll walk you through it in pictures.

Start with meat and fat. Usually with game, the meat is super lean, so I will go something like 3 pounds of this lean meat (venison, duck, pheasant, etc.) with 2 pounds of something fatty, like pork shoulder. Another good option is 4 pounds of lean and 1 pound of pure fatback.

Cut this into chunks that will fit in your grinder, then add the salt and mix. Set this in the fridge overnight. It will change color and get sticky.

Soak some casings in warm water and get your seasonings ready. I like to freeze my blade, dies, augur and hopper for an hour or more before grinding, to keep things cold — more on that in a bit.

Grind through a very coarse die; I prefer a 10 mm die, but you could go higher if you have one.

Mix all the spices you want fully integrated into the sausage with the meat and fat. Do this carefully, and don’t squash the mix.

If the mixture is still cold, as in less than about 37F or so, you can grind it again immediately. I do this a lot because I am fast and I start with cold gear.

Beginners with homemade sausage should play it safe and freeze the mixture for 20 minutes or so while you clean up and get ready to grind again.

It is vital for everything to stay cold in this whole process to prevent “smear,” which is when the fat partially melts and coats the meat, breaking its ability to bind to itself. You see this when your sausage comes out crumbly.

When you’re ready, grind again.

Have a couple pieces of bread, a hamburger roll or something similar handy to finish out your grind; skip this if you are celiac.

The reason is that the bread pushes every last bit of meat through the grinder, so you don’t waste any.

Once you’re all ground, chill the mixture while you clean up. This is important not only to have cold meat and fat, but also because you really do want to clean your grinder right away, or it becomes a nasty, sticky mess. Ask me how I know…

Now you are ready to create the bind in your homemade sausage.

This is when you add ice cold liquid, usually water. Wine, beer, juice, cream are all common in various recipes. Be aware that acidic things will break your bind, so go easy on vinegar if you want a tight, snappy sausage; this is called knacken in German.

You’ll also add any herbs or spices you want the eater to see, like cracked peppercorns or parsley or fennel seeds.

Mix, mix, mix! I do this with my (clean) hands for about 2 minutes. Knead like bread. As it so happens, you are creating the same sort of protein bind that exists in bread. It’s gluten in bread, myosin in meat.

This is the moment in making sausage where meat temperature is most critical. If the fat warms and smears here, you’re cooked. Crumbly sausage. What you’re doing is making myosin that forms a network around the fat, and that won’t work well above 40F.

You’re done when you see white streaks on the bowl, and when you can pick up the whole shebang in one piece.

Now put the mix in the fridge and clean up again.

If you are not casing your sausage, you’re done! Portion out your sausage into blocks or make patties.

Casing Homemade Sausage

On to casing, which gives people fits until they figure it out. Casing is arguably the hardest part of making sausage, because you need the casings to be tight, but not to burst when cooking. Oh, and by the way, the most common reason your sausage bursts while cooking is high heat, not an over-stuffed sausage.

As I mentioned above, I prefer natural casings, usually hog casings. They’re versatile for most styles of sausage, and are by far the easiest to find. Many supermarkets have them (you’ll have to ask the meat counter people), and all butcher shops will have them.

First off, you will need to soak your casings in warm water to loosen them up; they’re usually stored heavily salted, and often frozen.

If you want, you can run water through your casings to check for leaks. I used to do this when I bought cheap casings, but I’ve never had a leak in any I’ve bought from Butcher and Packer.

Thread a long length of casing on the stuffer tube; they come in different sizes for different casings. Most are fine for hog casings, but if you work with narrow sheep casings, you’ll need a narrow tube.

Leave a long “tail” on the end of the casing; this is so you can tie it off easily later. Get the condom jokes out of your system for a while, then crank the stuffer down until you see the end of the sausage come out the tube. Cue scatological jokes, which will remain funny for a half hour or so…

Crank out a full coil, fully but not overly tight — you’ll need to twist off links in a moment. Stuff everything before you make links.

There are a few ways to make links, from tying them off with twine to elaborate twisting tricks. The method I use is simple and it works. The end of the coil is one link. Then you pinch off the next link, spinning it so it will hold.

You move down the coil and spin that one the opposite way; this keeps the links from unwinding too easily.

If this is confusing, I made a short video on making sausage links.

Work all the way down the coil until you get to the end, then tie off both ends after gently compressing the meat within those final links.

Now you need to compress the meat in each link, looking for air pockets. This is important for a proper bind and snap in homemade sausage, as well as to prevent boiling fat from spraying you when you slice into a link.

When you find air pockets, use a needle or the awesomely named sausage pricker to remove them. Pierce the casing, then gently compress the meat in the link to fill it.

Now, hang your homemade sausage so it can “bloom,” which is the word we use when the links change color a bit, tighten in their skins and dry out just a little.

It’s a good idea to wait a day after making sausage before eating them, as this blooming process really improves the links.

Storing Homemade Sausage

Once made, homemade sausage will keep a week in the fridge. I like to let them sit there a couple days, then I’ll separate the links and vacuum seal them in packets I plan on eating.

I do not recommend pressure canning or pickling sausages, although people do. Just not a fan of the results.

The Recipe

UPDATED 08 SEPTEMBER 2024

by Robert Ceran

Using the right fishing rig is essential for catching trout successfully, and knowing which rig to use for what conditions can make the difference between catching your limit or getting skunked.

There’s a perfect trout rig for almost every situation, and that’s why it’s so important to master rigging for trout, as this will allow you to choose exactly the right fishing rig for your purposes.

In this article I’ll cover the 9 best trout rigs, and will discuss what each of them is ideally suited for.

How to rig for trout

In order to rig for trout, you need to choose one of three basic types of rigs:

• Rigs that present your bait suspended underneath a bobber or float
• Rigs that present your bait close to the bottom with a weight
• Rigs that enable you to cast and actively retrieve an artificial lure

While these three types of fishing rigs cover almost all trout fishing applications, they come in a variety of different shapes and forms, each of which is best suited for slightly different trout fishing setups.

So if you’re a beginner, chances are that you’re confused about all the different options of rigging for trout.

However, the great thing is that you can get started with just two or three of the most versatile trout fishing rigs, and then add more specialized rigs once you know what kind or rig works best for your pond, lake or stream.

Now let’s look at each of the most important trout rigs in more detail, to help you choose the best rig for your purposes.

And in case you’re also looking for the best bait to use with your trout fishing rigs, check out our article on what is the best bait for trout?

Trout fishing rigs with bobbers

Bobber rigs are among the most effective trout fishing set ups, and work especially well when fishing in shallow ponds and streams, as well as in shallow bays of bigger lakes, or basically in any situation where trout are active close to the water surface.

Now let’s look at the two main types of bobber rigging for trout.

Trout rig with fixed bobber

This is one of the simplest trout rigs, and consists of a fixed bobber attached to the line, as well as a hook and sinker to weigh down the baited hook in the water.

The depth at which the bait is presented depends on the distance between the hook and the bobber.

How to tie it: Attach the bobber to the line, and then tie the end of the line to the hook. The most common type of bobber used for this fishing rig is a round red and white bobber, but you may want to choose a pencil shaped bobber instead, which offers less resistance when a trout takes the bait.

If you’re not sure how to rig a fishing line for trout, take a look at our article on what fishing line should you use for trout?

When to use it: This is a great fishing rig to use in shallow ponds and streams, as well as any situations where trout are feeding close to the surface. It’s very easy to set up and a lot of fun to fish with, which makes it an excellent choice for beginners who want to try trout fishing in a stocked pond.

