J-Doc

Are trout native to the White River? (don't laugh) OK, native to Beaver Lake after the White was flooded to make Beaver. I know Table Rock has lake trout. Does Beaver?

Caught by an old man in a lawn chair. That's awesome!! That's what fishing is all about right there. It wasn't a striper guide or some dude with $5,000 worth of side imaging sonar......just an old man in a lawn chair. Yep....that's what fishing dreams are made of. That's why I hope the George Perry bass record never changes and remains on top. An ole boy fishing with his one artificial bait and fishing to feed his family. That's poetic.....

The Twin Bridges area gets really populated from what I've heard. I seem to recall hearing you couldn't find parking around there last year from all of the fly anglers and river boat anglers. So it's a very popular spot. I would think the water would be pretty clear up there and you should be able to see where to wade. I do know that there are some larger whites in Beaver so you could have a lot of luck. We found a school off of a main lake point this fall and it looked like a school of large 14-15" phirana! It was amazing! My partner and I caught 50 in a few hours. We could have caught more but they put up such a fight, it took a while to land them. Felt like fishing for small yellow-fin tuna! (haha) For wade fishing, you could also try several spots along the lake where you can access the lake by foot. The best places are where not many people have already fished the area heavily. You can Google areas to explore around the lake and find places near roads or old roads that lead to the lake.

Most guys in the Beaver forum are boat users. But..... there are a lot of folks here on the forum that are fly-guys. I bet they will be more than happy to help. If you don't find many answers here, try one of the fly-specific forums here. Good folks here willing to help/discuss fishing and share information. Welcome to the forum!

I think it is "uber" cool that they are making a productive use out of these trees. Most people would just haul them off or burn them. Throwing them into the lake is great for the fish and great for us anglers! Way to go and Kudos to the Pea Ridge Military Park for being creative and caring.

Ah, you have CDI modules. Forgot about that. Could be that but I'm thinking it may be something else. Don't know why, just call it a hunch. As for the rebuild, that sounds simple enough. Sounds like you couldn't have gotten anything out of adjustment so that should rule that out. I'm really sold on the issue being electrical vs fuel now. Especially since you had to re-wire the motor. Forgot about that. Gee..........it's going to be a process of elimination and testing electrical circuits to find the source. Surely you can find a mechanic to pay their time for diagnostic. The problem is, most are too worried about liability and reputation. They would just assume do the work and get the motor working. If they tell you CDI and you replace it but still have the same problem, someone could go around town and blame them and it hurts their rep. I've noticed a lot of guys are really paranoid about that. I hope you can get this bug fixed. Sounds like it could be an easy replacement and you're back on the water tearing up wakes!

I don't know the newer Merc motors but this link makes me re-think electrical vs. fuel. Hope this helps. Granted this is for a Yamaha but the principle of having a faulty electronic part seems to make sense for your situation since it was doing this before you rebuilt the carbs. If it is electronic, you're still doing the right thing rebuilding the carbs. I would have a mechanic test the fuel system if they can get it running just to make sure you rebuilt the carbs correctly. Carbs are finiky and improper tunning can toast the motor. I was going to rebuild mine until I found out how risky it could be. Even with a repair manual for my motor. I just don't have proper experiece for it. http://www.justanswer.com/boat/2i04w-yamaha-fl115-engine-idles-reasonably-not-increase.html

My gut tells me it's electrical but you say it runs on the hose in gear so thaty kind of negates that hunch. I still think it may be fuel related due to exhaust loading/etc. Replacing your water pump was good. What about the impeller? I'm betting you replaced it as well right? It could be a powerpack also. Whatever you do.........DO NOT ENGAGE THE MOTOR AND REV IT UP OUT OF THE WATER ON A HOSE!! I know, only an idiot would do such a thing. Hello... My name is Idiot. I need a rebuilt motor. I didn't know any better but I learned a very expensive lesson by trying to resolve a minor issue.

I know what you are saying. I was doing a little searching and found this post on a forum. Granted, your motor was doing this before you rebuilt the carbs, it's still a possible solution and I agree that when you rebuild a carb, it should be adjusted on the water or in a proper test tank. Adjusting idle speeds, etc Sometimes the timing has to be adjusted slightly also depending on age of motor, etc. Like I said, I don't know if this will solve your problem or help but it could provide some further information as to a possible problem or an additional problem that is compounding the original issue. I know your motor was doing this before the rebuild but this information is still usefull. I still recommend stopping in at Daniel's and seeing what he thinks he can do. "Very often after cleaning carbs, motors are started and carbs adjusted while on the GARDEN HOSE. Idle mixture MUST BE reset once ON THE WATER, as the addition of water in the lower leg, and exhaust passage, causes the motor to need additional idle mixture fuel. Take your scredriver with you, turn each carb idle mixture screw out (CCW) 1/8 turn, launch the boat and try again. Once running on the water, idle the motor in Forward gear and readjust each mixture screw in/out til the motor runs at the best possible speed. Take your time as it can take up to a minute to burn off any excess fuel after each adjustment. Once running/idling at 'Best Speed' in Forward gear, further open each screw another 1/8 turn to provide the additional fuel needed for crisp acceleration. Test by rapidly opening the throttle WOT. Any hesitation of bogging indicates a need for even more idle fuel, open each again just the width of the screwdriver blade slot and retest acceleration. Repeat to perfection."

So as soon as you engage the gear, it dies? Is that with a load or in gear at idle? If its as soon as in gear without load other than minor turning of the prop, that is strange. Almowt sounds like lower unit but if unning in gear on hose, probably not. I bet Daniel can tell you what is it. He is an authorized Mercury mechanic and has probably seen this before. Give him a call. He's usually busy early spring so he may have time now.

