Northwest Fishing Reports

Does anyone around here winterize their outboard? Back where I'm from, we'd have the outboard winterize and the boat put in storage by now.

just had mine done plus a tune-up so it will be ready to go when it gets warmer

Mine stays in a garage that doesn't get below freezing. I clean everything up and fog the engine and strap the cover on.

Cavdad will likely give his take as well, but unlike a i/o outboards don't need to be winterized, as long and they are stored trimed all the way down so any water can drain out of the engine. The only time I have ever handled a frozen block claim on an outboard is when the engine was stored tilted up.

Run sta-bil throw it, fog it and change the plugs and it will start right up with fresh gas in the spring

THanks guys!,

ditto what jmay said. or just do like i do and keep fishing all winter.

I forgot to mention fuel stabilizer. Pri-G goes in all my fuel cans all year long.

I also make sure the fuel tank is topped off to help prevent condensation in the tank.

trim down, and empty fluids....or fish all winter!!! thats my story and im sticking to it.

Easy for you to say, coming from 90 degree christmas's and 80 degrees in january. I think I would look pretty silly sitting out on the lake in my boat on top of 8 inches of ice. What do you think WAYNE

I've never seen 8 inches of ice on top of boats...Snow? maybe, it's a blast to fish in the snow....

got to read it slower SAM The boat is on top of the ice like a ice fishing shack LOL

I just run the motor a couple of times a month in the driveway during the winter if I am not fishing. I do top off the gas tank and add fuel stabilizer.

sgpwayne wrote:got to read it slower SAM The boat is on top of the ice like a ice fishing shack LOL

My bad...Not too many lakes out here though that freeze over...Not sure where home is but it sounds like some good weather..

jmay wrote:Cavdad will likely give his take as well, but unlike a i/o outboards don't need to be winterized, as long and they are stored trimed all the way down so any water can drain out of the engine. The only time I have ever handled a frozen block claim on an outboard is when the engine was stored tilted up.

Run sta-bil throw it, fog it and change the plugs and it will start right up with fresh gas in the spring

Ditto!!!

jmay wrote:Cavdad will likely give his take as well, but unlike a i/o outboards don't need to be winterized, as long and they are stored trimed all the way down so any water can drain out of the engine. The only time I have ever handled a frozen block claim on an outboard is when the engine was stored tilted up.

Run sta-bil throw it, fog it and change the plugs and it will start right up with fresh gas in the spring

Double ditto. I use the Mercury brand fuel additives because my Mercs are still under warranty.

Sam Kafelafish wrote:

sgpwayne wrote:got to read it slower SAM The boat is on top of the ice like a ice fishing shack LOL

My bad...Not too many lakes out here though that freeze over...Not sure where home is but it sounds like some good weather..

Did you get out on Beaver when it froze? I'll post a pic when I find it.

This is our first year with our boat. We're going to keep fishing and not change anything we're doing.

Edit: I can't figure out how to shrink the image without killing other parts of the photo. Will keep trying.

Edit Edit: Fixed it. Turned out quite nicely though crude.

Here on Long where we regularly get ice, the boat lives in the water until the drawdown.

All the above advice is good. Couple things to keep in mind:

Try not to run your motor dry. It slaughters the water pump.

Keep the fuel in ALL cans in good shape.

Finally YOUR KICKER IS A MOTOR TOO! Don't forget to trim down the little guy as well. I put both motors in the water at night.

It warmed up to 32 here today, expecting teens tonight, had to scrape the boat windshield off before going out for Smallies today (ironically only caught largemouth.)

E

Gisteppo wrote:Here on Long where we regularly get ice, the boat lives in the water until the drawdown.

Yep, if you moor your outboard boat in freezing weather, the motor(s) should be down, but be sure and check your motor manufacturer's manual for their procedure. Nothing like getting burned out of a warranty claim for failure to follow their advice.

Personal preference here, but I never run my motors dry or even disconnect the fuel lines and run the carbs dry. That's what the fuel stabilizer and fuel system cleaner/conditioner is for and I run it year round per my Merc mechanic's advice on how he runs his motors. I figure a long time Merc mechanic knows more about how to treat my motors than I do.

FYI, had my sled in the water over last week.

With high's in the low 20s and lows nearing 10F, we ended up making about 2" of ice on the lake.

Did you know a 1979 Hewescraft outboard sled is an icebreaker? Neither did I!

Broke her out with a splitting maul, then ran her like a USCG icebreaker (up on the ice, break through. Up again, through. Lather rinse repeat).

Winterize? Hah! Trim it down, use it all winter. Saves money on the sta-bil.

E