But keep in mind that the maximum depth you can fish this rig corresponds to the length of your rod, since you can’t cast the fishing rig effectively if you set the bobber higher than that.

How to use it: The best way to use this fishing rig is to cast it out with a baited hook and wait for a trout to bite, which is indicated by the bobber being pulled down underwater.

When you see this, set the hook immediately, so the trout doesn’t have a chance to spit out the hook when it feels resistance on the line. This is the best setup for trout fishing in streams and rivers, where you can use it to drift your bait into the best locations that hold trout.

Slip bobber rig

This is another commonly used trout rig, and should be part of every trout angler’s arsenal of fishing tools.

Using a slip bobber rig (aka sliding float rig) makes the fishing rig more compact and easier to cast with than a fixed bobber rig.

How to tie it: Tie a bobber stop on to your main line, and then thread the line through your bobber and tie the line to the hook. The best hook size depends on your bait, but generally lies somewhere between size 8 and 14.

If you’re unsure about choosing the right hook size for different trout line setups, take a look at our article on the best size hook for trout.

Attach a split shot or two to the line between the bobber and the hook. This stops the bobber from sliding down onto the hook and it also weighs down your bait, helping to present it at the right depth to the trout .

Keep in mind that some baits (like powerbait) float in the water, and you may need to add extra split shots to make the baited hook sink down to the desired depth.

When to use it: The slip bobber rig is the best choice when trout are feeding in midwater, and if you can’t reach them with either a fixed bobber rig or with a bottom fishing rig.

The great thing is that you can fish practically any depth with this fishing rig, as you just need to move the bobber stop up the line to whatever depth you want to set the bobber.

How to use it: Estimate the depth of the water you’ll be fishing in, and set the bobber stop to that depth. Then bait your hook and cast out your fishing rig to the desired spot and wait for a fish to grab the bait.

Bottom fishing rigs

Bottom fishing rigs are often the best choice when trout are found in deeper water, as they tend to feed close to the bottom most of the time. There are several options available to you in this rig category, so now let’s look at the most important ones.

Slip sinker rig

This is the simplest bottom fishing rig around, and is the one most often taught to novice trout anglers. This rig has been in use for more than a century, and continues to perform well in many situations where trout hold close to the bottom.

How to tie it: Thread a 1/8 or 1/4 oz sliding sinker (either a bullet or egg sinker) onto your main line, and then tie the line to a barrel swivel. Attach a leader to the other end of the swivel, and tie your hook to the leader. Choose the type and size of hook depending on the type of bait you want to use.

When to use it: This rig is most commonly used in lakes where trout hold in water deeper than 5 or 10 feet. It’s a great rig to use from shore, since you can cast it relatively far, and cover a lot of water with it.

It’s important to use this fishing rig with floating bait, since you don’t want your baited hook lying on the bottom where trout won’t notice it. You can use it with either powerbait (which is designed to float), or worms injected with air to make them float.

How to use it: This is the most common bait rig used for trout fishing setups, and is usually fished passively. Most anglers cast it out to a promising fishing spot and then wait for a bite. If you do this, make sure to check your rig regularly to see if the bait is still on the hook, and also test different fishing spots.

Carolina rig

This rig is very similar to the slip sinker rig, but unlike the slip sinker setup it is often fished actively with artificial lures instead of passively with bait, which is why we list the two options separately.

How to tie it: Start by threading your main line through a 1/8 to 1/4 oz sliding sinker. Next, thread the line through a plastic bead, and then tie it to a swivel or snap swivel. The bead stops the weight from banging into the swivel during retrieval, which protects the knot on the swivel from being damaged while fishing, and this is more important if you want to fish it actively.

When to use it: You can use this option anywhere where trout are feeding close to the bottom. It’s a great option to use when fishing in lakes, reservoirs and ponds, but you can also use it in rivers.

How to use it: While you can also use this fishing rig with a baited hook and fish it passively until a trout comes by and bites, the strength of the Carolina trout fishing rig lies in fishing it actively with a floating lure.

You can use a floating jig head with plastic lures such as trout magnets or power worms. After casting out, let your rig sink to the bottom, and then slowly retrieve it with a jigging movement.

Split shot rig

This is basically a finesse version of the Carolina rig, and instead of a sliding sinker it uses one or more split shots attached to the line. Since trout can be finicky at times (especially when fishing in heavily fished waters), it’s always great to have some finesse techniques up your sleeve.

How to tie it: Tie your main line to a swivel or snap swivel, and then add one or two split shots to the line right above the swivel. Next, tie a 1 to 2 foot long fluorocarbon leader to the swivel, and then tie your hook to the other end of the leader.

Next, thread a soft plastic lure onto the hook, and your trout fishing line setup is good to go.

In most cases you’ll want to use a floating lure on this rig, which will result in presenting your lure right in the strike zone every time the split shots sink to the bottom.

When to use it: This rig is a great option if you notice that the trout are finicky. This is most often the case in heavily fished waters, and especially in clear water it can be advantageous to use a finesse rig that’s harder for the fish to spot. It’s also a great trout fishing set up for small creeks.

How to use it: Cast the rig out and let it sink to the bottom. Then slowly retrieve it with jigging movements of your rod tip. The main disadvantage of the split shot rig is that it can’t be cast as far as the Carolina rig, since it comes with less weight on the line. Because of this, it’s better to use it when fishing in smaller lakes, rivers and streams.

Drop shot rig

This is another great trout fishing rig setup for bottom fishing, and one of it’s key advantages is that it allows you to place your lure in the strike zone and keep it there for a long time. Similar to the two previous rigs, it’s most often used with soft plastic lures.

How to tie it: Start by tying your main line to a 4 or 5 foot fluorocarbon leader with a double uni knot, and then tie the end of your trout leader to a 1/8 to 1/4 drop shot weight.

Next, take a bait hook and place it facing upwards, and form a loop with the leader line about 1 foot above the drop shot weight.

Pass the loop through the eye of the hook from below, and then tie an overhand knot with the loop. Finally, pass the hook through the loop, wet the line, pull tight, and you’re ready to start fishing.

When to use it: While the drop shot rig was originally developed for vertical fishing in deep water from a boat, most bass anglers can tell you that this rig works equally well for fishing from shore, and can even be fished in very shallow water. It’s a great trout fishing setup for beginners fishing in lakes and rivers.

How to use it: Cast the rig out and slowly retrieve it by hopping the weight along the bottom, while jigging the lure up and down. If you figure out where the strike zone is, you can keep the drop shot fishing rig there, and simply wiggle the lure in place without moving the weight. That way you can keep your lure right in front of the fish for a long time, without having to retrieve it and cast again.

Lure rigs

While all of the fishing rigs discussed above can be used as trout fishing setups with either natural bait or artificial lures, some options for rigging for trout are only intended to be used with lures. Let’s take a look at the most important rigs of this type that you should know.

Spinner rig

The spinner rig is the most commonly used lure fishing rigs for trout. It is most often used with spinners (such as a rooster tail or panther martin), but it can also be used when fishing with any other artificial lure designed for casting and retrieving.

How to tie it: Tie your main line to a swivel or snap swivel, and add one or two split shot weights just above the swivel. Next, tie a 2 to 4 foot fluorocarbon leader to the other eye of the swivel, and then tie your lure to the other end of the leader.

Depending on the size and weight of your lure, adjust the number of split shots to achieve the right depth during retrieval. The swivel prevents line twist of your main line, but if you’re using a lure that doesn’t generate twist, you can also tie the main line directly to the leader.