Oh I hear ya buddy. I've been without mine about that long now. Its torture. I miss my little boat. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to get it rebuilt. I hope with some luck that I can get it done this summer. I'm just glad my buddy has a 21ft Alpha 211 Legend that I occassionaly get to fish from to keep the withdrawals at bay.

Sorry you had a bad experience at iboats. Truth be told, rebuilding the carbs was still a good investment and could prevent other issues before they were worse. Plus increases your fuel economy/performance. As for the issue at hand, its an elimination game. You could buy a repair manual and it can walk you through the thingw to check for but unless you are experienced or a marine mechanic, it seems too scary to do it yourself without knowledgable guidance telling you what to do and that its ok. That's why I stopped wotking on mine. I didn't feel comfortable doing it anymore. As for who to take it to, make some calls and gauge for yourself. I agree the guy that insulted you unintensionally did not mean to insult you, its just that he has probably seen so many shade tree mechanics in his day he assumed the worst vs giving you a chance. The thing is, he could spend your money chasing other solutions and not fix the problem. If your carb rebuild was the issue, he would get the blame and no one would be happy so he prefers to do the work himself and know that he has repaired the motor and you are happy. I would say, save your money up a bit more and take it to someone when you have a bit more cash and can get everything fixed right vs fixing what you can. I need a rebuild so I know this is not what you want to hear but it does pay to fix it right. I got bad advise and now I need a rebuild where it could have been much cheaper to fix my problem earlier. Now a rebuild is inevitable. Oh and five mechanics will tell you five different reasons for your problem. It just takes the right mechanic to spend your money wisely. Good luck on your journey and please share yiur experience if it was good.

You can check the compression yourself. Its easy and you can buy a compression tester for about $20-25 at Autozone. I would suggest posting your question on iboats.com before taking it to a mechanic. This sounds like a common issue and there is probably an easy solution. Knowledge doesn't cost a thing either. They are a really helpfull bunch and I've learned a lot from them. As for mechanic, Mobile Marine repair. Tell him you were referred by "Bozo" and he should know who that is. If not, tell hime Joe Ryals buddy and that will clue him in. Joe has spent enough cash there he has paid for his daughters tuition! Haha! Daniel is a good guy and understands money can be tight.

Nice!!!! That's a good limit anytime on Beaver.

Thats incredible.......a 40" striper from the bank! Hahahahaha! I've seen so many striper guides running around on the lake over the years and you caught that big fella from the bank. I'm jealous! F&F.... This thread contains incredible information and wow what detail! Thank you for your time, sharing your experience, and for all of the detail. This should be a sticky at the top of the forum!

Hahaha!! That's a funny tale. I think I have done things like that. You fish what you are comfortable fishing. If you enjoy crankbaits, you throw them all the time, etc. Thanks for the info. I have stopped on balls of shad in open water looking for whites. Sounds like I need to look at doing this more often and even give trolling a try.

Now that is interesting. I have never fished for stripers so I wouldn't think about it that way but what you say makes since. The bigger fish are smarter and older. They also would eat more like a striper and probaboy bigger bait. They probably live in deep water all of their lives and do not get a lot of fishing preasure whereas the bank bass get beat up like crazy. So are you trolling for stripers or jigging? What techiques work best?

I'm not a striper angler and prefer to stick with bass fishing but........ Just once, maybe twice would I like to catch a great big ole striper that size. Fishing Beaver many times knowing there are trophy sized striper in the lake, it's a shame I don't take advantage of the population of striper in Beaver Lake. Maybe one day.

Top water worked really slow early in mornings near shore around structure or docks with shade or on points at entrances to coves. Also, a finnesse worm worked slow works well. Nothing bigger than 4-5" gets bites. Big worms get big fish but I prefer bites to figure out a pattern. A c-rig on points with finnesse plastics like a small craw or lizard works well too. Everyone is beating banks and back of pockets to escape boat traffic. Fish where no one else is but in places that could hold fish.

After a little digging, it appears 1,130ft is the top of the flood gates, not the dam itself. NWA Homepage Link to Video

If that's the case, I hope someone got a video of that.

I realize I'm odd when some guys would rather catch walleye than any other fish. That won't be a problem on Beaver the next few years. Population is quite healthy now.

Can't remember the name but you've seen them. I think they were Yum Money Minnows or Luck E Strike swimbaits. I even threw one on a chatterbait to see what I could kick-up on a reaction bite and that's when I caught the walleye. It was about 22-24" long, good weight. I was getting the net thinking I had a 6-pounder and then saw it was long, lean, and smiling at me with those dorky teeth. Granted the first walleye I caught on Beaver last year was a thrill. After catching 4-6 in a day and no bass bites, I was done and didn't care if I caught any more. Wild Eye huh....I have some of those but they stink so bad (plastic) I've never had any luck and just don't use them much.

Funny, I had the same thing happen to me last spring. Fishing big swimbaits can catching big walleye. Most folks would be tickled to have a 20"+ walleye. I was not. Fun fight and when you think you are about to boat a 6lb bass, I get a bit disappointed when it's a "dorkfish" (all those teeth)

I agree its the powerpack. If it boggs under a load and did it all sudden like, it's probably the pack. Idles great, revs up good on muffs, etc. Put it in the water and try to get on plane and nothing. Seen it before. If it were the stator, you'd have other symptoms. A mechanic can run some quick electrical tests and should be able to determine power pack without having to take it on the water. If you haven't gotten a response on Iboats, post another response and you'll get noticed quickly. Most guys there can tell you how to check it yourself with a volt meter and know for sure what your issue is. Your repair manual should be able to troubleshoot as well. Wow......someone pass the popcorn. This is getting intresting....