floatfisher

Just wondering if anyone can help here a little (you all have helped out a bunch already, sorry for so many questions!!). Well I thought I had a gas delivery problem, and still might. I bought an external tank and new hose filled it with 6gallons and a quart of oil and put it on the boat (I wont go in to detail about the tank leaking all over the truck bed and the boat!!!!). I can now prime the bulb and seems like there is gas going to the motor (I pulled the plugs and they are wet). Now I try and start the motor and it seems like the battery is dead or almost dead. Tried charging it but the motor tries to turn but very slowly. I hooked the jumper cables up to the truck and to the battery and still the same?!?! Gas issue, not sure? Battery issue, not sure now? One thing I did notice was the starter would pop up to start the motor and not always drop back down when the key was disengaged. The last time I tried to start the motor the starter stayed up and when I took a little pressure off of it from the fly wheel it dropped back down?!!? Starter issue?? I am going camping with the family in 2 weeks and we are supposed to take the boat to Sampson for a few days. I would really like to have this issue fixed and be able to sue the boat with out being too worried about getting stranded on the lake!! Thinking I should try and find a mechanic and try and get it fixed, if that can happen it 2 weeks!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks, Mike

First,Thank you for all of your comments! Second, I am running a 1992 Spectrum 1706 powered by a 90hp Force out board. I have started it a couple of times, this was just my first time out on the water. I did choke it (push the key in) and I did check the kill switch. I have changed the plugs about 2 weeks ago but not the filter, yet! I also made sure the battery was charged just before we left, bu teh battery is an older one that came with the boat. I bought a second one that runs the trolling motor. I even tried to change the batteries when my cranking battery seemed to die off, and it did not make much difference? Also my ignition is looseand I am wondering if there is an issue with my wiring? About this vapor lock thing, I tried to prime the bulb last night in the drive way adn it did not act like anything was happening. It is an internal tank and the vent comes out through the side of the hull. I could not feel anything as I was priming the bulb, so I opened the cap on the fill tank and it felt like the bulb was working. So today I did the same thing and opened the cap to try and see if I could get some flow. I am going to try and disconnect the hose from the tank to the side of the boat and see if there is anything blocking the hose. Ray - If I could find some info on my Spectrum that would be great! I have looked and cant find much... Thanks again for all of the replies!!!

Well I took the family out this morning to Cayuta. Wanted to go out on a small lake the first time and I think that was a good choice. Got everything on the boat, launched it for the first time and all went as planned. Hopped in the boat and could not get it started!!! FRUSTRATED to say the least. pumped the bulb up, choked it, would not turn over?!?! So we shoved off and gave the new trolling motor a work out, Thanks solgrande!!! It worked great for our first time out. We worked our way up the lake a little and fished and swam, was glad to see the kids were into swimming as the fishing was not very fast. I could not concentrate on the fishing as I was a little pissed about the boat not starting. Tried starting a few more times after it set a while as I was not sure if I flooded it or not. After trying a few times it sounded like my battery was starting to die off. Floated back to the dock and put it back on the trailer and left.... The kids said they had a good time as even though the boat did not run. I hope it does not turn them off of boating!!! Any ideas from the experts out there as to what I can do to try and get this thing started?? There is probably a trick to startig it and I just have to figure out what the trick is!!!

Sent you a PM.

So I think I am just going to bite the bullet and get a new trolling motor for my boat instead fuss around with the old one that came with it. Just wondering if anyone has a review or any experience with the Minn Kota 50 PowerDrive V2 motor with 54" shaft. Cabelas has one on sale for $419.99 that I am looking at. The one that came with the boat was a 41lb thrust and this is a 50lb thrust. Probably going to order it tomorrow and was just looking for a few opinions. Thanks!!

The Spectrum I bought had an old 41lb thrust bow mounted trolling motor that the people said they never used. The original owner used it from what I was told. I hooked it back up bought a new battery and tried it out. Well at first nothing happened, so before I started pulling the wires on the boat I put the battery on the charger to make sure it was charged and I got the foot control to make it turn but still nothing on the motor. The control will turn it pretty good in 1 direction and slower in the other. So I at least know that there is juice getting to the front of the boat now. Can anyone tell me if they think there is a fix to this or anything I can do (open it up and lube it up or anything like that) or is this one of those thing where I should just go spen the money and get a new one? Anyone have one for sale or know of one for sale? This was my back up plan to get out there and try the boat out with the kids. If I cant get the motor going I could still get out using the trolling motor and do a little fishing.... Thanks!!

Thanks for all of the replies guys!! I will try and post a few pictures of her later. I hope she lasts me a few years and maybe more. I will probably wait a little bit before I do any work to her so I can use it for a bit to see if I want to change anything. Shellback - What is Sea Foam? And what would be the easiest way to empty the built in fuel tank?? Thanks again!

