Mercury Again

Here is a list of the issues my Mercury 250 ProXS has had since it was new.  It is an 07 build with approx. 190 hours on it.

7/14/07 Mounting Cover Failure

8/22/07 Adp Plate Fail

The two above occurred prior to  me owning the piece and I am going off the list provided to me via Mercury customer support.  John told me he had blown a couple of coils which were serviced at the event site by tournament support.

10/25/07 ECM/PCM failure

11/07/07 Coil failure

11/12/07 Coil open short failure

3/4/08 Trim motor failure

4/9/08 Coil failure

10/29/08 Coil failure

1/15/09 Coil failure

1/23/09 Coil open short failure

1/23/09 G/C Pin.GR failure

1/28/09 Coil failure

1/28/09 Lower Unit failure

1/28/09 Spark plug fouled, all

2/14/09 Trim cylinder seal failure

3/3/09 Coil failure

3/15/09 Coil failure

3/18/09 Air injector failure

3/27/09 Rt side cylinder head failure

Today after installing the Rt side cyl head, they ran it on the hose and noticed water leaks in the left side cylinder head.  So I will have to wait a couple of days for the head to get shipped and approved for warranty from Fon du Lac.   The mgr at the marina also told me that they had to swap a new plug in #4 to get it to run right for now but he was not confident in how long it would continue to run correctly.  

What is a guy to do with this mess.  At an average entry fee of between 875 and 1000$  I have to think that in some way or another this is not letting me compete on a level field with the rest of the guys out there.  

 

Home at last

Drove to Riverside before I even went to the homestead.  When I left the lot was empty but now it is three quarters full so I hope I won't be without my boat for more than a week.  I have a list of all the service items Riverside has performed and it is only missing the stuff that Jay and Danny have performed at events Mercury supports.  The list is long for an engine only 2 years old with close to 200 hours.  I know a lot of folks who run this same power plant who do not have near the issues I have had.  So I am going to put a list of event dates and entry fees next to my list of service items in front of a Mercury rep and see what can be done about getting me either a new motor or at least a dressed power head.  I am not confident anything will be done though I know it can be.  This engine is starting to cost me money I have to think.  

I did get to spend a couple of days with my wife in Austin TX which was great to say the least.  The SXSW music fest was in town and we had a couple of drinks on the patio and some great food with close friends and that helped me to take my mind off of my current 'issues'.  If it were not for my wife I really do not know how I would get through this crap with a decent state of mind.  I love her so much it's not even funny.  She is always there to support me and listen even though I know I tend to ramble about fishing sometimes, well alright, all the time, but still she is always there and she is like my only support staff and I am so grateful for that.  If it were not for her always being there I cannot say with any degree of confidence that I would still be out there doing what I do.  Not sure exactly what it is I am doing right now, feels a lot like treading water but I am still out there thanks to her.

Next is a PAA event on Neely Henry and an open on Wheeler.  I have fished neither but again, I cannot wait for the challenges which lie ahead.

Mercury Issues

My partner dumped me in on day one and I fired up the Mercury and immediately I knew there was an issue.  It was a bit sluggish getting out of the hole and missed and surged up to like 45 mph.  I took it off plane and pulled the cowl before I even got to my first area.  Checked the coils, looked for burned plug wires, blown fuses, all the easy stuff you can do on the water but could not figure it out.  I made the thing run up to an area I knew was big and I could use the troller most of the day and put a hook in the water.  I caught some fish but only two keeps.  I think that engine issue gets in you head somewhat.  I cannot say that if I could have checked my other spots I would have won the thing or even drawn a check but I would at least like to be on a level playing field with the rest of the guys.  I have had soooo many issues with this engine it really pisses me off.  I have been affected in either practice or during the event in at least 5 events where the entry was 1000$ or around that number.  Not cool.  Gonna let someone hear about this when I get back to the ville.  Day two put me in the same scenario, ran to an area that was big and I knew fish would be heading to not away from and well over night the bucks showed up just not the girls yet.  Caught the hell out of studs making beds and defending them.  H&H blades and tiny t rigged brush hogs caught like 30+ fish all day but only one girl about 4 which must have been in a hurry to get up there and get to work.  I would assume that today, the day after the event there are some girls moving up there too.  Somewhere on this lake yesterday there were females up on beds and I did no have the ability to run around and look for them.  Maybe I would have found them, maybe not but I would have like to have the chance.  My game plan was abit off, by like 12 to 18 hours but hey it is an improvement if only in my head.  Maybe a four stroke in in my future, maybe an etec, maybe I just got a lemon, gotta figure this thing out.  

Confusion

So, today I went out to run my 'spots' and well, I caught 2 fish and none kept. It is beyond me what has happened. Maybe not beyond me but now my mind is full and I mean full of ideas of what could have happened to the pattern I have been on or sort of on.  Here is the dealio in my head right now.  No fish in the back, maybe a couple of cruisers but not in numbers.  No visible beds but the lake is up about a foot, foot and a half so evidence of old beds may be hidden from view.  I have been catching fish in typical 'congregation' points but these could also be construed as post spawn places also.  We did have high sun and no wind today but if the fish were going to move up to spawn I think I would have seen evidence of this in the shallows and believe me I looked alot today.  So, maybe the majority of fish have pulled out to the first piece of anything they find.  This could be the reason I have been seeing fish on the outside weed lines and a couple of drops but nothing consistent.  Now my thinking is kinda worst case, postspawn funk and high skies and no wind.  I AM CONFUSED.  That is an understatement.  My gameplan is to try my spots for one 'run' and then work deeper reaction baits over the grass and through the wood and cover alot of water.  I have last minute game plan changes but I really thing something is up with the 'pattern' I thought I had been fishing.  I hate to bring luck into it but I need some and tomorrow will be a practice day kinda.  Fish the entire water column with three or four different speeds of presentations and locate something to scratch out a limit.  I just hope I am wrong and my 'spots' pan out, who knows.  

