That squealing noise is a bearing on the bottom of the powerhead.A friend of mine has a 1997 90HP that does that.Only after extended full-throttle running in warmer weather.Could be a design flaw that does not let enough oil to that bearing at full load.That is what one Merc tech told him.

If you pulled the powerhead,it is the bearing assembly that the driveshaft goes into.Have not heard of any that grenaded,so he says”party ’till it pukes”.I heard it twice,and it can be hard to pinpoint.His has been doing that for awhile now.

It is a roller bearing,so it could sieze if it got too hot.Not sure what extra oil will do to help,but couldn’t hurt.

Those you just tape off.Unless you go with an external GPS puck.

Hope you have better luck with that unit than I did.

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Gander is getting HUGE
I remember when they were only one store in Willmont WI
by the dam
we used to fish the dam and hit the store for a treat
back in the mid-late 70s
damm I feel OLD

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Same here.Ever stop at that greasy-spoon diner that also sold fly-tying stuff?

The Fulton kit is about 140.00,plus whatever somebody would charge for installation.This would be the route to go if your tongue is welded.

Shorelandr makes a direct replacement assembly for their trailers(plus others w/mods).It’s all on their website.

I went with the Shorelandr style,minimal cutting/drilling.Plus it was a little cheaper than the other one.This was on a Karavan trailer.

I use a headlamp,plus one of those battery-powered Coleman pop-up lanterns.

Seen too many crazy things happen with the white gas lanterns.One guy I know lit his lantern,and it flared-up.He panicked and hurled it into a snowbank.

Years ago a friend decided to fill his lantern on his dad’s workbench.Filled the lantern,spilled a little and capped it.Then decided to take some extra fuel with.Found a Ball jar and filled it.Set it aside,and for some stupid reason decided to”burn off the spillage”.Well,you know what happens with white gas fumes.It went wooof!,and traveled to the jar.Just about burned down the garage.Lucky it went out quickly.

Could have been a Darwin moment.His dad was not happy,stupid kids I guess.

Pink Floyd Animals tour,Milwaukee County Stadium(1977).

A guy I worked with had a piece of the pig after it exploded.

2nd would be Dream Theater a few years back.Awesome,Mike was spot on.

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This brings back a funny memory…..

Back in the day when my father and I owned a gun shop, a rash of thefts was going on…so I went to an auction sale, paid $10 for an OLD camcorder thing (the old kind where you carried the vcr with you and a big ol’ boxy camera)….didn’t even work, but the red lights came on!

Hung the camera in the corner, made ALL cords noticable going to the vcr behind the service counter….and we never had so much as a .22 shell stolen from us…always plugged in, but never doing anything….kinda like a 100 year old on viagra…..

an ounce of prevention……….I always say

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Same deal at a shop I used to work for.A few employees were stealing copper scrap,so they installed 4 cameras.They did work for a short while,then quit.Hardware/software issues(wireless) as told by the plant manager’s kid.4 years of nothing,but it worked.

I used to park my toolbox by one of them.One day I was talking to the guy,he told me those have not worked since 2002.Kinda comforting when you have several thousand invested in tools .But nobody else knew,just the presence of the cameras was effective.

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Ice Walker quick clip Cleats by Covell…these only cover the arch in the foot and are very uncomfortable when walking. Also they do not offer grip on the toe area or the heal area where we all walk… Around $10

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Those are so lame,a total waste.They never stay put,or slip to the side.I delt with them one snowless winter.All the good ones were sold-out.

Buy the good ones now,they may sell-out soon.The CPC is predicting a drier than normal winter Who knows?

Surely not PMS ,could be self-defense

I’d love to have all Stellas .

I still have 3 Stradics from the early 90s.They replaced the 2 Biomasters that reside on the bottom of Lake Michigan,about 5 miles out .

One problem I have seen with the Symetres is they tend to”stick”when they get wet.Only in forward,not reverse.

Kind of wonder how to resolve this issue,found 3 that do it.Maybe totally disassemble,and relube with Teflon lube?It can be annoying when fishing in the rain,it feels like the reel is going to sieze-up.

Great reels otherwise

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Mike Smith from HookedOnFishing and I beat these [madtom plastics] things to death late one winter and finally agree that they had a very narrow niche and as James said, it was vertical in the main channel current. And the water had to be cold.

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I’ll bet a similar color superdoo could have the same effect,perhaps?

I know the bronzies would eat’em up.Years ago on the Menominee River,a motor-oil superdoo was the ticket.In fact,I do believe they were called VenomDoos.They worked when nothing else worked.The river had a high population of those rusty crayfish.

I also believe it is the slime/scent factor vs the looks.Somebody needs to come up with willowcat juice scent.The next best thing to a real willowcat that I have found,is a smoke/glitter Exude grub.

Thanks for the link.

Would you fish them jig-style,or use a lindy rig?Unlike a lot of fishers I know,I like to keep in touch with the bait.Move it as needed,instead of leaving it sit.

I would go with it.The “Optipop” issues are in the past.Just follow the break-in procedures to a t,and should have no problems.

I had a 2005 75,and it was flawless.