When to use it: This is one of the most versatile trout set ups, and can be used in almost any setting, from small streams to deep lakes. In most cases you should try to fish this rig in the middle of the water column, but can also go deeper than that if the trout are holding close to the bottom.

How to use it: Simply cast out the fishing rig and start retrieving. Depending on how deep you want to fish it, you can adjust your retrieve speed, and you can also experiment with letting the rig sink to the bottom before you start reeling it in. However, if you’re trout fishing over weed beds, make sure to keep your lure above the weeds.

If you’re interested in fishing with trout spinners, check out our complete guide to trout fishing with spinners.

Trout fishing rig setup with bobber and jig

This is a great rainbow trout rig to use if you’re fishing over weeds, as you can fish it slowly without getting the jig snagged in the weeds.

How to tie it: Depending on the depth of the water, you can use either a fixed bobber or a slip bobber.

So start by setting up one of the two bobber rigs (as described above), and instead of tying a bait hook to the end of the line, tie a 1/16 or 1/8 oz jig head to the line. Next, you can bait the jig head with any of a wide variety of plastic lures, and you’re ready to start fishing.

When to use it: This is a great trout fishing setup for beginners when fishing over weed beds, and when want to keep your lure just above the weeds. You can achieve this by setting exactly the right depth with your bobber.

This trout rig setup is also great for drift fishing in streams and rivers, and again you should adjust the setting of your bobber to present the lure just above the bottom.

How to use it: If you’re trout fishing in a lake, cast out the fishing rig and let the jig sink as far as it can (at which point the bobber stands up straight). Then lift your rod tip to retrieve the fishing rig about 4 to 5 feet, and then pause to let the jig sink down again.

What this trout fishing setup achieves is that your jig will be slowly pulled up and then allowed to sink again. In the case of a plastic worm, this results in the worm wiggling through the water, which is highly attractive to most trout.

See also: How to rig when trolling for trout

Ned rig

The ned rig is most familiar to bass anglers, but few people know that it also works really well for catching trout. The key feature of the ned rig that makes it so effective when fishing for trout is that it is usually fished with a floating plastic tail, which is ideal for catching trout.

How to tie it: This is the simplest fishing rig to tie in this collection. If you’re using fluorocarbon as your main line, you can tie that directly to the mushroom jig head of the ned rig and you’re ready to start fishing. If you’re using braided line as your main line, it’s best to use a 2 to 4 foot fluorocarbon leader, since that’s much less visible in the water.

When to use it: You can use this rig whenever trout are feeding close to the bottom, and it works equally well in lakes, rivers, and streams. The only situation when you shouldn’t use this rig is if you’re fishing in a lake with a lot of vegetation on the bottom, which is likely to get your ned rig snagged.

How to use it: Cast it out and let it sink to the bottom, then retrieve it for 3 or 4 feet with a jigging motion, and let it settle on the the bottom again. Repeat this until you get a bite.

What are the best trout rigs?

The 3 best trout rigs are:

• Slip bobber rig
• Slip sinker rig
• Spinner rig

Between them, these three setups cover all the three main types of rigging for trout, and if you can set each of them up and fish them effectively, you’re off to a great start.

The slip sinker rig is perfect for presenting a bait close to the bottom, which is the best depth to target trout in most situations.

The slip bobber rig, on the other hand, can be used to present a bait suspended underneath a bobber, which is great when fishing for trout that are active higher in the water column.

And the spinner rig is a great basic setup for active trout fishing with lures, which is an ideal way to cover a lot of water in search of hungry trout.

If you’re currently looking for a new trout rod, check out our article on what is the best rod for trout fishing?

What are the best trout bait rigs?

The 3 best trout bait rigs are:

• Slip sinker rig
• Slip bobber rig
• Fixed bobber rig

Each of these fishing rigs is well suited for baiting your hook with natural baits like worms, maggots, minnows, corn, salmon eggs, or scented baits like powerbait.

In addition, all of them can be used for fishing passively, by casting out your fishing rig and then waiting for a trout to pass by and take the bait.

Trout worm rigs

The best rigging for trout to use with worms is either the slip sinker rig, or the slip bobber rig. The former rig is the ideal choice if you know that trout are feeding close to the bottom, and the latter rig is better if trout are feeding higher in the water column.

When using a slip sinker with a worm as bait, it’s important to make sure that your baited hook floats in the water, as trout will not eat it if it’s lying directly on the bottom. Traditionally, this has been done by injecting air into the worm with a worm syringe (which you can get in most tackle shops).

More recently, many anglers are fishing with floating jig heads baited with worms to make their bait presentation float in the water, and another great trick is to put a small marshmallow on the tip of your hook, which also makes it buoyant.

Finally, no matter which trout worm rig you use, it’s usually best not to use a whole nightcrawler on your hook, as this is too big to fit into the mouth of a trout. Instead, cut off a 1 or 2 inch piece of the worm, and thread it onto the hook.

The best hook type to use for this rig is a baitkeeper hook, which prevents the worm from sliding down the shank of the hook.

Minnow rigs

The best trout rig to use with minnows is either the slip bobber rig, or the fixed bobber rig. Your hook size should be between size 8 and 12 (depending on the size of the minnow). The best way to hook a minnow for trout is through the upper lip.

Small fish form a large part of the diet of many trout species, which is why they can be such a good bait.

Bobber rigs are great for fishing with live minnows, since you can easily spot a trout bite when the bobber goes down, and this allows you to delay your hook set long enough to give the trout a little extra time to get the minnow fully inside its mouth.

Which one of the two bobber fishing rigs you choose depends on the depth of the water you want to fish in, and on the depth at which trout are active.

When fishing with live minnows as trout bait, it’s important to weigh them down with split shots, so they stay at the right depth.

Salmon egg rig

The best trout rig setup to use with salmon eggs is one of the following:

• Slip bobber rig
• Fixed bobber rig
• Drop shot rig

Your hook size should be between size 8 and 14, and if you use a larger hook, you can thread several salmon eggs onto your trout hook. No matter which fishing rig you choose, you need to cast very gently in order to avoid ripping the eggs off the hook during the casting process.

If you’re trout fishing in a lake or pond, the best choice is a bobber rig, as that allows you to present the salmon eggs suspended in the water. But if you’re trout fishing in a stream or river, you can use a bobber rig to drift the salmon eggs with the current.

Alternatively, you can also use a split shot rig to drift the salmon eggs right on top of the bottom of the stream. The latter approach is better for getting it right in front of the trout, but it’s harder to detect bites with this style of fishing.

Egg rigs also work very well for steelhead fishing, and it that’s something you’re into, check out our article on how do you rig for steelhead bank fishing?

Final remarks

This concludes our article on rigging for trout, and hopefully we’ve helped you find exactly the right rig for your fishing technique.

Different trout rigs are ideally suited for different trout fishing tactics – bait fishing, lure fishing, trout fishing from shore, trout fishing from a boat, as well as fishing in diverse bodies of water, ranging from small streams to big lakes.

Now that you understand the basics of what each of these fishing rigs is designed for, this should help you to choose the best trout setups to help you to catch more fish in your local trout fishery.

The HAM Team has been testing a 30 Caliber FX Wildcat Mark II for some time. Overall, this is quite similar to the original FX Wildcat in .22 caliber we tested two years ago. After all, it is a “Mark II” version of the same basic gun…

Background

The .22 cal Wildcat earned a HAM Gold Award with a 93% score, so it’s clear that the Wildcat is a great air rifle. This time we’re looking at the Mark II version.

This has longer (700 mm, that’s 28 Inches) barrel, combined with a higher capacity HPA reservoir. These are appropriate for the increased power output of the larger caliber.

