Two of the sport’s top guns cite product reliability, reputation, unmatched feature sets and runtimes.

It’s that time of year. Anglers are taking delivery of new boats and re-rigging older ones to prepare for the spring bite. The current trend is adding forward-facing sonar besides upgrades in screens and trolling motors. Yes, anglers are always looking for an advantage on the water and new technology can provide that. And the most important part of the installation equation? Clean, reliable power.

Observe the pre-season preparations of NWT (National Walleye Tour) anglers John Hoyer and Duane “Dewey” Hjelm, who recently completed rigging new rides for the 2026 tournament season. Poised for takeoff in just a few weeks on Lake Erie April 9-10 out of Monroe, Michigan, both anglers are new to Norsk Lithium but confided that the switch to green was a “no-brainer” after extensive research and talking to numerous satisfied customers.

Hoyer Goes Green

“Some of my best friends in the fishing industry, guys like Jay Siemens, Will Pappenfus, and others have been running Norsk Lithium for a couple years. A simple phone call to them asking them what they’ve experienced, runtimes, the deal with the higher voltage, and that was basically what sealed the deal for me – talking to others who’ve been using them and their recommendations,” offers Hoyer.

“Trusted friends and anglers who fish tournaments and run their gear hard all came back to me with very positive things to say.”

The second thing Hoyer mentions is the company itself. “Everybody mentioned how nice everybody is at Norsk and how easy they are to work with.”

Hoyer also did a bunch of his own research cruising the web and reading reviews to see real-world commentary on what it’s like to work with Norsk. Everything he found dealing with the customer support experience was positive.

Extensive research to make the battery switch, Hoyer has joined the Norsk Lithium pro team for 2026. He just finished rigging a new Ranger 622 FS PRO with a Mercury 400 V10 outboard, Minn Kota QUEST Ultrex, four Lowrance HDS12 PRO units, one Lowrance HDS16, and two Active Target 2 transducers.

Check out Hoyer’s Setup Here.

“I’m running the Norsk 60Ah 36-volt battery system – two of them in parallel for my 36V Minn Kota QUEST Ultrex for loads of trolling motor runtime. Then I’m running the 180Ah 12-volt battery for my cranking battery and a 135Ah 16-volt battery for my house electronics. I’ll have three of the HDS12s and the 16 hooked up to that, but will run one HDS12 at my dash off the cranking battery so I’ll always have navigation. I had been burned on that a couple of times after a bad charging night in previous seasons. Now the cool thing is there’s safety when running this 135Ah battery for my electronics and that’s the simple 16v DC to DC charger, which is hooked up to the 180Ah starting battery. On a little switch, I’m gonna be able to draw power from that starting battery and share some of his power with this 16v 135Ah battery for my electronics.”

Dewey Makes the Switch

It was a big decision for NWT ace Duane “Dewey” Hjelm to switch over to Norsk Lithium, and as the returning Angler of the Year, he has a title to defend. He says the promise of hassle-free tournaments and a seamless season where he can “concentrate on just fishing, not power” is also what drew him to Norsk Lithium.

“The main thing for me was the reliability and reputation through a lot of word of mouth,” says Hjelm. “I had talked with a lot of anglers I know and their experience with the batteries was impressive. I also knew that they’re great people to work with. You feel like you’re part of the family when you’re working with Norsk. Those are the reasons I switched to Norsk Lithium.”

Dewey just finished rigging his new Ranger 622FS PRO for the 2026 NWT tournament season.

Check out Dewey’s Setup Here.

“My set-up is a 12-volt 180Ah battery for my cranking battery; two 16-volt 135Ah in parallel for my electronics batteries; and two 36-volt batteries for my trolling motor. For the chargers, I’m running the Norsk EVO-TEC™ 3 Bank charger with a 12V bank for the starting battery and two 16V banks for the electronics batteries. Then I’m running a 2-bank 36-volt EVO-TEC™ charger for the trolling motor batteries. I’m also running a 16V DC-to-DC charger off my cranking battery to my electronics batteries and have that wired to a push button on my dash so I can turn it on or off whenever I want that power.”

Dewey is running a 16-inch and 12-inch Garmin ECHOMAP 2 UHD2 on his dash; on the bow he’s running two ECHOMAP UHD2 units and a 9219, along with two LiveScope transducers on his Garmin Kraken trolling motor and a Garmin LiveScope portable bundle in the back for co-anglers.

To All Anglers

Most anglers getting ready for open-water season will not rig systems as complex as those used by John Hoyer or Dewey Hjelm, but the power demands on today’s boats are higher than ever. When tournament pros depend on their electronics, trolling motors, and entire boat systems to perform flawlessly on game day, they cannot afford unreliable power. If Norsk Lithium can handle the demands of those complex, tournament level setups, you can trust it to power your rig with confidence.

For years, many anglers have relied on lead acid batteries as the default solution, but they come with a hidden cost. They are heavy, lose voltage under load, and typically need to be replaced every 2 to 3 seasons, turning batteries into a recurring expense.

Norsk Lithium changes that equation. Built with premium Grade A cells and engineered for durability, Norsk batteries are rated for 4,000+ charge cycles, which works out to roughly 15 to 20 years of use for the average angler. Instead of repeatedly replacing worn out batteries, anglers can invest once in a power system designed to perform season after season.

Every battery is backed by a 10+2 year non-prorated warranty when registered through the free Norsk Guardian^® app, giving anglers long term confidence along with dramatically lower cost of ownership.

Whether you are powering electronics, maximizing trolling motor runtime, or building a complete boat system, Norsk Lithium offers a full line of purpose built solutions for every style of fishing. Have a look here!