Todd in NY

Did you drop the probe again Matt?

There are 1" weep holes all through the hull at the bottom of several stringers. I unclogged a few of them, but the one under the fuel tank in front of the motor is a little harder to get to. I will try a small diameter push-thru snake through that hole because I have already pushed a bent piece of wire through that hole without hitting anything (about 10" thru). There are no visible valves to turn, so I suspect some are clogged. I filled the forward bilge with the bow cranked up all the way, and even added a 6" tall block under the trailer jack, and none of the water would drain back to the rear bilge area. Not even after cleaning everything out. I'll try that weep hole under the fuel tank this morning. I hope it's not a "T" because that will be harder to unclog.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I rinsed and vacuumed the forward bilge area until all I was getting out of it was clean water. It only took 3 rinses with a garden hose and sprayer attachment. All the water that I sprayed back toward the bulkhead came back toward the bow, so it appears that the fore and aft compartments are sealed off from one another. My bilge pumps are wired separately with their own toggle switches and float switches.

Fishing line can be bad news. I'm a stickler for not letting that stuff hit the deck. My backup bilge pump is one of those 4ft long, hand bilge pumps from Lowe's, just in case I lose battery power for some reason. So far I have found loose change, electrical tape, connectors and zip ties in my bilge. That's why I'm putting all my attention on cleaning the bilge areas this week.

Thanks Chas! I have one bilge pump up under the cuddy floor and a 2nd one back in front of the engine. The engine compartment floor sits a little lower than the front bilge area. I am able to push a piece of fence wire up the questionable drain hole in front of the motor, a good 10-12" and not hit anything. I guess I could try to stick my inspection camera up that hole to see if I hit a clog or a bulkhead. I'm pumping it out with my shop vac today, and then I'll rinse it and pump it until I get all the debris out of it.

Thanks Gill-T. I worked on 120ft crew boats and larger fishing boats (53-87ft) down on the Texas Gulf Coast with engine rooms big enough to dance in, and those engine rooms were spotless, even with 3 main diesel engines, so I like a real CLEAN bilge on my boats. I'm still getting this Bayliner up to my standard, but it was already pretty darn good for a 29 year old boat.

That makes sense to have them separate for the reasons you mentioned. That might be why they have a front bilge pump and a rear bilge pump. I plan on using a wet/dry shop vac to remove the water from the front bilge tomorrow. There was "trash" like decayed leaves in the bilge that can clog a bilge pump, so I am cleaning that stuff out real good so it doesn't cause any problems in the future. I have an automotive type inspection camera I can use to see if there is a sealed bulkhead between the 2 compartments. I'll report back with my findings. Thanks for the reply!

Both bilge pumps work as they should. I keep the boat on a trailer in my driveway, so today I decided to rinse out the bilge area from the cuddy all the way back to the engine. It looks like the front bilge area is supposed to drain into the engine area but mine does not. Am I wrong for thinking the the front bilge under the main floor should drain into the engine area? There appears to be a drain tube under the rear of the fuel tank/front of the engine, which is where I think it should drain toward the engine area. I used some household triple strand electrical wire (I think its 10/3) to try to run down the center line of the hull from front to rear and it kept getting caught up somewhere under the fuel tank. It's either clogged really well, or the drain pipe I'm seeing in front of the engine isn't for the front bilge to drain back to the rear. Any ideas whether or not it should drain all the way back, or how to clear a clog if that's what's going on? Thanks!

Thanks Pap, the boat performed above my expectations in those conditions! I was trying to take pictures and video but it was too rough to hold the camera steady. I tried taking pics of the Black River Bay as I was heading NW into it, where we were hitting those choppy 5 footers that kept swallowing by bow, but the camera just wanted to focus on the water-sprayed windshield. I don't blame you at all for trailering to Sackets or Henderson. I'll start another thread to show some pics of my boat on the trailer, because that's about all I have for the most part.

Yep, that's why I left my fishing gear at home yesterday. At least you tried though!

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the Henderson area. Henderson Bay is littered with shallow rock shoals that tear up props and lower units every year. You usually can't see them before you run up on them. Get to know the bays real well so you don't ruin your equipment/ It's been a slow start to the fishing season from what I'm hearing. There's plenty of different types of fishing around the Henderson area. I'm the wrong guy to answer specific questions for you. It would be a good idea to introduce yourself in the new member section. Tell us what kind of boat you have, what experience you have on the Great Lakes, etc. Where did you move from? There's plenty of knowledgeable members here that can answer many of your questions. Best of luck and stay safe!

Yeah, the waves were brutal in Black River Bay, but bearable in Henderson Bay. What size boat were you in? Even a drift bag off the bow wouldn't have slowed you down enough.

That sucks! My electrician got the radio working that came with my boat, and I have a handheld for backup. I plan on fishing the first part of July when all these high school grad parties are over. Did you get a fish hawk yet?

Thanks Matt, I thought about you when I drove by your marina at 1:30 today. Did you get your radio installed?

I knew it would be, but I wanted to get my "new" boat out on the water (1987 Bayliner Trophy 2160 hardtop with a 5.0L OMC Cobra). We left our fishing gear at home and I took my son and his girl friend to Henderson Harbor. We launched at the public boat launch and made our way north to the Black River Bay. My plan was to drive up the Black river Bay to visit Sackets Harbor, but as we entered BRB we found ourselves in 4-5ft choppy crap. It was so choppy that my bow was plowing through the tops of some of the swells. We turned around on the south end of BRB where it meets Henderson Bay because the farther north we went the worse it got. It was Emily's first time out on big water and she went from having fun to getting a little sick feeling. The boat handles the rough stuff better than I expected, and it wasn't a bad boat ride at all. But it wasn't fishable either, at least not in my opinion. Still a good day because we got out on the water. Did anyone try to fish out there today!