Wildcat Mark II models also incorporate the FX SmoothTwist X interchangeable barrel liner system. This allows users the ability to exchange barrel liners for pellet or slug use, for example.

There’s a range of barrel liners in varying twist rates and bore specifications for compatibility with various airgun projectile weights and shapes.

We tested the regular, pellet liner in this 30 Caliber FX Wildcat Mark II.

.30 Caliber Specifics

.30 caliber is rapidly increasing in popularity. However there is still not a huge range of pellets available for it. The HAM Team had some tins of 44.75 Grain JSB Exacts. We also had some .30 caliber Predator Polymags.

Given that the 30 Caliber FX Wildcat Mark II is clearly a hunting gun, we had expected to use the Polymags for our main testing. Unfortunately – and surprisingly – the Polymags proved too long to fit into the Wildcat’s magazine.

So we undertook all the testing with JSBs…

Overall Impressions

As we know from the previous Wildcat test, this air rifle is a beautiful, fine-handling “traditional” bullpup air rifle. It’s traditional because it has a full, regular stock – either laminate, walnut or synthetic, to your choice.

If anything the 30 Caliber FX Wildcat Mark II is slightly more comfortable to shoot than the original – in the HAM Team’s opinion. We preferred the somewhat greater muzzle-heaviness of the large caliber version.

The sidelever action remains a pleasure to use and the trigger pulls back with almost no pressure at all. The average pull weight was 1 Lb 2 Oz. That’s very close to that of the .22 caliber gun we tested before and an indication of very consistent manufacturing and assembly at the factory.

In spite of the very light trigger pull weight, the second stage is very easily detected. It’s no problem at all to hold the trigger just at breaking point. Sear release is crisp and predictable.

As usual, the HAM team tested the Wildcat’s trigger as received “out of the box”. We saw no need to make any adjustments.

The gun we received was supplied with a separate Donny FL silencer, although we didn’t find the need to install it for our testing as the factory moderator muted the report sufficiently for us.

The overall shooting weight of the test gun was 9 Lb 2 Oz – including the mounted Holland’s scope. Length was 35 1/4 Inches. Both these figures would, of course, be slightly higher with a silencer added.

HAM Tester Doug Wall is a left-hander. However he found the Wildcat pleasant to shoot as the magazine protrudes very little from the receiver and because the cocking lever is mounted amidships.

The magazine is very easy to load. However there’s no “blank shot” prevention. The Wildcat does not warn you if there’s no pellets remaining in the magazine. So you do have to keep count of the number of shots fired.

Scopes

We tried the 30 Caliber FX Wildcat Mark II with two scopes. First was the MTC Cobra F1 4-16 x 50. This scope balanced well with the Wildcat and the First Focal Plane configuration clearly offered benefits for a dedicated hunting air rifle.

Then we swapped the MTC scope with a Holland’s Game-Getter 2.5 – 15 x 50 model. This dedicated hunting scope was also mounted using Leapers UTG PRO rings.

Although designed primarily as a hunting scope for firearm use, the Game-Getter displayed some interesting benefits, including the oversize elevation and windage turrets. We’ll be talking more about this scope in a future post in HAM.

Using the UTG PRO high rings, we had no problems achieving a good sight picture with either scope.

As with the first version, the 30 Caliber FX Wildcat Mark II has a fixed buttpad. It worked just fine like that for both shooters. But we felt that an adjustable buttpad would not be too much to ask on a $1,700 (plus scope) air rifle – just in case.

Speed And Accuracy

The 30 Caliber FX Wildcat Mark II tested by HAM was a powerful and accurate air rifle.

Shooting the 44.75 Grain JSBs, we recorded a 10-shot average Muzzle Velocity of 825.4 FPS. This translated to a solid 67.41 Ft/Lbs of Muzzle Energy.

As the graph below shows, the 30 caliber Wildcat achieved 28 consistent shots from a fill of HPA before “falling off” of the regulator. While there was still plenty of power available after shot 28, it would definitely make sense to re-fill with HPA to ensure vertical accuracy.

Of course, 28 consistent shots is plenty for almost any airgun hunter. Combined with the 8-shot magazine, that represents a very practical, usable combination of power and shot count.

As for accuracy, this “one hole” group of 5 shots at 25 Yards was deemed very acceptable by the HAM Testers. This combination of Wildcat, Game-Getter scope and JSB pellets certainly shoots!

At 50 Yards, the 5-shot group had opened out a little, possibly due to some gusts in the crosswind. However, this was still very satisfactory hunting accuracy.

We left the scope windage and elevation unchanged for the 50 Yard shots. The drop from 25 Yards (the sight-in range) was 1 5/8 Inches.

Conclusions

The 30 Caliber FX Wildcat Mark II tested by HAM proved to be powerful, consistent and accurate. It’s clearly a very capable bullpup air rifle that would be a pleasure to own.

We’ll finish this review by repeating the conclusions from the review of the original Wildcat. “The FX Wildcat air rifle is beautifully-designed and manufactured bullpup that’s a joy to shoot. It has the power and accuracy to be an outstanding hunting air rifle.”

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Long before Jack Carr was noticed for raising two pet moose, he was already famous.

An Alaska mail carrier at the turn of the 20th century, Carr spent his days crisscrossing the territory by dog sled, delivering mail between the Last Frontier and the contiguous United States.

In this role, Carr brought news of Alaska to a national audience. He was the first to confirm the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897, when he brought the news of gold to Seattle, the New York Times reported more than a century ago.

Only later, after moving to Washington state, did Carr procure and train two moose. He named them in honor of President William Taft and Taft’s daughter, Helen. The unusual pets brought Carr’s name to the headlines once again.

Despite the novelty and interest surrounding his pet moose, he wasn’t the only one domesticating moose during that era. From Fairbanks to Skagway, stories of pet ungulates were making the news.

‘Moose will go on vaudeville stage’

Carr’s name is scattered among various publications of the time, where he described the advances and ills of the era, from the destitute miners spending their scant money at saloons to the bustling population of Dawson City.

He took the first mail from Circle City by dog team in 1896, mushing down to Skagway, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner wrote in 1960. The next year he purportedly traveled from St. Michael, at the mouth of the Yukon River, to Seattle. His journey took only 87 days, the article says, not including the days he rested.

By 1898, Carr was described as “one of the most famous mail carriers and travelers” among Yukon pioneers by the Klondike Nugget, based in Dawson City.

A few years later, Carr was again on the move.

A 1906 article from the Fairbanks Daily Times says that Carr, “the greatest of all mushers,” had “quit the business.” He and his wife were heading to Seattle, ending his mail contract between the Yukon-Koyukuk region.

The couple had already sold a trading post they owned in Fort Yukon. Carr had also secured a gold mining claim that “relieve(d) him from any further necessity of mushing or doing anything else save watching the other fellows work,” the article says.

(The later News-Miner article says, though, that he was still mushing in Alaska in 1908, so there is some discrepancy as to the end of his mail-carrying career. At some point, though, he ended up back in Interior Alaska, with two baby moose by his side.)

In November 1909, his image appeared in the Seattle Daily Times next to two moose calves. The article was dug up by Elizabeth Cook of the Tanana-Yukon Historical Society.

“Moose Will go on Vaudeville Stage,” the article’s headline proclaims. “Jack Carr, Pioneer of Alaska, Educating Animals He Caught in Far North for Theatrical Career.”

According to the article, Carr captured the twin calves near Circle City in the Interior when they were 6 days old. He fed them condensed milk and oatmeal until they were more fully grown.

