Oct 13, 2014 - There's fishing yet to be done this season, but it's always a good time to be thinking about boat maintenance.

BassResouce.com has some good boat maintenance tips, starting with, "An ounce of prevention outweighs a pound of cure." We agree.

Here's an excerpt:

We went to one of the best in the business for your biggest fishing investment in the sport — your boat and motor. James Wilkins, owner of Bowie Marine in Decatur (Texas) sells and services bass boats and Mercury and Evinrude motors and has many years experience with just about every make and model of bass rig. Here are his suggestions.

On your first fishing trip to the lake following winter storage, or even after just a fairly short time of not using your boat, there will a few things that should be checked to insure you have a good trip.

Says Wilkins, "Having spent over 20 years in the marine business, both in boat sales and service, I've learned that prevention of problems begins with some very simple maintenance."

According to his "check list," an important item to check before ever leaving the house is your batteries. All batteries should be fully charged and full of acid. Most battery problems occur because batteries are over charged. This boils the acid out and greatly reduces the life of the battery.

Another of the most overlooked things in boat maintenance is the kill switch lanyard. "Many times a customer has come to me," says Wilkins, "and said his engine wouldn't start. What I generally find is that the lanyard cap has deteriorated and the button on the MI switch is in the stop mode. "Before you panic, pull the lanyard off, depress the button by hand. If the engine starts just replace the lanyard."

Good, helpful stuff. Read the full post here.