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Post by drag4striper on Jan 16, 2019 20:43:25 GMT -5
AT 20°- 40° WT 42.5°- 45° Got rather windy after 10:00 Started up the Yamaha and she's not peeing water. I figured it was frozen up, so I would let the motor run in short intervals hoping the warm motor would get things thawed out. Finally she started whizzing. Caused me to be 20 mins. behind catching bait. Boy, did the deck get a coat of ice on it fast. I put about 25 baits in the tank and then I was off looking for fish. Got where I wanted to start fishing and had to beat on the trolling motor to get it to deploy, it was frozen up after catching bait. Finally got started and hooked up with a nice green fish.   Second fish was worth the trip. She was a 38" 22.5 lb. citation. Caught several more fish, then the bite died out for me.   Finished out the day getting checked by a couple of nice conservation police. All was good. |
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Post by mwardncsu on Jan 16, 2019 21:56:22 GMT -5
Congrats on the 38” and a nice day on the water
It’s a good thing to remember this time of year to let your lower unit sit in the water a little while before cranking - water in the water pump can freeze up the impeller and then when you crank the motor or can sheernofff the impeller blades. Letting it soak a bit will thaw it out. The pee hole - or more specifically the hose leading to it - will often freeze up but it’s not a damaging thing.
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Post by 31Airborne on Jan 17, 2019 7:18:00 GMT -5
great fish - nice work!
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Post by drag4striper on Jan 17, 2019 12:53:53 GMT -5
Congrats on the 38” and a nice day on the water It’s a good thing to remember this time of year to let your lower unit sit in the water a little while before cranking - water in the water pump can freeze up the impeller and then when you crank the motor or can sheernofff the impeller blades. Letting it soak a bit will thaw it out. The pee hole - or more specifically the hose leading to it - will often freeze up but it’s not a damaging thing. Thanks for the advice Mike, I've not had that happen before. Never really thought about the water pump having residual water in the pump housing. I can see how you could ruin an impeller if it were frozen. I usually let the boat engine warm up while I park the truck but, in freezing weather I'll start letting it set for a bit before I crank it. |
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Post by coheasion on Jan 17, 2019 13:31:04 GMT -5
Nice report!!
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Post by ghostcomanche©® on Jan 17, 2019 13:50:12 GMT -5
There a couple of things you can do to help keep your impeller or water pump from freezing up:
(1) Once boat is on the trailer and pulled up the ramp, tilt the motor all the way down, and let it drain completely. This usually just take a minute or two.
(2) Once complete motor draining is accomplished, start motor and let it run for about 3 seconds. This will remove excess water from the impeller and pump.
I have been doing this with my motors for 48 years and have never had an impeller or water pump freeze up, or had to replace either because of abnormal wear from running out of the water for a few seconds.
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lund2
New Member
Posts: 158 
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Post by lund2 on Jan 17, 2019 14:11:45 GMT -5
heck yeah! love to see it.
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Post by fokromix on Jan 17, 2019 21:41:00 GMT -5
Great report. Catching fish when it is that cold is just well...cool. I misread the text below the largemouth photo fish as weighing 22lbs. Thought. Wow! I'm pretty slow witted. I often had the outboard stop pissing when catfishing lower James in dead of winter. Never a major issue but delayed quite a few launches from the ramp and caused waiting get bait. Always a bad feeling starting...waiting...checking...starting...waiting...repeat. We can use gill nets down there and I remember I knew it was bad when after 1st set I went to put it back out and it was frozen into tub in block of ice. Cast nets and numb hands...ah the joys. Keep after em!
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