He named the two moose Bill and Helen, after President William Taft and his daughter.

Bill and Helen were brought to Seattle via steamship and train, where they lived in an enclosure on Carr’s property, the article says.

Undated images of the two moose fully grown show that he succeeded in training them to pull him in a sulky, a light, two-wheeled carriage. Another image shows a moose standing on two legs and Carr standing on a pedestal, smiling at his domesticated creature.

Eventually, Carr got bored of living in Seattle, the News-Miner reported. He moved to the now-abandoned town of Katalla, Alaska, where he lived for the rest of his life. It’s unclear when or if the moose went with him.

Moose-mounted cavalry?

Today, of course, all of this would be illegal. State law bans the keeping of game animals as pets. Moose can be kept in captivity only under certain circumstances, by zoos and other permitted facilities.

But long before the Gold Rush, other Arctic regions were experimenting with domesticating moose.

In the 1700s, Swedish King Carl XI used moose as riding animals for couriers. He also planned to make moose-mounted cavalry regiments, an idea that was presented later to the Academy of Science in Stockholm as an alternative to importing horses. The idea never took hold, though; the animals’ untrainable nature and susceptibility to disease made them less preferable to horses.

In the 1930s, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin also hoped moose would replace horses in cavalry regimes but the idea was eventually abandoned. Moose domestication projects in Russia continue today, mostly selling moose milk and serving as tourist attractions.

Meanwhile, in Alaska’s territorial days, there were no laws against keeping moose, and another famous Alaskan, J. Bernard Moore of Skagway, also had his own family pet.

Carnation the moose

The Moore family settled in Skagway Bay in 1887. Ten years later – after J. Bernard Moore successfully predicted that a gold rush would flood the valley with stampeders – their homestead was overrun with men heading north.

The city of Skagway was born, and for a short time, one of the most famous residents was a young bull moose.

The tale of J. Bernard “Ben” Moore’s moose is related in detail in “Skagway: City of the New Century” by Jeff Brady.

Moore inherited the moose in Seattle in 1899 from a miner who had brought the creature down from Canada. Its name: Carnation.

Carnation arrived in Skagway incognito. Eventually, Moore taught the moose to be put in harness, and he decided to hitch Carnation to a wagon and parade through town.

A local newspaper described the scene:

“All idle eyes in the business center of the city yesterday afternoon were amused by the sight of a fine specimen of the monarch of the woods, a moose, parading in the streets in harness and subservient to man,” the Skaguay News wrote on Dec. 30, 1899.

During his short tenure as a local attraction, Carnation was photographed, featured in stories and visited frequently, Brady writes. In 1900, the 2-year-old moose died, with his death attributed to gluttony – eating “too much clover,” a newspaper reported at the time.

Moore buried Carnation on his property and mounted the moose’s head above the piano in his home. Moore’s homestead is today a National Historical Landmark.

‘Asked many times to keep the moose out of the saloon’

A brief history of pet moose wouldn’t be complete without the infamous tale of one in Fairbanks that in 1913 annoyed city officials so much they crafted an ordinance against it.

Fairbanks bartender Pete Buckholtz acquired his calf from hunters, Alaska Dispatch News columnist Dermot Cole writes in his book “Fairbanks: A Gold Rush Town that Beat the Odds.”

The moose was fed potatoes and stale bread in winter months, and sometimes willow branches cut by Buckholtz. It was broken to harness and, like the other pet moose, could be hitched to a sled.

Docile and affectionate, the moose followed its owner around, including into the saloon where Buckholtz worked.

“Buckholtz had been asked many times to keep the moose out of the saloon, but he refused,” Cole writes.

Mayor Andrew Nerland decided that he had to do something about this nuisance moose. While the city didn’t have the power to ban the possession of a live moose, they found a loophole: They could ban moose from city sidewalks. And so they did, preventing the moose from legally entering the saloon.

If you have more information about historical game animals as pets, or any of the above men profiled, please email reporter Laurel Andrews at laurel@alaskadispatch.com.

Alaska Dispatch Publishing

It seems that the wood duck’s survival strategies include behaving far differently than typical dabblers, thereby eluding hunters who cling to conventional tactics. Woodies show far greater ambivalence toward decoy spreads, they’re less tolerant of habitats near civilization, and their haphazard use of creeks and river systems complicates scouting efforts. However, with the right plan, ample opportunities exist to bag these strikingly handsome, challenging ducks. Here are five tricks.

Scout Covertly The best places to find wood ducks include beaver ponds, sloughs, forested backwaters and oak-lined portions of creeks. In the southern United States, flooded timber and swamps along river systems are especially productive.

Your goal is not only to find the birds, but to avoid detection. Wood ducks are known to vanish when disturbed, even if not by gunfire. So, approach suspected haunts with caution and use your ears. Woodies tend to be especially vocal on the water, and their contented squeals and chuckles are all the confirmation you need to plan a hunt. Their preferred habitats provide an advantage in this regard, as the surrounding trees allow you to creep along creeks and swamps while remaining hidden.

Tailor the Spread Finding the ‘X’ is critical, as decoying passing wood ducks (i.e. running traffic) can prove a frustrating endeavor. Wood ducks will decoy, but they’re not wont to do so well outside the vicinities of their intended destinations. Set up where the woodies want to be, and use your decoys to fine-tune their approach.

A small spread of about a dozen decoys is typically all that’s required. Don’t bother with a traditional ‘U’ or ‘J’ formation, as woodies frequently buzz the decoys without circling or regard to wind direction.

However, do ensure your spread consists mostly or entirely of wood duck decoys. While most dabblers will decoy to mallards, wood ducks much prefer to flock to their own species. I like to place a dozen woodie decoys upwind of the blind, with a spinning-wing decoy or small jerk rig in between. Motion is critical, both for visibility’s sake and because decoys amidst slack water scream fraudulence to wood ducks.

As a final touch, I position wood duck decoys closer to cover than I do mallards. I believe it’s a more natural setup, but it’s a fine line, as decoys hugging the shoreline are less visible.

Call ’Em In (Yes, you can) Rarely I’ve witnessed fairly distant wood ducks turn and coast in on cupped wings to calling. Far more often they maintain course, but if one time out of 50 calling wood ducks works, why wouldn’t you keep a dedicated squeal call on your lanyard?

Ideally, of course, you are where the wood ducks want to be. In that event, crisp chatter simply lets the wood ducks know where you are.

There is one time, however, that wood ducks respond to calling better than mallards: when they’re on the water. Woodies frequently paddle in like aquatic turkeys to squeals and chuckles. Once they’re lured in range, just stand and flush them from the water for a sporting shot.

Jump-Shoot Midday Wood ducks are among the most susceptible species to jump-shooting, particularly at midday as they loaf along forested creeks. Quietly walk or canoe the creek, readying yourself at every bend for unseen birds.

If you have a partner, all the better. Position him or her downstream, as wood ducks tend to follow the water as they flee an approaching hunter, thereby providing superb pass shooting.

Limit Pressure For whatever reason, many hunters like to invite several buddies for early season wood duck hunts. If your goal is shooting a few wood ducks and moving on to mallards for the remainder of autumn, by all means take advantage of the opportunity. However, know your spot won’t likely produce thereafter. Wood ducks are extremely sensitive to pressure.

The smarter approach is inviting one buddy, shooting a couple drakes and sneaking out. Thus your honeyhole is preserved and you aren’t back to square one.

As a camping enthusiast and engineer, I can tell you that upgrading your RV batteries to lithium is one of the best decisions you can make. Lithium batteries for RV are better than lead acid batteries in so many ways that once you decide to make the switch, you would be asking yourself why you didn’t do it before!

