lrg355

I currently have a 4.3 Mercruiser which has 5 drain plugs. Pull them out one at a time and blow compressed air into the drain plug thread area. A hose with a rubber cone for good sealing against the hole in the block and a valve upstream does the trick.  A few blasts in each hole and you will be amazed what comes out.  I run in a muddy area on Sandy Pond and it sucks up a lot of mud especially late in the season. Been doing it this way for over 40 years with no problems.  Had friends that just pulled the plugs or didn't do the antifreeze properly and had cracked blocks.

But who determines who is lying????

Go to WalMart and get 50 lb Shakespeare.  It is quite large in dia so the fleas cannot grab it. It is also very inexpensive.  Put on about 200 ft, this is enough to cover your vertical member from the  down riggers. Put on about 20 ft or so of 25 lb test leader to cover the distance behind the ball.  Problem solved.  Pay attention to knots so you don't have a problem thru the rod eyes and level wind on the reel. Has been working for me for many years.

Used to fish Park De La Verendrye in Quebec once or twice a year until my father passed away.  Had many good trips there.  Drivable and loaded with lakes for pike and walleye.

22 hours ago, Sk8man said:

Rodents are attracted to the plastic wire covering because it contains urea so covering it somehow with either conduit as suggested or perhaps spraying it with something noxious like WD40 or electrical cleaner spray might inhibit them

Found a braided sleeve for wiring online that is supposed to be rodent resistant.  Costs about $1 a foot.  May give it a try.

Was planning on a walleye trip to Oneida tomorrow.  Once again trailer lights not working.  Chewed in inaccessible places.  Happens almost every year because trailer is stored outside.  Any preventative suggestions when rewiring would be appreciated.

Been slow in Mexico too!

I will be out of town for about two weeks.  I will take 6 or so if u have them. Maybe a few in blue also.  Please put them on the side until I am available.  Thank You.

I would b interested in this one.  Black back, orange belly.  Live in Wilkes Barre area so I can arrange to meet.  I have bought from u before.  Met in Moscow area 

This is what the fuel fill tube looked like when I pulled it out of a 85 fish and ski 195 that I rebuilt

Lately you need to be in 180++ get of water and be capable of getting down to 140 to 160 on riggers and other methods.  No good temps above that.

Sounds like you did well on a slow day.  

Another hint is to avoid the wire packing up on the transom side of the spool.  I push mine over while retrieving every 20 seconds or so to avoid this. If you don't manually "level wind" a bit the cable will pack up on one side and eventually fall over causing a slack spot in the windings which causes a rough bump when lowering the next time. This can cause a cable breakage especially if not using a snubber with Cannon original cable.   Ask me how I know !!!

21 hours ago, Ecto2 said:

Recently shook out a "new to me" boat that has cannon Mag 5's  immediately was concerned with the speed and auto stop bounce.  Purchased HD Fish Thief rigger snubbers and on the first fishing trip with them was very happy with my decision.  They absorb the shock and keep the weight just under the water line.  Makes getting to my releases easier too.  May rig up a section of heavy Kevlar braid (or something similar) to tie in between the terminations from the ball to release just incase it ever comes loose there would be one last hope that i don't lose the weight if the snubber breaks. (similar to the idea of the Dacron that they used to put inside the LJ dipsey snubbers).  Something about not trusting a jelly-rope just hot-welded together... 

A bit of a story about fish thief snubbers with Scotty cable on my Cannons.  About a month ago I was cleaning my boat and I temporarily put my starboard rigger ball from its normal position to sitting on the transom.  Finished cleaning and forgot to put it back.  Went fishing the next morning.  1 mile across Sandy Pond and 7 miles out to 150 ft of water at 25 mph.  When I went to set the rigger I was shocked that it was out 75 ft but the 16lb torpedo was still attached.  Fell off the transom somewhere during the morning run out.  The snubber was stretched beyond recognition but did not break.  The Scotty Cable also was good. Can't get a better test than that.  

Get rid of Cannon cable, put on Scotty cable.  Use Fish Thief snubbers at the ball.  Loosen the clutch to just before slipping than lower the rigger normally with motor.  No more problems!!

Ttt

Received wrong plugs.  Won't fit my 4.3 Merc With Vortec heads but will fit most other Mercruiser., 3.0, 5.0, etc.  $10 for the set of 6.  Pickup in Pulaski area only.  Will fit pre Vortec 4.3.

Simrad and Lowrance are basically the same because Simrad is the parent Co of both. Is the unit cable steering or hydraulic?  Sometimes takes a bit of effort to find the right person at the help line but once you do they can b very helpful.

Actually, width of opening is 3.072.

Much more accuracy than you need. As they say, I'm not shooting rabbits.

Actual inside clearance is .280 x 3.070.  so a 1/4 thick by 3 in wide plate is good.

I occasionally pick one up while fishing for browns in Apr and May but it is only one or two per season.  I would think you would be much better off fishing the bays and estuaries for walleye.

My flea solution.  Go to Wal Mart and get 50 lb test Shakespeare line. It is large enough diameter that the fleas cannot grab. It is very inexpensive and never has an breakage problems.  Put on 200 or so feet than tie on  20 feet or so of  25 lb test Big Game. Use knots that won't have problems thru eyes and levelwind guide on both ends of the 50 lb test. The 50 will be in the vertical position of the downrigger setup and resist the fleas.  Not many fleas will be able to grab horizontal running 25 Big Game on the horizontal position just after the release.  Been doing this for 20 years with not much flea problems.

My 2021 Suzuki 9.9 came with a 4 blade prop.

Can add other pictures of helm etc, next week.  Not at camp till then.

I took a different approach than usual.  I had a very little used Lowrance outboard pilot hydraulic from a previous boat so that saved me about $1200.  It is integrated into my existing HDS12 gen 2 Touch. I used a Vevor hydraulic steering setup ($350) on my 9.9 Suzuki.  The setup only controls the Suzuki and not the main Mercruiser 4.3.  I find it very responsive since it is not turning the out drive, just the trolling motor. I can trim up the Merc all the way when trolling if necessary.  I mounted the helm in a convenient place on the lower dash and put a 4 in crank handle on it to turn the kicker manually. I have a low water situation at my cottage at times which is problematic for using main power to get to my dock.  I can trim Merc up fully and get to dock with Suzuki manually since I have it set up such that the skeg doesn't go below lowest part of hull.  Very happy with setup.