fishinwrench

A pair of flip-flops, and some duct tape.

91 is fine. I personally burn 87 in my own because I think it may be fresher. It's a toss up. Nobody really knows whether higher octane is beneficial or not in 2-stroke outboards where the addition of oil mixed in the fuel already slows the burn. You may very well be throwing money away buying more expensive fuel, just the same as with additives. A case could be made in either direction.

When a bass bites a jig you really have to hammer 'em. They can clamp down on the mass of a jig n trailer to the point that no matter how hard you jerk the jig doesn't move inside the fishes mouth....it just pulls the fish towards you. If you know the depth range that most of your bites are coming from try shortening your cast. The less line between you and the fish the more likely you'll detect the bite sooner and get them stuck good. If you could be just 5-6 feet closer when he bit you'd probably get them stuck better. 12# is definitely on the light side for jig fishing though. I throw 15 or more often 20.

No unless there was evidence of impact. Don't neglect to install dual cable or hydraulic steering when you upgrade from the 115. A single cable steering system is not adequate for a 150.

No I don't care for additives of any kind. Neither did my instructors where I trained. When I'm trying to diagnose a running issue I want nothing EXTRA in the fuel. Just clean fresh fuel. I have torn down many MANY engines, some that were run religiously from day #1 with the latest/greatest additive on the market, and others that weren't. The difference in carbon deposits throughout, and carb/vapor seperator/injector sludge is 100% undetectable. I'm convinced that fuel additives do nothing but cost you money for no good reason. Try to burn the fuel you have soon afteryou buy it and don't try to "save" it. Keep the fuel in your tank as fresh as possible. Guys with 4-strokes love to brag about how they only burned 4 gallons of fuel all day.....Well then why'd you buy 25 gallons???!!!!

Awe man, too bad we're not on speaking terms anymore, I had a real side-splitter ready to post.

The majority of hard-start problems on carb motors are caused from a weak starter. It just doesn't spin the motor fast enough to produce a strong (hot) spark, or to suck enough fuel through the slightly tired reeds. Or a primer that only lets enough extra fuel in to fire a couple cylinders. The few cylinders that get the extra cold-start fuel usually end up flooded before the other cylinders get lit good. Sometimes you have both a weak starter AND a half-assed primer system. In this case you can either spend 1000 bucks....or you can just learn it's quirky little pattern to get it started every morning. Typically once she's lit and taken a few good breaths it's turn key starts the rest of the day.

It really doesn't matter if they put Stabil in it or not, that fuel will only be good for killing weeds. A carb job on that one is about as easy as carb jobs get. Merc 4 cylinder motors are a breeze to work on. Very basic and simple.

Yep. You can sometimes drill the mount if you'd rather not drill another hole in the bow of the boat. That doesn't always work though.

Oh that's an easy one. About 150.00 in parts, and if you are mechanically inclined at all you can save yourself about 500.00 in labor (worse case scenario).

I doubt that crawdads have a need to be deep. They thrive in warm water, and the most oxygenated water is usually near the surface. I've heard/read divers say they see them 30+ ft deep but I can't imagine that there would be any benefit for a crawdad to "migrate" to that depth routinely. 6-8ft. is about the depth max for burrowing mayflys and midges here on LO. I do know that. And I never see dragonfly's, damselflies, turtles or frogs out over deep water either. The shallows are where the LIFE is in just about every lake/river I have ever been on.

What motor are we talking about ? Make/year/HP ?

I can wade 2 miles upstream and never have to stop and clear my shoes. But I can't take 10 normal steps going downstream without loading my shoes. Each time you pick your foot up it decompresses the fit between foot and shoe and creates a suction that draws in everything around your shoe. If you could eliminate the intake vacuum around your ankles each time you pick your foot up you could solve the water shoe/gravel problem. A shoe that vents in the bottom (sole) is probably the way to go.

Definitely get rid of the old fuel, and replace the fuel supply line and primer bulb. Anywhere the fuel sat for that long is gonna need to be replaced, or at least inspected (hoses, pump diaphragm, carbs or vapor seperator, filter, ect.) or you're just begging to have a breakdown. Inspect the inside of the cowling and intake area for mud dauber and/or mouse nests. Probably gonna need a fresh battery and a new water pump impeller. And of course check or change the lower unit gear lube. An outboard that has sat for 6-8 months is usually ok....but after one sets a year or more bad things always start to happen. This is a good thing for you though, because some of the best deals on boats are made on ones that have sat so long that they won't start...or if they do they won't run well at all. The owner usually doesn't want to mess with getting it fixed before selling it, so you can negotiate a really sweet deal and come out like a fat rat in the end, even after the repairs/refreshing.

Right, Jamie, if the jet pump takes a gulp of air the powerhead will go 8000+ RPM real quick without a rev limiter.

That's some pretty low compression for a 2.5 liter Merc, but if all cylinders are about the same we'll call it good for now. You're gonna have to catch it when it is being hard to start....and check the ignition spark and fuel pressure. For now it wouldn't hurt to check all the ground connections (Coils, Switch boxes, and Main ground at the lower starter bracket). A loose or dirty ground wire may be causing the intermittent hard start.

I'm not sure if the standard prop E-tec ignition system has a rev limiter but with a jet pump installed a rev limiter is a good way to keep the rods inside the block where they belong, and the pump from grenading. Warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on if the ECM has logged a rev over 6.5k

Yessir. 1/2oz. Crock-O-Gator with a Guido bug on it.

I have. They used the old Graphite USA blanks (nothing ultra-special but plenty good enough for bass/crappie fishing). The old Cabela's fish eagle casting/spinning rods were built on the same blank. The very same blanks can be bought now through Mudhole tackle, it is their standard Mudhole blank. Basically an IM6 blank with criss-cross layering. Any model over 6' is going to be bit tip heavy with today's lightweight reels. Put some old round reels on them and pretend you're a pro from the 1980's.

I actually wasn't trying to encourage you to drive all the way here, I was poking at the service centers near you....for being so greedy.

Ok

Why do you think a jig has caught more big bass than any other bait ? After you decide on that, why is a buzzbait #2 ?

2 pounders will lie to you, but a bass that's pushing 4lbs. won't. When you catch one (and it only takes ONE) sit down, take a break, think. Don't stand back up and resume fishing until you fully realize what just happened and why. All the clues you need to pattern better sized fish have just been dumped in your lap. Take awhile to process every detail of it. It might take 30 minutes or an hour. Now.....Stand up and go kick @ss!

I'm surprised to hear that the bass spawn is lagging down there. We fished bass guarding schools of fry all day yesterday up here on LOWER Lake O. Typically you guys are 2 weeks ahead of us during spawns and we are 2 weeks ahead of you on shad kills. Tossed a sluggo near one cloud and got to see one suck 50% of the school of fry into its mouth yesterday. Had always heard they'd do that but had never witnessed it before. Needless to say it wouldn't bite after that. We watched it and about 5 minutes later it went back to the rest of the school and spit them back out. Pretty cool to see!

Nooooo. Doing a COMPRESSION TEST is the logical first step, especially since you are on a budget. No sense in dumping a single dime into the fuel system until you verify satisfactory compression and ignition. The fact that it runs ok once started means nothing. Your motor can run pretty good on 5 cylinders, and one cylinder with an issue will only get worse the more you run it. Troubleshooting steps are done in that sequence for YOUR benefit. Not pimping my business here but FYI I have never ever EVER charged for initial diagnostics.