Hi.
My name is Harry, and I use live bait.
This may sound a little weird, but what I've been doing is just putting a couple of sinkers and a hook with a worm on my rod and just casting it out as far as it will go. I let it sink down to the bottom, and then kinda slowly retrieve it. I have caught a whole bunch of really big bluegills using this method. They do not sell cane poles up here so I tried using a bobber on my rod but the cork got in the way when I brought the line in. And I found out that the really big Bluegills are really deep while the smaller ones are nearer the surface, so I came up with this approach and it has been very effective. But, I do fish from a boat on the Connecticut river so I am not too concerned about snags and all. I hope this helps.
Harry
That may be a Red Horse. We used to catch them down south on dough bait. They are a bottom feeder. Fun to catch but not that good to keep - kinda like some of the girls I dated in the past come to think about it.
Thanks for the support Catfish. I appreciate it.
Thanks
I'm going with a Racor. It's made by Parker, which make nuclear grade pipe and tubing connectors and valves, so that right there says it's gotta be good. there is a Racor distributor in Portsmouth so I'm calling them tomorrow and maybe go get one, of order one from them for delivery here. Fred, thank you very much for your advice and general information.
Harry
I like that. Thanks Fred and Barnacles.
Thanks dudes. Barnacles suggestion about installing a water filter in the fuel line makes a lot of sense; especially considering the learning exercise I've been going through. I'll keep everyone posted. Enjoy your weekend.
Hi folks. I thought I'd share an adventure I have been having with my old 1974 Mercury 402 outboard. I live way up north in Amherst NH, and am the proud owner of my grandfathers old Terry Bass boat, which came with a 1974 Mercury 402 outboard. I became the custodian of "family" boat about 10 years ago and I look at it as an honor to keep the memory of my grandfather alive. However, I am finding it becoming more and more of a challenge to get the motor running in the spring. Usually I need to clean and rebuild the carburetor. However, this year has been a classic. It started off kinda like it usually does with the motor running rough, but then the motor got to where it barely would idle. And then if it was running, it would suddenly just die and refuse to restart until it decided it was ready.
So, I took it to a friend of mine who loves working on old motors and stuff and after messing with it for a day, we finally decided to clean the carb again so we took it apart and found water in the bowl. That was a surprise, but we cleaned the carb and then turned our attention to where did the water come from. The first place we looked was the fuel tank that was connected to the motor. We drained it, looked at the gas (which was Hi-Test and a week old) and no water. Then, we looked at the other tank of gas from last year, and found about a quart of water in bottom of the tank. Where the water came from, I have no idea. But, I had started off using that tank for the first motor run as usual so that was the source of the water. So, we were very careful to try to flush everything in the fuel system that may have been contaminated. The fuel line was flushed with air, and it had water in it. After that was clean, we fired the motor up again and the same thing was still happening - it would run and then just die. So, we pulled the plugs and they had water on them. Then we took one of those inspection cameras and looked inside the cylinders and saw the evidence of water on the rings so we assumed that we had water in the crank case, which made sense. So now, the problem became how do you get the water out of the crank case.
When I got the boat and motor, I bought a copy of the Mercury 402 manual on-line and kept a copy of it. The manual contained a discussion of what to do if your motor gets submerged. what the book said was to remove the motor from the boat, pull the plugs, put the motor in the horizontal position, plug side facing down, and them manually rotate the motor with a wrench for about 10 revolutions to purge as much water as possible. Once that has been done, pour a good amount of alcohol down the carburetor throat (alcohol absorbs water), and then manually spin the motor a couple of revolutions to pump the alcohol through the system. And then, pour motor oil into the carburetor and then manually spin the motor again. Once you have done all of this, put the motor back on the boat and see if it will start. If so, start the motor and run it for about an hour just to make sure all of the water has been purged from the motor. so, we did all of that today and the motor started and seems to be running about as it should. Now I am going to take the boat to the lake on Monday and run it around the lake for a while and purge the last of the motor, and finally I can go fishing. Morale of the story, don't get cheap by trying to use last years left over gas. I put stabilizer in the gas, Sea Foam, some Mercury enzyme gas treatment, and all of that stuff. From now on, last years gas gets tossed and I'm starting out fresh.
Good job Fred. I've been dealing with outboard motor issues so I haven't been out yet, but maybe we got them resolved today so hopefully I'll go out sometime next week and have something good to report back to the masses.
Yes. I heard about these things in freshwater fish that live in the waterways. The NH Fisheries guy said that they are collectively called "Black Grubs" and that cooking the fish kills these grubs and the fish, and the grubs, are safe to eat. Thank you. But, the reality is that now that I know what to look for and can see that there are worms in my food. However, towards the end of the summer, like in mid to late August, I noticed that these grubs have fallen out of the fish - I guess onward to their next meal.
Nice Job. I'm hoping to get out before I head down to La. for a couple of weeks. Mom duty, which is an honor. IL lost my Connecticut River monitoring station - someone cut funding so I'm flying blind now. But, if I can't get out until I get back, so be it. Just try not to catch them all Fred.
When I was a kid, my grandfather had an old Evinrude 3 Hp outboard. The motor rotated 360 degrees and it was always in gear. It had a slide handle for a throttle and when you started it up, it was in go forward. If you wanted to back up, you rotated the motor 180 degrees and basically pulled the boat backwards. It never broke down or needed any servicing. i could swim faster that that motor pushed a boat, but it was a reliable little motor.
Hi Folks.
So way back in 1975-ish my grandfather bought a 15.5 foot Terry Bass boat with a Mercury 402 (40 Hp) motor on it. His play was to retire and go fishing, a lot. At the time, it was what all the professional bass fishermen were using. After he passed away, the boat was passed around within the family, Sat unused in the boathouse behind mom's house and baked in the Louisiana sun for at least 10 years until my mom gave it to me. That was about 10 years ago. I brought it up to New Hampshire and it took me a year to get it running again. After 2 years of fishing on the Connecticut river, I got worried that it may not be sea worthy any more so I took it to a Marina for a structural inspection and they found a big crack running partway down the inner hull. They said they could repair it and gave me a price. I struggled as to if I should repair the boat, or scrap it. My wife sat me down on evening and said I should repair it, not for any financial reason, but for the sentimental value of the boat. So, they repaired the boat and she performs just like I remember she did way back in 75-ish. And, after reading this article about the current price of new boats, I think my wife made a wise choice, again.
You know, one of the nice things about being retired is that I can go fishing whenever I want to go, and usually I go fishing during the week. By doing that, I don't have to worry about inadvertently getting in somebody's way and adding to their frustration. Even better, they are not around during the week to get me pissed either. Life is good.