longbow

I've an 89 Pro Line Sport Fisherman with a salt water transom. Big heavy boat and extremely stable. Wide open in the back so lots of room for fishing. Now that I think I have the shifter thing straightened around it was very stable this a.m. Seas were kind of a rolling chop, small white caps etc, wind out of the NE and truthfully was very comfortable trolling around. Just me on the boat and it just doesn't get blown around much if at all.

Actually this chick I work with, her husband is a marine mechanic so maybe I can get some help there. Yep went to Barretts last year to get oil from them cause they are the only one's that have it. The other problem is that I can't tow my boat cause I have no truck yet. Store it at Hughes and Norm just hooks it up in the barn and drops it in for me. The work around I am going to do tonight after dinner is zip tie it. Mercury in Fon du Lac said it might work for a good bit. We'll see. Simple problem but a difficult resolution. There is a unit in good working order on ebay that is identical looking to the one I have so might just spring for it. It's driving me nuts though I'll say that. thanks

L&M Marina in Wolcott correct? That is who I called. Hopefully that's the right one. I called as I've called more than a few. So there ya go.

Hey beats me but I have called about half doz. dealers/mechanics etc etc. No one it seems that I have called will work on outboards, especially Mercury outboards. I will call Bryce Marine today to see about those folks. Arnie's was a no go, Shumway, Krenzers, L& M Marine, Dennis Simmons, etc.etc. Matter of fact I'll call Mercury in Fon du Lac at some point today too. I have a part number of a unit that is very similar maybe just shorter cables. I ain't called Fowlers yet though. Hard to believe this is such a hard fix. I have also come up with what might be a fix for it too. Heading out there this p.m. to Hughes and check on it. thanks

I have a 225 Opti on my boat a 24.5' Pro LIne. The forward and rev. cable keeps popping out of the little pawl. There are a top and bottom cable link that hold the shifter cable. No matter how tight I tighten the lock nut it just eventually pulls out. Very gritty to shift it back and forth. Now I've tried the cables themselves and they work fine when tugging on them by hand. DId the lubrication thing too. Matter of fact over the weekend I took the whole thing apart down to the springs for the ball detent and the like, cleaned everything, re-lubed but still it seems to want to pull out of the pin that goes through the cable end. Seems like I can take the thing apart in my sleep now. The cables move nice and free so I know it isn't a kinked cable. I pinched the two ends together before leaving last night and had forward and reverse but didn't thoroughly test it. Any help is appreciated. It is a top shifting unit by Mercury with power trim/tilt for the engine. thanks PS hence my need for a dockside service mechanic

Rods say graphite. Looking at one now. thanks

Did I mention dock side service? thanks

I gotta get the boat fixed before any new bites! Just anticipating the bite is all.

Got it! thanks

Bought'em and got'em yesterday. Made in China like everything else it seems nowadays. That said, seem like a good rod. Graphite blanks, med. action, very well wrapped heavy ceramic eyes, and nicely finished with about a 13" butt section with triggers. Heavy duty looking reel seats too. Fit and finish is very good it seems. Fit together well and come apart well. thanks

My Pro Line has a 225 Opti on it. I use sea bags. Have used only one but am going to go to two bags after some advice to just being able to run the motor at a slightly higher rpm with 2 bags vs. 1. The Pro Line I have is a very heavy boat when loaded with fuel but the Opti doesn't seem to have any problems running at trolling speeds and it is pretty darn quiet. The one thing I've found out about fuel injected motors especially the Optimax and on my bagger is that good batteries are a must. For instance, last week fishing the boat a couple of times the motor stalled when trolling. Just didn't seem to run that well frankly. This was on Thurs. Saturday go to take it out and wouldn't start. So get the DVM out and check the batteries and of course one is dead. I have a Cabela's gel crank 1100 amp battery on one side and an old Interstate crank on the other. After getting a bit of sticker shock on pricing batteries I settled on an Advanced Auto 100 buck 1000 cranking amp Marine Battery. Put it in and right when the engine started up I knew something was better right away. the engine ran so much smoother and just sounded stronger even though it was idling at the same rpm range. Took it out Sat. evening and trolled from the point off Hughes to about a mile or so just east of Ginna, calm water, nice evening, and that engine ran right about 2.8-3.0 mph perfectly. Never once skipped a beat, stalled, burped or farted. So good batteries are a must. Everyone says to plan on every 2 years replacing a battery so that is what I going to do. So I use an Opti 225 for trolling. When I am done fishing I run the motor hard for about 10 minutes or so, usually back to Hughes depending on where I am on the lake. thanks

I am located at Hughes between Pultneyville and Sodus Pt. Have a 25' Pro Line with an Optimax 225 that is in need of some new forward/reverse cables and to change out filer. Anybody know any one that is reliable to do the work? thanks

Ok, anybody know the quality of these rods? I know years ago more than I care to remember, South Bend was a name in the fishing arena. One of the best spin cast reels I've owned was a South Bend when I was kid. Used to blow away my brothers Johnson reels. Thanks for any factual opinions and help.