In this guide, I will go through the best lithium batteries for RV that you can buy right now!

Now, let’s get straight to the best RV lithium batteries! Then I will also explain the different types of lithium batteries available and why the LFP (LiFePO4) is the most popular choice for RVers.

Best lithium batteries For RV

Here are the best lithium-ion batteries for RV available to purchase right now:

1. Battle Born LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Batteries

BEST OVERALL

Looking for the best lithium batteries upgrade for your RV? Look no further than the Battle Born Batteries LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery!

With this sleek lithium-ion battery, you’ll have the ultimate power solution that’s designed to last and packed with features that make it the top choice for all your off-grid needs.

Equipped with a built-in Battery Management System (BMS), this battery provides the best protection against common battery issues. It also offers superior charge and discharge capabilities, outpacing other batteries on the market.

And weighing just 29 lbs, it’s a lightweight option that can be securely mounted in any position.

When it comes to lithium batteries and off-grid applications, Battle Born Batteries LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Batteries are simply the best choice!

Don’t just take my word for it, check out the rave reviews! RVers, boaters, overlanders, and van lifers all praise the cost-effectiveness and long-lasting performance of this battery compared to their old and heavy lead-acid batteries.

Customers love the eco-friendly aspect of being able to repeatedly charge and discharge this battery, as well as the reliable battery management system that ensures safety. And the best part? All of this power and peace of mind comes at a fair price.

Renowned by experienced RV enthusiasts and sailors alike, these batteries are the preferred choice due to their exceptional quality. Simply put, they are the best lithium batteries you can find for your RV.

Why bother with the hassles of old lead-acid batteries? Upgrade now to the Battle Born Batteries LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery and enjoy reliable power every time, allowing you to fully focus on your travels and adventures!

2. LiTime MINI Lithium Battery

BEST Value

Say goodbye to bulky energy sources thanks to the LiTime 12V 100Ah MINI LiFePO4 Lithium Battery. It’s 35% smaller and 10% lighter than previous models, yet it still provides an impressive 1280Wh of energy storage.

This upgraded version makes it the perfect choice for people looking for a highly portable, yet robust and dependable power source for their outdoor adventures. It’s ideal for use on RVs, solar panels, and trolling motors.

Equipped with upgraded BMS (battery management system), this battery delivers top-tier stability and performance you can count on during every cycle. Don’t worry about rough waters or extreme temperatures.

Its IP65 waterproof housing and optimized internal layout provide maximum protection from harsh weather conditions.

Also, with an operating temperature range of -4°F to 140°F, this battery is always ready for your next adventure.

With its 10-year lifespan, this battery is built to last and has an impressive energy cycle. It is the perfect choice for those who are always on the move or those who require a long-lasting power source for their outdoor equipment. Check it out!

3. Power Queen LiFePO4 Battery

Low Temperature Cut-Off

The Power Queen 100Ah lithium iron phosphate battery is designed specifically for RVs and marine use. It utilizes high-quality LiFePO4 cells to deliver an exceptionally long lifespan of up 4000 cycles (10 years).

The built-in 100A BMS helps protect the cells.

Importantly for RVers, the battery weighs just 22 lbs, much lighter than comparable lead-acid models. This significantly eases installation and handling.

The upgraded low-temperature cutoff function stops charging below 32°F to protect the battery in freezing conditions you may encounter when camping in the snow or in cold mountain locations. For this reason, this lithium battery is best if you plan to use your RV in more extreme temperature conditions.

The Power Queen 100Ah LiFePO4 battery is a compelling upgrade option for RVers looking to enhance their RV electrical system. The higher cost may deter some buyers, but the exceptional longevity and performance make this a standout lithium battery choice for RV camping applications.

4. LOSSIGY LiFePO4 Lithium Battery

RVers looking for a good value lithium battery option should consider the Lossigy 12V 200Ah model. With its large capacity and built-in battery management system, it can offer ample power for boondocking and off-grid camping situations.

At under 50 pounds, it’s much easier to install and remove than bulky lead-acid batteries.

User reviews highlight the battery’s strong performance over the first year or two of heavy usage.

While it may not have the premium name brand recognition of some competitors, this battery delivers tremendous value for RV applications at its price point.

The Lossigy battery is well-suited for solar charging, which makes it very convenient for RVs.

Lithium iron phosphate chemistry can handle thousands more recharge cycles than lead-acid, so RV owners can count on years of service with minimal maintenance.

The battery also charges faster than lead-acid, reaching full capacity at lower voltages. This allows modestly sized solar panels to effectively keep it topped off.

Owners do report the need for insulation or battery warmers in freezing conditions. But overall, with proper setup, the Lossigy battery can provide consistent, trouble-free power while off-grid.

For most RV needs, this battery offers huge off-grid power potential at an affordable price point.

5. WEIZE LiFePO4 Lithium Battery

Would you like to upgrade to lithium batteries but you are on a tight budget? Upgrade to the WEIZE LiFePO4 Lithium Battery! It’s one of the most affordable lithium solutions for RV.

It has an outstanding lifespan of 2000 cycles at 100% and 8000 cycles at 50% depth of discharge, making it last at least 4-5 times longer than traditional batteries.

However, this falls short by about 1000 deep cycles compared to our best lithium battery pick.

It features a built-in Battery Management System that protects the battery from overcharging, high and low temperatures, over-discharging, and short-circuiting.

Compared to heavy and bulky lead-acid batteries, the WEIZE battery is lightweight and versatile, making it easy to carry and install.

Use it for a variety of applications, such as fish finders, camping, ice fishing, solar systems, home alarm systems, and e-scooters. Besides, it’s eco-friendly with no hazardous fluids, making it safe to mount in any position without worrying about spillage.

The WEIZE 12V 100AH LiFePO4 Lithium Battery is that it’s maintenance-free. With its long lifespan of over 10 years, you won’t have to bear the hassle and cost of replacing your battery frequently.

People also appreciate its cold weather protection that ensures optimal performance even in frigid temperatures.

With a 10-year warranty, you can rely on the WEIZE battery to power your devices and systems for years to come, without worrying about battery failure or damage.

With this battery you get an extremely cheap lithium RV battery solution, however, some customers were not happy with the build quality and customer service.

Upgrade your power source to the WEIZE 12V 100AH LiFePO4 Lithium Battery and enjoy its many benefits for your RV solar system.

Lithium Batteries For RV: Overview

Lithium batteries are powered by lithium-ion technology, and are an exceptional choice for RV enthusiasts seeking reliable and efficient power solutions.

These rechargeable 12-volt batteries have gained popularity as a superior alternative to lead-acid batteries, especially among RVers who frequently venture off the grid or rely on solar power.

Those lithium batteries provide several advantages over other battery types, making them the preferred choice for many RVers. Here are some key benefits:

1. Longevity: As mentioned earlier, lithium batteries have a significantly longer lifespan compared to lead-acid batteries. This durability not only saves you money on frequent replacements but also provides peace of mind knowing that your battery will last for extended periods.
2. Improved Efficiency: Lithium batteries offer higher energy density, allowing them to store and deliver power more efficiently. This increased efficiency translates to better overall performance and longer run times for your RV appliances and systems.
3. Lightweight and Compact: Lithium batteries are considerably lighter and more compact than lead-acid batteries, resulting in reduced overall vehicle weight. This weight reduction can contribute to improved fuel efficiency and a smoother, more comfortable ride.
4. Rapid Charging: Lithium batteries have a fast charging capability, allowing you to quickly recharge your battery when connected to a reliable power source. This feature is especially beneficial for RVers who prefer shorter charging times and the flexibility to hit the road sooner.
5. Deep Discharge Capacity: Lithium batteries can be discharged more deeply without causing damage or compromising their overall performance. This flexibility allows you to make the most of your battery’s energy reserves, providing extended usage during off-grid adventures.

