Rest of the story-end of the season
 

Monday, I pulled the boat, 3 weeks earlier than I wanted to..a week ago. I replaced the fuel pump on my 16 year old 2 stroke Merc., this is a rugged dependable unit that doesnt owe me a dime,the fuel.pump diaphram had a pin hole and effected performance,after replacing it ran great the following Wednesday and Saturday, Monday,night I hit one of my favorite fall spots, on the 3rd pass, when I went to leave the motor locked up tight, a call to tow boat US got me back to the marina and tied to the ramp,I went home got the trailer and pulled the boat..a closer look Tuesday night showed the new(aftermarket) diaphram burst filling the crankcase /cylinders full of fuel, after changing the pump and airing out the engine, I fired it up, the once smoothe engine sounded like a cement mixer... it's useful life snatched away by a defective part,.i.cant justify putting a new engine on a 43 year old boat, and no way I'm going to buy another boat,im far from ready to giving it up,so I did the next best thing and ordered a remanufactured power head from Crowly marine, they offer a 1 year warranty and do a thorough rebuild.(I've used them before)
.the new power head was ready for immediate shipping,I could never rebuild it that
Fast, it is scheduled to be here Monday,.
Not the way I wanted an otherwise good season to end(with exception to the last 3 weeks) but I'll be ready(by next Sunday actually) when the new migrants show up in May..so once I swap power heads, I'll get ready for the hard water.
I'm actually looking foreword to it.. bring on the cold.

Good luck in the rebuild and Have a great hard water season Joe.
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That sucks Joe but good you found an easier solution than a new motor.
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As our favorite coach says, " it is what it is".. my only regret this season is we didn't get to fish together.
Next year for sure
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Haddock opens April 1st next year..... :-)

I saw that, In the spring I normally trailer out of Gloucester and fish stellwagon early season before putting the boat on the slip in May..

Good for you that you have the ability to turn a wrench. That could have been a career killer for alot of people in your shoes. Sucks for sure, but I'm glad you've got a way out.

I’ve been struggling with my 20 year old two-stroke for the last 6 weeks. I had choke problems, then spark problems, and now think the kill switch is dead. It’s been a real PIA.

Bring on the hard water!

Sorry to hear about your power head, Joe. Sucks.
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beats buying a new motor.. not the end of the world, it's an easy job that will give the old girl new life.. I cant even guess how many hours are on that engine, a lot of it trolling..

what sucks more is YOU lost an entire summer, I only lost a hand full of trips at the end of the season. Next time you have an issue check with me, I have stuff like enrichener valves, ignition coils and check valves, bleed hoses and assorted fuel hose for these things and stuff like that to get one out of a bind. ( Mercs only).. plus any tool or meter you might need to fix those cantankerous old fighters.. talk about love hate relationships!

as you said bring on the hard water, uncovered the Can-Am the other day, engine fired off on a half revolution.. I just need to go over the trailer, winter driving raises hell with them.. Looking forward to the first hard water trip, usually by the 3rd week of December but some years as early as thanks giving, one ( actually a bunch of them) of the lakes up there gets a fall stocking of big breeder brookies, the only hard part is getting them before the locals get them all, cause they( the fish) aint too bright... but standing on clear ice in 18" of water and watching a 3lb brook trout slam a jig is pretty exciting. You,Me and Mikey NEED to fish together this winter.. even if we dont catch anything I think we will have a blast ( and eat well)

that,s sucks ………..I can,t put air in a tire ……….so it was just about quit completely & sell or take a big hit ><>:gh:

I still fished plenty. I’m sure you, Mikey, and I will fish hard water.

I’m sure we will eat like kings; I would drive for 10 hours for three pound Brookies, as well.
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It takes me an hour and and 45 to get there, I could put you upin thebspare room the night before, we leave at 4...set the shore with tip ups(5) and stick and move with the jig rod, as new hampshire allows 6 devices on this lake..all you need is a new Hampshire license and your gear...
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I could never sell,aside from the many up grades I've done, 18' boats with a 16 degree dead rise and 22 degree entry are non existant.. this is dry and comfortable when 22' boats are getting the snot kicked out of them
If I EVER sold this thing. I'd go back to a 16' tin.boat. I caught fo many fish in one of those its not even funny.
.
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100% on the tin boats ><>:conf:

That sounds amazing! I just talked to Mikey, and he’s down for sure.

I’ve been dying to break the jigging rods back out...haven’t used them in a while. Be nice to use my sonar again, too.
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Bring lots of energy drinks, you’ll need them to keep up with Joe. :hihi:
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You know the early lake I'm talking about..
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I've got another lake I spend the winter on, if you like jigging, big white perch,outsized crappie(IFyou can find them)and so many small mouth they are a nuisance, there used to be really big rainbows, but the F&G introduced some salmon as a bonus a few years back,the smelt population crashed and it's never been the same, I spend the whole winter there..oh.. and no one I talked to ever got a salmon..
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:uhuh:
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Luckily the new me is way more spry than the old me.
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Maybe we try for the FABBIT this year? Who's down??

I don’t even know what that is and I’m in..... LOL

what the fiddle is a FABBIT..

Technically, I believe it would be SABBIT.

Seventh
Annual
Bomba
Bro’s
Ice
Tourney

We put the brakes on for them back in 2012...used to be fun, though.

I used to get these hand-chopped veal sausages from Federal Hill for that thing. They were soooooo good.
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I spent 7 hours on that boat one night with Clammer and "he who cannot be mentioned". We never caught a thing but I laughed my balls off all night.

I'm in for any fabbit or sabbitt:ss: