September 15, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Today was a beautiful summer day. The temperature was 80 degrees, the sky was cloudless and blue and there was very little wind. What light breeze there was, was maybe 3-5 mph out of the south.

After finishing up some business calls, I set out to clean my boat. I washed the gunwales, the dashboard, and the motors, I cleaned the windshield and then vacuumed the entire boat. Once the boat was thoroughly cleaned, I loaded it with my fishing rods and reels, tackle boxes, life jackets, landing net, and a variety of other essential items. I was ready to go fishing.

I lowered the boat into the still water and started the Mercury Verado motored and slowly pulled away from the boat lift. I decided to go slowly and let the motor warm up. After several minutes of putzing around the lake, I decided to give the motor some gas and get it running at cruising speed.

When I throttled up, however, the motor coughed and chugged. I immediately put the motor in neutral, but the motor continued to wheeze and eventually stopped altogether. Earlier in the summer I had the same problem and the mechanics at Corner Sports told me that the Verados had had some troubles with the fuel float. I suspected that was the problem I was experiencing.

I got the boat back to the boat lift using my Honda 8 hp kicker motor and got the boat out of the water. I let the motor sit for a while then lowered the boat into the water and tried starting the motor. Again, it coughed and rumbled and ran very rough. I decided to pull the boat out of the water, put it on the trailer and get in it to Corner Sports in the morning.

I called Corner Sports and not only could they see me first thing in the morning, right after they open at 8:30 a.m., but they said they have a fuel float for my motor in stock; if that is indeed the problem. They'll have to hook the motor up to the computer to do a complete diagnostic on it.

Needless to say, I was disappointed about not being able to get out onto Leech Lake to do some fishing today. I'm just hoping the mechanics at Corner Sports can quickly identify the problem with my Verado and fix it while I wait in Bemidji. I'd really like to avoid making multiple trips into town if possible.

I'll post updates on the motor situation tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to post a fishing report as well.