Sam

When I arrived at the lake the air temps were in the 40s and the water in the high 40s low 50s, that was two days ago, today I will see mid 80s air temps and mid to high 60s for water.  So the first thing I did when I got here was try and pare out my 'test' area again and then went to work trying to find those little transitional areas which should hold fish in migration to the shallows.  Since I did not know the status of the seasonal pattern I also looked shallow for cruisers, studs guarding fry or vacant or occupied beds and saw NONE of the above, thats a bit confusing.  I had heard on good authority that there were indeed fish on beds as early as 3 to 4 weeks ago...., but I have to believe my eyes in my area and I do not think many fish have spawned in my area so I may be looking at the initial push of fish with this warming trend.  The moon phase is not exactly in tune so this may test that theory but none the less I should be looking at fish, on the move, with one thing in mind, gettin their groove on.  Lets go and see......

Rayburn

So to start I will reiterate my feelings on Falcon, simple, if you get half a chance to go, you have to go.  That fishery never ceases to amaze me and well, I may be an addict.  Seems well worth the 21 hr trip from Nashville just to spend a few days out there.  

I got to Jasper day before yesterday and got out on the water early yesterday am.  low 40s all day and some wind.  Great.  I have never been out on this lake before but it seems to be pretty straight forward.  God why did I just say that, will probably come back to bite me.  I caught fish yesterday on points leading into or out of the main lake on major points on both inside and outside hydrilla lines on slowly presented shad imitation reaction baits and a variety of them.  All the rain in the area has effected the backs of creeks some. Color is darker and temps are cooler but i did manage to find some cleaner warmer water again on the main lake.  Lots and lots of boats out there, not sure what to make of that but it is a big lake with plenty of bass or so I am told.  So today I am going to try and decide my 'test' area and go and pick it apart.  I will probably try and pick two areas which would be protected from either of the prevailing wind profiles here as a contingent.  Well, back to work.

The Bend III

So the bend turned out to be quite a learning experience for me.  I know it did not show in the standings but none the less I learned a lot about how quickly fish can make a move to the shallows given just a couple of days, actually several hours of favorable conditions.  The week started with a mid to deep bite with fish scattered all over the place and a cold front lingering around keeping them off balance.  Well all it took is about 18 hours of consistent warming trend and boom, they all and I mean all grouped up into the funneling spots adjacent to the spawning flats.  Over all the weights were down for the event and I think that speaks of how big this lake is and how conditions can vary greatly on 180000+ acres, simply some folks did not figure them out as well as expected and I being one of those lol.  In my specific test area the fish did what they were supposed to do on day two, across the lake or way up or down river, it was a slightly different situation.  

So to lick my wounds I have spent the last few days on Falcon.  What a way to re coop.  I am down here with a close friend of mine from CA, Scott Whelton and we are having fun to say the least.  What have we learned down here, keep an open mind, fish the entire water column, and be prepared to decorate a few huisache trees, hey thats Falcon.  Oh and don't bother to eat at El Paraiso, their 'world famous chicken fried steak' is NOT that world famous, it may just keep you off the water for a day if you get my drift.  

The Bend II

So a big donut for me today.  I have to admit I have abit of a confidence issue right now, the last 3 tournament days I have caught a total 4 fish.  Thats pretty sad.  I have to say I did stick to my plan of staying in one area and soaking  it.  It simply did not pan out for me.  I have no one to blame but myself for not being dynamic enough in my 'study' area to come up with 5 keepers.  Alot of people struggled today but that does not really make me feel any better as I have been here a couple of extra days for practice and really should have figured sooomething out, cmon.  I always try and take something positive from every event no matter the outcome but this one, I really am not sure what I took away from it.  Toledo Bend is an awesome fishery, it offers everything you could want and I found out as I am writing this entry that there is even mat up north,... that I did not expect.  Deep hydrilla, rock,ledges, abundant structure and cover, lots of wood, channel swings, weed topped humps, all of it, the bend has it.  I look forward to my day tomorrow simply because I am fortunate enough to be able to spend the day on such a fishery, and who knows, maybe the fish gods will look down on me and smile.  

The Bend

So Toledo Bend is quite a place.  Big, windy and full of wood and supposedly full of big bass but I have not found them.  The week before the official practice the water was up into the mid 60s and since we have had lows in the low 30s dropping the water temps into the mid fifties.  We had heard that a wave of fish had moved shallow but apparently moved off with the cool weather.   I have found some suspended fish scattered in transitional areas but scattered and inconsistent is an understatement.  The main lake deep fish will not be affected as much by this cold spell and wind but 25+ mph winds makes it hard to fish for them.  

Day one was cancelled due to high wind advisory and I give us a 50 50 chance of fishing tomorrow.  I have made myself stick to my plan of staying in a fixed area and figuring it out and I feel pretty good about staying with that but the fish have not exactly been cooperating with the gameplan by scattering out.  We will see what happens.