Bad Habit

Thanks for the suggestions. After looking at some of these I think I might be interested in trying a Humminbird Helix 5 DI. For the money it looks pretty good. I've always had Lowrance and Eagle products but have had my share of issues. I just need to read up a little on this "down imaging" and "switchfire" technology to understand it a little better.

I've been having trouble with an old Eagle fish finder and am interested on opinions as to what might be the best color fish finder under $500. Do people prefer a dual frequency? I've always had Lowrance and Eagle so I don't know much about what else is out there at that price. Any help or suggestions would be great. Thanks, Rick

This Eagle Seafinder 480DF is an older unit so I though I might get lucky and find someone who has one they no longer need and would like to sell. I believe the the part# is HST-50/200-WSU and has the gray connectors. Anything I find online is new and they want more than my unit is worth. Thanks Rick

What is the model of the Garmin fish finder?

Had new canvas made Last year and was wondering what is recommended for cleaning and protecting the vinyl windows (eisenglass?) so far I've just used warm water and soft cloth but thought there must be a good way to protect it too. Found mixed ideas on the internet so I thought I would ask here. Thanks, Rick

4x for John Mann. Had full canvas done last year. Great job at a very reasonable price.

Seems I'm not receiving slot of radio transmitions on the VHF when the boat is running. I can also here static from my fishfinder "pinging" on the radio when the squelch is turned down. Could using resister type spark plugs help solve this problem. If so what plugs would be recomended for a 1987 350. 5.7 mercruiser? Thanks for any advise, Rick

I had the same problem with my 1987 5.7 merc. Tried everything I could think of. It turned out to be exactly what Vetting described with the nylon check balls by the thermostat. I pulled the hoses, tightened the nut which put more pressure on the nylon balls so less water was being pushed out the exhaust manifold. I'm not sure how to correctly set them, mine was trial and error but worked like a charm. At least it's an easy try. Good luck

I 'll take 10 kings any time. Congrats on a good day

Guess we should have headed west. Sounds like a great day. We fished east of I-Bay between 10 and 20 feet. Lots of debris and not to many fish. Fished from 6:30 till about 11. Went 2 for 4 on browns. Dropped a nice one after fighting it for a few minutes. Beautiful morning.

Ditto, thanks for the suggestions

Been having some "weird" stuff happening with electronics on the boat. ( erratic readings on my tach. VHF radio not receiving much traffic, gas gage not working (only when the rank is full), bad temp reading on my fish finder, engine has a slight surging up and down at trolling speed and probably a couple of things I can 't think of now. I suspect it might be a grounding issue. Is there an easy check for this?

Tried to log onto the loc website to register for the derby and found it was "temporarily down". Has anyone heard anything about this? I sure hope it is only temporary.

hawkeye625, the derby is a trout and salmon derby but if you look at the prize structure it says " $$$$$ for the biggest salmon" in each derby. That tells me that trout are only eligible for prizes from 1st place to 20th in each division but not the grand prize.

I do believe it was used. Looks like that's the next step to take. Thanks.

This is a new problem for me. it used to work fine. I can bump it up and it will be ok for a while and then just rev higher without touching the throttle. Does anyone know if the mercruiser "brain box"could cause this? I had it replaced and it seems like the problem started shortly after. Is the brain box and ignition amplifier the same thing?

I have a problem with my 1987 350 mercruiser. When I try to bump up the throttle from a slow troll (about 800 rpms) the motor will run for a few minutes then surge to about 1100 rpm. I can't dial in the speed between 2 and 3 mph. I've tried everything I can think of to fix this including having the carb rebuilt, all new plugs, wires, cap, etc. I even tried to lube the throttle cable. Now I'm looking for a dependable mechanic in the Irondiquoit Bay area who might be able to help out. Thanks, Rick

Thanks for the replays. I think I'll stick to the oil I've been using and never had a problem ( If it ain't broke don't fix it) Rick

Does anyone use or recommend synthetic oil in a 1987 350 mercruiser? I've been using a straight 30W for years but wondering if there would be a benefit to using a synthetic. If so should I stick to mercruiser oil or could I use Mobil 1? Thanks Rick

Finding a lot of mildew on my canvas and need advice for a good product to kill mildew on sunbrella? Thanks, Rick

If that doesn't make you want to go fishing it's time to sell the boat. Very cool!

I'm looking at replacing the prop on a 1987 25' fiberglass boat with a 350, 5.7 Mercruiser. Right now I am using a 17 pitch.(recommended in the manual) The question I have is can I change to a 19 pitch to try to troll a little faster without having to bump up the rpms so much? I realize the rpm at wot will change and the boat will be more sluggish out of the hole but if there isn't any harm the gas savings might be worth performance loss. Thanks, Rick

Anyone fishing smallies in the lake from I-bay? Haven't tried in a few years but I heard it was a little better last year.