IUP30

Looking for one of these Momarsh Fatboy DP layout/marsh boats. I know one sold a while back on here so this is a total long-shot.... but if you want to get rid of it, I'm your man! If you guys happen to spot one during your daily craigslist searches or something, please let me know. Thanks!

I forgot to mention - whatever you end up going with, get an after market choke for it. They really help your pattern and worth spending some money on. If you're hunting divers on big water consider an extended range to help finish any cripples that get out to 50 and 60 yards. If you're primarily hunting puddle ducks all you'll need is the medium range. Can't go wrong with Patternmaster or the Hevi-Shot choke tubes and you'll be amazed at your pattern and how hard shots seem to knock birds down. Good luck and let us know what you end up with.

The "Bennelli hype" I was referring to is the mass amounts of marketing dollars put behind that brand - in example the good old duck commander guys pushing them like crazy, etc. I agree to a point - it's not the gun, it's the gunner... but the gunner needs a properly fitted shotgun that feels good to him/her. Same as in golf - just because you have the newest driver on the market, doesn't mean you can hit it 300+ down the middle. Confidence in what you are using is key. When I was purchasing my last gun I didn't care what brand it was - I went to the store and shouldered and swung just about everything on the shelf until I found what felt best. For me it was down to the Browning Maxus and then Winchester SX3. I personally don't like the raised rib on the Bennelli's and they tend to shoot high.

I think he was asking about the NEW Browning A5's - not the older models. Although I don't have one or know anyone that's shot one, if they are made as well as the Browning Maxus, you'll be in good shape. The new A5's are designed for waterfowling and should be a great gun if that's what you're looking for. I have the Browning Maxus and been shooting it for 4 years now. Softest shooting gun even with heavy kicking 3.5" goose shells. We have a big group of guys that I hunt with and we've shot about everything. Most of the guys in the group had bought into the Benelli hype but after getting beat up with the hard kicking inertia guns, more have been switching over to shooting the Maxus. The soft kick really helps keep you on the gun and ready for that second or third shot. Shoots where you point it and just works! The A5's are inertia guns so you'll feel the kick of the gun more but from what I've seen on them and read - they'll perform and go "bang" when you want them to.

Snow covers - Check out Rogers sporting goods online

Simple and easy way to "mud" your blind is take the Krylon flat khaki or brown spray paint and do a light mist all over the blind - and make sure to hit the interior tubes or framework around the doors also to knock any metal shine off. This lasts basically forever and does away with the messy mudding job that typically is required once a year or so. And yes - do this immediately after you buy it before you hunt it. We spray every blind we use and the more they get used in the field, they'll get dirty and muddy naturally but the spray paint knocks that sheen off right away. Blind I've been using and like is the Final Approach SUB blind that folds up. I had the previous SUB blind that did not fold down and transport into and out of the field sucked - however the blind itself was roomy and comfortable. The new model SUB folds up nicely. The other guys in our crew use the GHG Ground Force - simple design, light and folds up for transport... but over the years some of the door frames and hinges have busted. So far no issues on my SUB - takes a few more minutes to set up than the Ground Force but not enough to warrant a change in my opinion.

What size do most of you run? The #4 or the #5 Chinook Divers? Looking to get some for both Lake Erie and Lake O...

Nice! How deep were you getting them?

10-12

Need more info - what kind of line were you running and lead lengths??

OK guys - update and I think I've gotten it all worked out. I believe it was a fuel issue the whole time since I found that pinched line. Replaced all the fuel line on Friday except for anti-siphon valve and checked it all over. Ball primed right and stayed hard. Tried to change the fuel/water filter and it wouldn't budge! Had a friend come over with a filter wrench and even then, we had to put some serious torque on this thing to get it off of there. Probably wasn't changed for years... anyway, got a new one in after a little work and all seems good. Also put some Sea Foam in the tank to help clean out some of the other junk. Rolled the boat into the driveway, hooked the clamps up to it and fired her up. Well, it started the best it's ever started for me since I've owned the boat. Let it run and idle for 10 minutes and no alarms or issues. Took the boat out Saturday for some walleye. Started right up at the ramp, idled well and motored to the spot just fine with no alarms (granted it wasn't a long run but a few miles). So - I think I got the problem figured out and resolved. Going to keep and eye on it and replace impeller next if I get any kind of additional alarms going on. Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions - really appreciate it!

