stinger

I need help looking for a cure for this condition. Recently my engine idle started to go up to 1,700 - 1,800 rpm. Docking was a bear. Normal idle speed is 800 rpm. The power head was made by Yamaha back then. I took it my dealer and they replaced the IAC valve (idle air control valve ) with a third party after market part. Mercury stopped making it and the Yamaha part was over $400.00. The engine idle speed is now down to about 1,100 rpm. Much more manageable when trying to dock but would like to get it down even more. My dealer said that there is no idle adjustment on that engine because it’s Electronic Fuel Injected and idle is controlled by a computer. They will try to get in touch with the Mercury Tech’s to see how to remedy the problem but I haven’t heard back from them yet. I’m sure that there are other Mercury 115 Four stroke EFI engines that have had this problem so I’m throwing this out there to see if anyone has had this problem and how they handled it.

As of Wednesday the fleas were still pretty heavy. Will stay that way until the water starts to cool in a few weeks. I use 20lb Cortland Flea Flicker and the lines are clean until you get to the leader swivel. Flea attachments on the downrigger cables are hit and miss depending on the areas you troll through. A lot of guys complain about using Flea Flicker line. From my experience it works better than any other flea line out there hands down. I just overlay about 120'-130' on my reels while the fleas are active.

Don't fool yourself. Those fish are vary much active at different times of the day. Run both spoons and flies until you see what they are interested in. That will vary as the day moves on. Also don't be afraid to drop down deeper. Another 10', 20', 30' will make a big difference.

I ran into Dave two weeks ago in Johnson City. He is still making lures and said that he will be at the Watkins Glen show.

Sorry, I can't help you with a launch report. I do have a link of a rotating, live real-time campus view from Cornell University. It is helpful to see what the south end of the lake is like. On clear days you can see some boats on the lake but really helpful to see the mud lines in the spring and other weather conditions. https://sha.cornell.edu/about/facilities/live-campus-view/

This will sound like I'm belly aching because I am. Like the rest of you I'm a Gen I owner and also had nothing but problems right out of the box. Darrell was great to work with in trying to work the bugs out. Multiple phone calls and component replacements to keep me up and runnin'. I bought the Starter kit that had the speed/temp/depth probe and one depth/temp probe. The system never worked good enough for me to consider buying anymore probes . He had to replace the receiver, charger and the speed/depth/temp probe at one time or another. I was down to the one depth/temp probe by early spring this past season and contacted Darrell again to see if he had any Gen I probes available. He said that he wanted to get all the Gen I units out of the market ( I can now see why) and that I could buy a Gen II system for 35% off (that would be about $600.00 for the starter set). Nice offer but no thanks. I don't have another $ 600.00 and hours and hours of jerking around to throw at the Smart Troll until a more reliable Gen III comes out. PS: ditto, same as Fat Trout