I also like Etec a lot,but they seem to be priced a little higher.A 75 for my old boat was about 800.00 more than the Opti.

I’ll enjoy all the displays out there,so I won’t have to do it myself.But the music?Only if it is Trans-Siberian Orchestra.Some of that stuff you hear in the stores can .

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Tell somebody. Call the EPA if the DNR doesn’t want to do anything. There are definitely regulations on this. Are they leaking oil or just not burning efficiently or what? I don’t get it.

Thanks,

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Maybe they(EPA)should make those tow vessels meet Tier II emissions.Even the newest ones would not even come close.The thick black smoke comes from the old 4-cycle engine ones(turbo lag).Some also blow super-thick blue smoke,probably have bad power assemblies burning lube oil.

They should have shut-down the leaking one,and called for an assist vessel.They should clean-up whatever they discharged.I’m sure any one of us would be in deep doo-doo if we leaked gas/oil in the water.

Nice fish,been getting some really nice saugers here at D6.Some up to 21″,but not too many walters to speak of.

Those yellow bags are garbage bags.They also have some writing on them,so they can be traced in case they end up in the river.It’s illegal for them to use any other style.Years ago,they sometimes just”lost”them overboard.

Why the guy was pouring it in the water,who knows?Could have been full of rainwater/cooking oil?A lot of the barge companies stack them by the stern.

I am looking for a roomy,one man myself.

Polar Sport vs Otter Wilderness?I seen the perch model Otter,but never a Polar Sport.I kinda like the black fabric models.

I had the Otter small den,but it seemed to flip over in the wind if all the supports were not installed.Spent too long lugging a 2/3 man around.I replaced it with the small den,the sled on that one was too narrow.Maybe the small cabin solved the issue?

A buddy of mine got one for 50.00(plus coupons)from Harbor Freight.I did not see the Menards one yet,but maybe they could be similar?The HF one works pretty well,with a few mods.

The Menards ice shelter seemed ok,but I did not like the base on it.They should have made the sled snoboat style,easier to pull.The one I seen last year has square edges,no rake on the front.

I liked the old Sno-Boat 2 man shelter,too bad they are discontinued.

According to the NWS,they still are predicting a warmer/drier than normal winter.All the way through early spring.Could be a winter with ok ice,but not much snow.Good creepers/spudbar are worth their weight in gold.

Fuse should be in a red colored fuse holder under the cowl.It was a short glass 20 amp on the late 80s motors.

Sounds like the CDI/powerpack could be bad.

I have a 5 year old Princeton Tec,held up quite well.Was quite spendy back then,alot cheaper now.Next will be the cateyes one Chris mentioned.

Good report,Mike.Nice saugers,they seem to be the norm lately.Have not seen much for decent walleyes since water temps dropped.The action was steady after you left,then died right before dark.Did decent the other day at 5A tailwater,those fish wanted bladebaits.Forgot the camera,but released everything.Ya sure get dirty looks when you release them.

Looks to get better as the week rolls on.

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stay away from ipod, they have such a lock on all there music and stuff it is really BS. me and my girl have them and we are thinking of getting rid of it. if you reset your computer you lose all your music. any many other complaints just pm me, and tomorrow. i will get the girl on line and she will go on non-stop.

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One of the reasons why I got a Creative Zen Vision M.Easy as heck to use,none of the “issues”,like ipod.Easy to use software,I got it just to transfer cds to player.I heard that if you delete files on the computer,the next time you dock an ipod it will dump the files.Of course if you tweek itunes program,it will prevent this from happening?

New at it,so I got the easiest one to use.Very happy with it so far.

Coleman sport cat in a 5 gal bucket.Just enough to warm hands.About as safe as you can get.My buddy has a burn mark in his boat from a knocked-over sunflower heater.

I swapped my 2nd 334c last month for a 332c.What a world of difference.Instant GPS acquired,vs the sometimes long wait on the internal antennae model.

Not sure what Lowrance tweeked on recent models,but my second unit was not much better than the first one.I always kept the unit verticle.Position error varied wildly,vs a constant one one external antennae.

BTW,what is a good number for position error?I get 16ft on the current unit,had as high as 460ft on iGPS.

Wats-Q=1992.
M=manual start.
L=20″ shaft.
H=handle(tiller)

I had excellent results with”Dads Easy Spray”.You can brush it on,or use the sprayer included.I repainted a Lund 1650 Angler a few years back.With this stuff,you can use water to remove it.I used a pressure washer.and put a sheet under to catch the paint chunks.I did about a 2 foot section at a time.Repainted hull with primer/Cabelas duck drab paint,and it looked pretty good.I guess now you can get what is called Camo clad.Use safety glasses when spraying.

Exide/Johnson Controls are the biggest players.I had great luck with the AC Delco Voyager in the past.The boat I have now,I bought a Cabelas AGM.I am currently running everything from one battery.18 month no questions asked warranty.It was 99.99(Cabelas Club).It is still at 80% charge.Only time will tell.

Thanks Wade .I will go ahead and install it.I really like the US concept,no more messy wiring.

If you fish solo,I would start with a 14p(aluminum),or a 13p(stainless).Really helps if you have a tach.Most dealers will let you exchange props if you don’t damage them.