Yep live there off and on during the spring-fall. Keep the Klondike Willie there too all year. Love the place. Stormin is wonderful as is wife and pretty much everyone there. The dude works from sunrise to well past sunset. Regulars there had a field day on Sat. I wasn 't one of them. Still not all together jiggy with the program of this lake fishing. Mackerel and Coles showed everyone how its done as is my understanding and those two will probably forget more than I'll ever cypher out about trolling. Who'd athunk catching fish just below the surface over so much water depth. Not me!

Did the winterizing thing myself. Actually pretty simple. Put the motor in the down position for a week and made sure all the water drained out. Drained the gear oil out and refilled with the correct gear oil, 90 wt Quicksilver synthetic.(just a note here, the gear oil that drained out looked perfect to me, no discoloration, no build up on the magnets at all. I am wondering why I changed it?) Then took the cowling cover off, and looked at the fuel separator and it was put in just before I bought the boat, end of July is marked on it. Frankly I had no clue as to how to get to the bottom line coming into it to take that off. Nor did I have a clue as to how to actually get the filter off of it without a tool which I don't have. Added marine stabo, about 22 oz. and hooked a hose up to the motor and ran it for about 10 minutes. I am going to put trickle chargers on it for the winter as that is what the original owner would do and he never had a problem. Re washed the boat and waxed it. I think I am good to go. Stored in a pole barn with a large loose tarp over it thanks to Mackeral. thanks

Thanks so much. Now that is what I call some good INFO! thanks man

I have a Garmin GPS and a Ray Marine auto pilot. Mine seems to work excellent no matter what the speed or how rough the conditions. Although at trolling speed with heavy rollers you get the mulitple beeps on ocassion but it usually corrects itself in short order. Frankly on the big lakes I don't know how you would get along without one to be truthful. The only thing left to get for the boat is radar. Next spring for that maybe. thanks

I don't know what I'll do yet. Maybe have a guy come down to the Marina and do it and just watch him. I know you are supposed to drain the fuel filter and I figured the lower unit oil and refill it. It's direct injection so I don't think you should fog the engine cause of that. I was thinking getting some Stabo and dumping that in the tank and running the engine to circulate it and be done with it. It's fuel injected and there ain't much to them save the computer so what's to do really. One fella told me put the Stabo in it, empty the fuel filter and be done with it. I mean how much water gets in the top end? Maybe dump some Mystery oil in it and ciculate that and then the Stabo. Beats me, maybe I"ll just call Mercury. thanks

Thanks fellas. Appreicated.

Ok new to Great Lakes fishing this year, maybe a bit more than a month ago purchased a Pro Line salt water edition with a Mercury 225 Optimax for power. Older boat but well kept. I mean the fella that owned it was fastidious up the ying yang about it. Anyways I likes it and obviously in a couple of weeks maybe a month more I need to get it ready for winter. The boat has a hose and water pump on it to hose the deck down. I know I have to drain those lines but do I add anti freeze to them? The other is the lower unit on the motor. I assume I need to change the gear oil and in my bagger I've always run Mobil 1 Super Syn 75-90 in the tranny, will thise work in the lower unit on the Optimax motor? Or should I just say screw, bite the bullett and have someone do it for me and watch them the first time? thanks for any and all advice, and if anyone is off Pultneyville-Hughes Marina tomorrow p.m. I'll be flat lining some plugs and Suttons. thanks PS forgot to mention the Optimax is a saltwater model also but I think that just means it has more s.s. parts in it correct?

Yep fishing in a 24' Pro Line with a 225 OptiMax using sea anchors, one or two as I see fit, but mostly one. I think we have to have the boat out of Hughes by 10/15. I'll hit the streams after that and do a bit of bow huinting with my longbow. thanks

I'm fishing out Hughes Marina, named our boat the Klondike Willy. After my first two PB's. Anyways took my brother out yesterday in the p.m. and trolled from just about Ginna east to Sodus Point. Marked fish anywhere from 95-45'. Lots of bait too. Ran about 1.5-2 miles out maybe a bit less. 2 bites on the down riggers but no hook ups. New at this and like my 5th time out since we bought the boat. I am just finding my sea legs so to speak. Kind of rolly out there yesterday in the afternoon. But did mark what seemed to me like a lot of fish. So there ya go. thanks