Remember When Brakes on Boats Were Just a Joke? Well, They Ain't No Mo'

Can't speak for anyone besides yours truly, but there were a few times in my distant past (before I turned wuss, that is) when I came haulin' round a blind corner in the middle of winter and ran smack dab into the middle of some hunters' decoys. Fortunately, they always bought my humble apologies. However, given the climate we live in today, I likely would have some serious doubts whether apologies would suffice in those situations now.

All that aside, though, I was doing some Google research this morning when I purely accidental-like came across something that really grabbed my attention. These particular critters are called SeeLite See-Brakes 2.0. My first thought after seeing a picture of 'em, along with the price tag, went something like this: "SeeLite See-Brakes--See Yo' Money Disappear." My second thought was, "Boy, I sure wish my ol' fishin' buddy Jack Green was still alive to see this."

Ya see, Jack was a senior member in one of the first bass clubs I ever joined up in Northern Virginia. He drove an old aluminum, stick-steering rig and was one of the nicest guys you could ever want to know. Jack only had one problem that gave me pause for concern. On any given morning when the sun was just comin' up over the horizon, if it got to hittin' the back of Jack's neck at just the right angle and long enough, he just might doze off, all the while with his hand on the throttle. On far more than one occasion, when I was his backseater, and we'd be approaching one of those bridges across Lake Anna, I would have to tap Jack on the ol' noggin' with one of my rods, just to make sure he still was awake.

But, I'm getting off the subject again.

As detailed in the online info about these See-Brakes, they are designed to give live sonar fishermen the ultimate tool in boat control. This is an all-in-one control system that allows you to mount 30- or 40-pound trolling motors on your existing shallow-water anchors to provide "brakes" in deep water. More importantly, they "will stop your boat at a moment's notice," according to the advertisement. "Never again worry about spooking a fish due to having to stop your boat with your bow-mounted trolling motor. This prevents backwashing the fish, while never taking your eye off of your target."

The system comes 100 percent plug and play, utilizing a custom control box that allows the user to control speed and offers a "soft start" feature to protect your shallow-water anchors.

"We include a stomp switch with lever for those high-wind days, along with an adjustable dial, so you can perfectly dial in your speed on your trolling motors," the advertisement further says. "Will include all brackets, hardware, wire, control box, speed-adjust dial, stomp switch, surge protector, connectors, etc., that you will need to install. These need to be hooked up to a 12vdc battery ONLY. They are sold as a pair."

The advertisement also points out that the version 2.0 has all new upper and lower brackets, marine-grade tinned wires all around, higher amp-rated control box, trolling-motor-wire-connection outside of box, and new stomp switches. The trolling motors in the kit are either two 30-pound, 12vdc or two 40-pound, 12vdc MinnKota Enduras, complerely built out and ready to install on your Power Pole Blades, Power Pole Sportsman IIs, MinnKota Raptors, or Power Pole Pro Series IIs.

Oh...almost forgot...the price tag on all this is a "cool" $1,450.

Incidentally, a little further research revealed that crappie fishermen are getting in on this latest advancement, too. Saw where one fella and his son have been using "crappie brakes" on their boat since they got Livescope back in 2019. Seems they were frustrated like everyone else running over fish before they could catch 'em.

Said Pa, "We sure got some funny looks and comments when we first started showing up at the ramp with our twin trolling motors on the back. When my son won the 2021 Wally Marshall Expo," Pa continued, "he made a video for Bass Tank, talking about how he mounted them on his boat. Since then, they've been popping up everywhere...with a few companies making really nice setups now," he concluded.