Lithium Battery Types

When exploring lithium batteries for your camper, you’ll discover a range of options to meet your specific power needs. Understanding the available varieties will help you make an informed decision.

Common types of lithium batteries include:

1. Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4): Known for their exceptional safety and long cycle life, LiFePO4 batteries are a popular choice for RVers. They provide reliable power output, resist self-discharge, and have a wide temperature range, making them suitable for various climates. Thanks to their features and performance, those are the most popular batteries for RVs.
2. Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (NCA): NCA batteries offer high energy density and long lifespan. They are lightweight, provide excellent performance, and are often used in electric vehicles due to their ability to deliver high power output.
3. Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC): NMC batteries strike a balance between energy density, power output, and lifespan. They are versatile and commonly used in various applications, including RVs, due to their excellent performance and relatively affordable cost.
4. Lithium Titanate Oxide (Li4Ti5O12): This unique variety provides unbeatable stability and a longer lifespan. Its remarkable fast-charging capabilities and ability to endure numerous charge cycles make it a winner in terms of longevity.
5. Lithium Polymer (Li-Po): If you prioritize space-saving and lightweight options, then the Li-Po batteries are the way to go. Their slim design and flexible nature make them a great fit for smaller RVs and campers.

Choosing the best lithium battery for your RV

Choosing the right lithium battery depends on several factors, including your power requirements, available space, and budget. Consider the following when selecting a battery:

1. Power Capacity: Assess your energy needs based on the appliances and systems you plan to power with the battery. Determine the appropriate capacity to ensure sufficient power supply without overloading the battery.
2. Physical Size: Measure the available space in your RV’s battery compartment to ensure the selected battery fits properly.
3. Budget: Evaluate the cost of different lithium batteries suitable for RVs while considering their long-term value. Remember that although lithium batteries have a higher upfront cost, their extended lifespan can make them more cost-effective over time.
4. Manufacturer’s Reputation: Research reputable brands that offer high-quality lithium batteries. Look for customer reviews and testimonials to gauge customer satisfaction and reliability.

Pricing for Lithium Batteries

When it comes to purchasing lithium RV batteries, the cost is often a major consideration for buyers. It’s true that lithium batteries tend to be more expensive upfront compared to traditional lead-acid batteries.

However, it’s important to look beyond the initial price tag and consider the long-term benefits and cost savings that lithium batteries offer.

The Average Price Range for Lithium Batteries

The average price range for lithium batteries suitable for RV can vary depending on the brand, capacity, and other factors. On average, you can expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $2000 for a quality lithium battery for your motorhome.

Of course, there are premium options available that can exceed this price range, but they usually come with additional features and higher capacity.

But why are lithium batteries so expensive? Well, in truth, if you consider the entire lifespan of the batteries, they aren’t more expensive. Read on!

Given the typical price range, it’s not surprising that some RV enthusiasts may feel reluctant to make the leap into purchasing a lithium battery. However, it is important to ponder the extensive advantages and value that lithium batteries bring.

Additionally, lithium batteries provide other advantages such as faster charging times, higher energy density, and a lightweight design. These features can further enhance the value of lithium RV batteries and make them a worthwhile investment for RVers who demand reliable and efficient power storage.

What Factors Influence the Price of Lithium Batteries?

Several factors influence the price of lithium batteries. These factors include battery capacity, brand reputation, and additional features such as built-in battery management systems. Higher capacity batteries and well-known brands tend to come with a higher price tag.

It’s important to consider your specific power needs and the capacity requirements of your RV when determining the price range for lithium batteries. If you only require a lower capacity battery for occasional weekend trips, you can expect to find more budget-friendly options.

On the other hand, if you have higher power demands or require extended periods of off-grid power, investing in a higher capacity lithium battery may be necessary, albeit at a higher cost.

Leading Brands and Producers of Lithium Batteries for RV

When it comes to purchasing a lithium battery, it’s crucial to choose a trustworthy brand that offers reliable and high-quality products. There are several leading brands and producers in the market that have established a reputation for delivering top-notch lithium RV batteries.

Some well-known brands in the industry include Renogy, Battle Born Batteries, Relion, and Lion Energy. These brands have been recognized for their commitment to quality, performance, and customer satisfaction.

By choosing a reputable brand, you can have peace of mind knowing that you are investing in a lithium battery that has undergone rigorous testing and meets the highest industry standards.

However, this doesn’t mean that other brands can’t offer good lithium batteries. For example, in the above lithium RV batteries selection, I mention a few less-known brands. Those can offer viable options for people who are on a budget. Those would still offer better value compared to lead acid batteries in my opinion.

Installing and Maintaining Lithium Batteries on your RV

Installation Best Practices

When it comes to installing lithium batteries on your RV, unless you choose a portable power station or off-grid solar generator, there are a few best practices to keep in mind.

While some experienced RVers with electrical expertise may be comfortable with a DIY installation, it is generally recommended to have the system installed by professionals, especially if you plan to incorporate solar panels, solar controllers, and inverters into the setup.

Installing a lithium battery bank and a battery management system requires technical proficiency to ensure proper wiring connections and system integration.

Improper installation can lead to inefficiencies, safety hazards, and even damage to your RV or the batteries themselves. By working with professionals, you can have peace of mind knowing that your RV lithium battery system is installed correctly and functions optimally.

If you do decide to tackle the installation yourself, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully and double-check all connections.

It’s also a good idea to have a thorough understanding of electrical systems and safety measures. When in doubt, consult with an expert.

Maintaining your Lithium Battery for Optimal Performance and Longer Life

While these batteries are known for their durability, a little maintenance can go a long way in maximizing their lifespan.

First and foremost, it’s important to avoid overcharging or discharging your lithium battery. Most lithium batteries come with a built-in battery management system that helps regulate charging and discharging.

However, it’s still a good idea to monitor your battery’s voltage regularly and avoid extreme levels. If you plan to store your RV for an extended period, make sure to fully charge the battery before doing so.

Additionally, it’s crucial to avoid exposing your lithium battery to extreme temperatures. Extreme heat or cold can negatively impact battery performance and lifespan. If possible, store your RV in a temperature-controlled environment or invest in insulation for your battery compartment.

Regularly inspecting and cleaning your battery terminals is another important maintenance task. Corrosion and dirt on the terminals can hinder the battery’s performance. Clean the terminals using a solution of baking soda and water, and make sure they are tightened securely.

Lastly, it’s essential to follow the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule. This may include periodic equalization charging or other specific procedures. By staying on top of maintenance tasks and following the manufacturer’s guidelines, you can ensure that your lithium battery operates at its best for years to come.

Conclusion

In conclusion, when it comes to powering your recreational vehicle, and maximizing your off-grid adventures, the best lithium RV batteries are the crème de la crème.

These lightweight powerhouses of energy storage not only boast an impressive lifespan, but they also won’t weigh you down like their lead-acid competitors. Say goodbye to lugging around heavy batteries and hello to more freedom and convenience on the road.

No more worries about running out of power when you’re off in the wilderness or relying on a solar-powered setup. With the best lithium batteries for camper, you can rest easy knowing that you have a reliable and efficient energy source right at your fingertips.

So, why settle for less when you can have the best? Invest in the best lithium batteries for RV and experience the advantages firsthand. Your outdoor camping adventures will never be the same again.