Last night I went out and picked up a 1992 Spectrum 1706 with a 90hp Force. I know alot of people dont like Force and I dont have any say one way or the other since I dont have nay experience with them. So please keep the horror stories to a minimun . Anyway, the boat is 21 years old and it needs some work but I will get to it eventually. It will be good enough for me and the kids to get out this year! I do have a few questions mainly on the motor, and have not been able to find the answers on line yet. The motor was painted black and I have no paper work on it. How would I go about finding information on the motor, is there a comon place to find the cerial number so I can trace it back? I am looking for the mixture I need for the gas and oil? Is it pretty common for all motors or will it be specific to the motor brand / hp? What would also be helpfull for this is if anyone knows how big the fuel tank is on this particular boat? If I cant figure out the size I will just use a 5 gallon gas can and fill up the tank until it is full. Then I will need to redo the carpt and 1 spot of wood on the back deck. Would anyone recomend using a linolium type of product instead of carpet for the floors? Also any recomendations on a water proof cover that will not break the bank? One of these days I will get the down riggers mounted and then I will pick your brains on the trolling stuff, but that is further down the road..... Thanks for any input guys!!!

Any pics?? Can you PM me the location?

Thank you for all of the info guys. Unfortunately the boat was sold on Saturday and I was going to go look at it on Sunday, damn kids keeping me too busy!!! Well anyway if anyone knows of any boat like this that is up for sale I would be really interested in it. I am looking for an aluminum hull fish and ski type of boat that I can use for general lake enjoyment. Tubing , skiing, mainly fishing though!! Thanks again!!!

Anyone have any info good or bad about these boats? I am going to go look at one this weekend. A 1992 19 foot boat with a 115 Merc motor on it. Not sure what else it comes with but I am really interested in it. Sounds like a decent family boat for fishing and pleasure boating. It has 2 downriggers already on it and I would like to use it for warm water fishing mostly with the kids as well as jigging, so I will need to get a trolling motor for the front if I get it. Any info would be appreciated!! Thanks.

Great start!! I will attend as long as I am available. I am pleased to hear that region 7 is so enthusiastic. I am involved in a couple of youth groups and am the head of 1, if there is an effort to do a stream cleaning or other volunteering efforts I can see if I can get some of the dads and kids involved.

Yes the majority of the spawn does in fact happen before the opener, but like sk8 stated, then the redds get trampled upon terribally. I personall y wouldnt close the streams to fishing for a specified number of years, I would go catch and release for a number of years then instate a slot limit after those years are up. Maybe no wading or stream crossing could help?? I think the stream should be dug out and not "let go back to its natural state", the state has already made sure that that wont happen! It is a big problem and it is going to take a number of "regs" and years to bounce back....

I would like to think that I may have had a part the lowering of the limit, so I would like to ask why take it back up? I know myself and a few other concerned anglers took petitions around the tribs a few years back and had people sign in hopes of a creel limit reduction. Something needed to be done and I hope this is a step in the right direction! The returns are a mere sadow of what they used to be since the "flood control" plan was put into effect on Catherine Creek. On top of this I think that they should shut down ALL fishing past the first bridge on the tiny feeder trickles that feed the main stream of these tribs. I know this would be a major pain to enforce and patrol with the already limited numbers of officers that there are, I say deputise concerned anglers.....

Are there any pictures of the boat?

Thanks for the info guys!! I wont be going after the little guys for a while yet, I just thought that they usually stocked the streams earlier than this. I sometimes see the trucks on Singsing creek on my way home from work and if I do I will stop to see if they need a hand and I havent seen them yet. Also it can be fun for the kids to help out and catch some!!!

Dose anyone know if they have done any of the pre-season stocking on the inlad streams? I havent seen any signs of them stocking my loccal stream (singsing creek) and a buddy of mine has walked a few other streams ans has not seen any signs of stocking or fish. Streams like Post, and Cohocton, he even fished the Cohocton and had no luck (not that that means a whole lot). Just wondering if they are postponing them this year for some reason? Thanks....

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Catherine Creek too high, thats a good one!!! It cant get high anymore since they dredged it back in the mid to late 90's......

Thanks for the info!!! I am guessing the club you are talking about is the FLTA??? I would love to join the dairy program but I no longer have a boat and even when I did I was not rigged up for trout fishing. I have a friend who has just recently purchased a boat and maybe I can talk to him to see if he is interested. I did not know that the FLTA did so much, I liked what i read in your other post. It may be something I am interested in and I would be all set when I do get another boat!!! I turned in the petition 2 years ago, I know changes have probably been made but I never eveen heard a thing after I submitted it. Not a big deal but I hope they got it and it was helpfull. Yes I think the creel limit has had a great\ positive impact on the trib fishing on Ontario. I only hope it has the same impact on the finger tribs!!! Really hoping that they impliment it on the Cyuga streams, in particular the Inlet. It has improved in recent years but with the troubles that system has seen it could use some help also!!! Thanks again for the info!!!