I would use it towards new tires for my truck, which I need, and are very expensive!

I would love to buy rods/reels/tackle with it, but I definately need tires!

Quote:

---

Grill it, medium rare…. Mine was awesome a few years back.. Very much like beef.

---

This is your answer, I grilled mine to medium with salt and pepper and it was awesome. I took someone’s advice and soaked it in saltwater for 8 hours first.

Thanks guys!

I know you said you weren’t a fan of it, but we built our house 10 years ago and used Pergo Presto Wood Laminate flooring on our entire main floor (except bedrooms and bathroom), and we love it. It still looks exactly the same as it did when it was installed 10 years ago, and overall it looks very nice.

Quote:

---

Go to your county highway department they should have some good used ones

---

I built a new driveway last year and needed a 60 foot wide by 18 inch culvert, I ordered a new one thorough my township maintenance.

Correct, I meant Joe, I don’t know why I said Gary! Fittante has done a couple of muskies for my Dad as well, and they look awesome.

His website is very good and has examples of his work.

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Where is Gary at? Business?

---

To be sure, I think that he is talking about Joe Fittante and he is out of Antigo, WI, NE of Wausau in the center of the state. While throwing out names, besides Joe Fittante Taxidermy another name is Lax Taxidermy north of Eagle River. Lax Taxidermy

I am of the understanding that Artistic does pretty good work and is probably closer. I just wanted to throw out a couple of names from WI that do supreme work!!!

Mark

---

This isn’t a great picture, but it’s a 42 inch northern done by Fittante. There is a bass above it done by Fibertech, and one below done by Artistic Anglers, I wish I had better photos of the bass, but neither of them compares to the northern.

I have had replicas done by Fibertech, Artistic Anglers, and Gary Fittante.

No one anywhere comes close to Fittante’s work, it’s incredible. Somehow it looks more realistic than a real skin mount.

I don’t know where to eat in Mora, but I bought my Crestliner used from Mora Marine last winter, very good guys.

Quote:

---

Look at the Ford f150 ecoboost! You won’t be dissapointed

---

The Ecoboost would cost me 8-10,000 more than a quad cab express with a hemi, thats out of my price range.

Quote:

---

Very nice of you to post!
If you dont find the owner and dont want it yourself I would be interested in cutting it up into small squares for spare TP on the boat.

---

Ha, I’ll keep that in mind!

Bump for the day

I had the exact same problem with my 2004 Mercury Optimax, it turns out I didn’t have ethanol resistant fuel lines and the ethanol had deteriorated the lining inside my fuel lines and plugged the fuel line, bulb, and fuel filter. After I changed all three of those items it runs like brand new.

If you have a Mercury motor and have anything other than the new ethanol resistant lines (Gray with BLUE Writing), you need to change the lines, bulb, and fuel filter.

The weather channel app is great, very eye pleasing, updates instantly and it’s free.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I ended up going with a Tooth Tamer.

Are you talking about their GSX Musky Rod? If so, what length and how heavy? I looked at a full grip 8-6 extra heavy at Gander last weekend and it looked like a nice rod for $100.

Sounds like a great day, thanks for the update, I’ll be out Sunday and Monday.

I could see small amber colored chunks in my fuel filter that looked kind of like fish food, which told me to check my fuel lines as I was aware of this problem from another forum where it had been discussed at length.

Quote:

---

were you able to see the chunks in the fuel filter when the hose gave out?

---

I had this exact problem with my Optimax, the lines that Mercury used to install on motors are not ethanol resistant, the new ethanol resistant lines are GRAY WITH BLUE WRITING. If you have anything but gray with blue writing, they are not ethanol resistant, I replaced my lines, bulb, and fuel filter and my motor runs like brand new. I’ll try to attach pictures below to show what the inside of my fuel lines looked like. What you see inside my fuel lines is the remnants of the inner lining of the fuel line breaking down from the ethanol.

Quote:

---

Sounds like exactly what happened to us in my buddies pro xs last year. With us it was just a faulty fuel line hose that enters motor. Some of the mercury hoses have a problem of closing down on themselves like an artery. The inner lining of the hose collapses on itself and the motor just can’t get fuel to run. Check it out, may be your problem as well and a cheap fix!

---

This is very good advice, Mercury recommends you warm the engine up to 130 degrees before taking off, I always watch the temp on my smartcraft guages to make sure it’s warmed up sufficiently before taking off.

Quote:

---

Just in case you haven’t heard it enough…….never, ever,never, never, ever hammer on a cold opti. I have my boat & opti serviced every fall and then my merc tech guy gets evrything hooked up & running for me again in the spring. He tells me that multiple times every time he services my motor. Absolutely love my opti! Don’t want to be an alarmist, but weren’t the late 1990’s & early 2000’s the years that there were some issues with the bigger optis? My buddy had a 150 opti that blew its powerhead. If I remember, it was a ’99 or ’00. I would assume if there were potential issues, a good tech could catch it before there were bigger issues. My tech told me the issues result from some of the cylinders heating up faster than others, therefore the need for a warmed up motor.

---

I wouldn’t mess with trying to gap these plugs, my understanding is they come from the factory with the correct gap for the optis. I have changed mine and never gapped them and my motor runs like brand new.

Another note on changing them, my motor is a 135, a V6 with the same block as your 150, and I highly recommend taking the lower cowling off to change the bottom two plugs, knuckles and extensions can put a lot of indirect pressure on the plug, none of us want to know what it costs to repair or replace an aluminum head because we stripped it out or broke a plug off and damaged the aluminum.

Remember, this is a job you shouldn’t have to do again for a while, so take your time and do it right, there are torque specs for the plugs as well, I can’t remember what they are, but there is a mercury forum at bass boat central full of information, as well as Mercury Techs who post there and answer questions on a daily basis.

Quote:

---

As wadsworth said use the Iridium plugs not cheap but it will run better NGK`s. After installing the Iridium no need to change them again unless a plug issue comes up. If you gap the Iridium’s be darn careful you bend that tiny center electrode they are toast. I did have an issue with two new plugs that were bad so keep that in mind if a miss develops after changing out the plugs.

Did I mention NEVER put the hammer down on a cold Opti.

---

Also, I only ever use Mercury Optimax oil, these motors use so little oil it’s not worth trying to save a few bucks on a gallon of oil.

I believe Mercury changed the recommendation a few years ago, and now recommend only using iridium plugs in the optis, I just changed mine and yes they are a pain to change.

If you check out the forums at bass boat central, someone will definitely help you out, it’s a great resource for bass boat owners.

I’m not sure if you have a smartphone, but I downloaded mapquest free navigation app for my iPhone, gives turn by run voice directions with lots of features, and continuously updates itself for changes to roads etc. I recently used it when I drove from Minnesota to Savannah Georgia, and it worked perfectly the whole trip. Did I mention it’s free?

Congrats, that sounds like a great rig, but isn’t there some kind of rule about posting that you bought a new boat and not putting up pictures? If there’s not, there should be!

Mercury Quickleen in every tank for my Optimax

Mercury Optimax oil in my Optimax.

Looks like Bartlet?

Thanks guys, so the big question is, how has the fishing been?

I knew you guys would clear that up, thanks!