If you also own a boat, then you may be interested in getting a battery that can work well in the marine environment. Here are the best lithium marine batteries that you can use on your boat as well as on your campervan!

Chemicals at first glance can be confusing. How are we supposed to know what all the different herbicides on the market do and which ones to use, when we can barley even pronounce the lengthy words that look like they fell out of an organic chemistry textbook. “What herbicide can I spay on my food plot?” is one of the most common questions we get, so I decided to create an herbicide guide to help fellow food plotters understand chemical weed control.

Before Planting-

Before planting any of our food plot blends, it is important to kill off all vegetation in the plot area. This creates an area that is free of any weed competition, allowing the seeds get established without fighting other plants for resources. In order to kill all vegetation, I recommend using a glyphosate product. The chemical glyphosate is found labeled under many different trade names, the most popular being “Roundup”. Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide meaning that it will kill most plants that it comes in contact with. Glyphosate works by absorbing though the leaves of the plant then spreading to all parts, disrupting amino acid production need for growth. It is important to note that glyphosate only affects actively growing plants and does not affect seeds in the soil. After the plot area has been sprayed and killed off, the seed can be no-till drilled in, or the plot area can be disked and planted.

Preemergent herbicides can also be used as a preventative application to keep weeds out of your food plots. Preemergent chemicals are used just as they sound, they are applied to the soil before the weeds germinate and emerge. Thus, with preemergent herbicides, weeds are not sprayed when they are found in the food plot, instead the area is sprayed beforehand to keep the weeds from coming up all together. There are residuals in these chemicals which stay active in the soil and has a residual killing effect on germinating plants for a specific amount of time. These chemicals can be a great tool for food plotters, but it’s important to read the herbicide label to see what crops the specific chemical is approved for and to see how long the residual effects will be on the soil as that may dictate what can be planted in the plot area later on down the road. Some chemicals won’t allow planting of specific crops within a certain time period of the application due to the ability of the chemical to kill of specific germinating seeds.

Weed Control in Fall Annual Plot- This includes our food plot blends: Brassica Banquet, Canola Crave, Greenfield, Max-Attract, Root King Radish, Shake & Rake, Trophy Grazer Oats, Turbo Turnip, Ultra Forage, & Wicked Greens

Weed control in fall annual plots is usually not necessary as long as the food plot area was prepared correctly before planting. There may be some weeds that will show up in the plot, but most will die after the first frost. The weeds should not get to a threshold where they will need chemical control in fall annual plots.

Weed Control in Perennial Plots- This includes our food plot blends: Alfa-Feast, Champion Chicory, King Ladino White Clover, Monster Mix, & Rackup Red Clover.

Weed control is a necessary aspect if you plan to keep your perennial plots lasting for years to come. Spraying onto growing vegetation to kill the weeds that are already in you plot calls for a post emergent herbicide, and a selective herbicide at that. Since you will be spraying onto some foliage that you want to keep but some that you want to kill, it is important to get an herbicide that is selective and only kills the weeds.

To understand what selective chemicals to use on perennial plots, its important to understand two main types of weeds, grass weeds and broadleaf weeds. Grass weeds have leaves that are narrow blades. Common grass weeds would be Crabgrass, Goosegrass, Giant foxtail and so on. Broadleaves, in contrast, are plants where their leaves are not a narrow blade but a more rounded leaf. Examples of common broadleaf weeds are Ragweed, Redroot Pigweed, Pale Smartweed, Cocklebur and this list goes on for miles.

The seeds that are in our perennial mixes such as clovers, chicory, and alfalfa all fall into the broadleaf plant category. With that being said, controlling grass weeds in perennial plots can be accomplished by applying a grass specific herbicide. This herbicide will only target the grass type plants and will not harm the broadleaf plants. One type of grass specific herbicide is Clethodim, which is safe on any of our perennial food plot blends.

Controlling broadleaf weeds in perennial plots can be a little bit trickier but can still definitely be done. All of the plants in our perennial plots are considered broadleaves, so we have to select an herbicide that can kill the broadleaf weeds but not our broadleaf plants that we want to protect. For our King Ladino White Clover and our Rackup Red Clover, we recommend using a 2,4 DB herbicide commonly found labeled as “Butyrac”. This will not harm the clover but can kill many broadleaf weeds. If you have both broadleaf and grass weeds in your clover, do not mix clethodim with 2,4DB in the same tank. Instead, you can either spray the plot in two different applications, one with clethodim then go back later with the 2,4 DB, or you could use Imazamox as a single application.

When chicory is added into the mix with our blends, Monster Mix, Alfa Feast, and Champion Chicory, we suggest using the chemical, Imazamox, which can be found labeled under “Imox” and “Octivio”. The great thing about Imazamox is it can control both grass and broadleaf weeds, but it is important to read the label as the plot will need to be sprayed when the chicory is at a specific crop stage in order for it to not be harmed by the chemical.

It is important to note that I only listed a small selection of chemicals on the market and there are many other chemicals that will work. When using chemical herbicides, it is always important to read the label because it will tell you how to safely use the chemical, what crops it is safe on, what weeds it kills, and what rate to apply the chemical.

Perennial Food Plot Herbicide Flow Chart

What is backlash & why do baitcasters suffer from it?

Backlash happens when the lure slows down after casting, but the spool does not—resulting in a tangled mess of line, also known as a “bird’s nest.”

It usually happens when you don’t have the spool and brake system set properly, it can happen if you aren’t using the right rod, and it can happen if you are not using the right line and lures.

The bottom line is that backlash with baitcasting rods is a mess that you absolutely want to avoid.

How to prevent backlash on your casting reel?

Backlash is what usually discourages people from using a baitcasting reel. However, there are many advantages to using a baitcaster rather than a spinning reel—such as allowing for more precision and control, giving you a more accurate cast. Then we will tell you a few ways to help prevent, or lessen backlash.

1. Choose the right (not expensive) equipment

When just starting, you want to choose the right fishing line to make it easier to untangle a bird’s nest.

Monofilament line causes the least backlash and is the easiest fishing line to untangle than a braided line or fluorocarbon line.

A heavy lure works better for baitcasting when you’re just beginning. The heavier lure will keep constant pressure on the line. When you go lighter you have to really pay attention to your arm/wrist position and how you are moving the rod. Normally, you snap the wrist with a Spinning Rod get the maximum distance but if you do that with a baitcaster rigged light, you will backlash every time. A baitcasting reel is more of a whole arm type of cast. If you could see in slow motion what happens when you snap your wrist with a bait caster, you would see a hump in your line heading out towards your lure and then traveling back to your reel. When it gets back (very quickly by the way) you get your backlash.

2. Adjust spool tension & the brake system & do a test cast

In the beginning, you need to ensure that your spool tension is set just right. You want your lure to fall at neither too high nor low of speed—but at a medium pace. There is no correct setting, so use trial and error to see where you feel most comfortable.

Just as important, you want to set the brake system to the highest setting. This gives you more control and allows less movement while you practice. When you become more comfortable, you can begin to lower the tension to allow longer baits.

3. Do not cast your lure against the wind

Casting against the wind will slow down your lure, but not your reel, resulting in backlash. As you become more comfortable with your reel and gain experience, you can begin casting into the wind.

If it’s possible, try practice casting in your backyard so you can have some control of your surroundings.

Once you’ve gotten the feel for your baitcaster, test it out on the water. You can experiment with different braking and tension settings to see which is most comfortable. When you feel that you are getting the hang of it, you can try investing in a more advanced bait caster. The most important: practice more, then you will handle it like a pro!