Thanks Jigstick - I may take you up on that offer. We were fishing the mountain - a little west of North East. Fish are starting to move out deeper and we didn't fish for them this past weekend. I've never fished out of Barcelona but would definitely like to get into some of the bigger fish... most we caught were in that 10 pound range with a few 16's and 17's.

We fished out of North East PA. Sat we landed 21 and Sunday 18...only fishing till about noon each day. Orange - not that common but I was on the wheel and we had a non-veteran troller who was closest to it that just wasnt fast enough to get to it before the guys with his other "rod" in his hands could get there. I'm the long haired guy on the boat Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Over the weekend we had some fantastic laker fishing on Lake Erie and I made this little video of some of the strikes (cell phone fish pics at the end). I have learned a TON from reading previous posts on LOU and some of the tips and tricks I picked up helped us be successful out on the water. The first day the camera angle wasn't set to wide and the mounting location was on one of my rod trees. Eventually when I get the planer mast installed it will be mounted there to get the full shot of the boat. Enjoy and let me know what you think... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_zXKTQeyS0

OK - so here's an update. I was able to find the old maintenance records from the last owner when he had the motor worked on in 2009. He barely used the motor after the work he had done but I did a lot of digging last night into the fuel line issue and think I've got some things narrowed down. A new VRO pump was installed in 2009 as well as a water pump kit (does this include impeller? - I wasn't sure). So - I checked the primer ball again and now it wasn't sucking any gas. I disconnected fuel line from motor to ball and tried to get gas to shoot out the primer ball - no go. Changed primer ball to a brand new one - same thing. So now, I back-track and check hoses. I replaced the hose from primer ball to fuel/water filter and tried to pump gas up - still no go. So now I'm figuring that it's either the fuel/water filter or from the gas tank itself to the fuel/water filter. I pull up the floor board and get to the gas tank and I can see immediately where something is off. The fuel line from the tank is somewhat pinched. It seems the floor board over time has warped and with the weight of someone standing there it was pushing the board down onto the fuel line hose and clamping it off. This could have explained the intermittent alarm potentially. I reconnected the lines as normal and held the pinched portion of the hose open and pumped the ball - sure enough, gas was starting to pull from the tank. Going to be replacing all the fuel line hoses but need to pick up some additional 3/8 in hose today to complete that and give it a check. Two other things I have questions on. When I was able to hold open the hose and pump the ball, it would get gas up there but it seemed like it would drain away back into the tank. That sounds like the anit-siphon valve, correct? I was likely going to replace anyway with the rest of the fuel line just to be sure but to the un-educated me, this is what it partly seems to be. Now - the last question is the VRO pump. I checked connections and they seem good - I had just re-filled the oil and checked the primer ball on the VRO and it's hard as a rock. I hadn't needed to pump this ball before (only owned the boat since last summer and used it maybe 10 times during the winter) as the oil was pulling into the engine and the level in the oil tank was going down from use. Now that I've refilled and tried the primer ball and found it was this hard, it has me concerned that something may be clogged or pinched off there also. Is the ball on the VRO typically that hard when it has oil in there? As I mentioned, it's a newer pump with little use on it. Any suggestions on what to try with the VRO? And - no, I don't want to pull it off the engine and pre-mix oil/gas at this time. Thanks, Scott

Thanks again guys - really helpful stuff. I do have the VRO pump in this motor so I'm glad to hear that someone else had a similar issue and it was an easy fix. The ball does pump gas up but it didn't seem like it was a lot of gas. And yes, it wouldn't stay completely firm while running but in the past it would typically get to a point where I knew the gas was there and getting to the motor. Now it takes way more pumps of the ball to get it even close to that same firmness, then softens quickly. Going to check/replace fuel lines and likely as a safety just replace the impeller also since I don't know when that was done last. How long are the fuel/water filters usually good for? Again - not sure when it was changed last and no idea how to tell that it's in need of changing.