Every now and again you will get little niggles on your engine. There are things to do to prevent this: service your engine regularly, use your engine, don’t leave it for long periods etc. By far the most common issue is carburettor related, which, in turn, is usually related to fuel issues.

Now, to stop your carb clogging up, there are a couple of things you can do. Firstly – use good quality fuel (more of that later). Secondly – don’t leave fuel in the carb for any length of time (usually days) and don’t leave fuel in your fuel tank for too long, this is because the fuel eventually degrades.

You can add fuel stabilisers to the fuel tank, to prevent it degrading and becoming thick. It is this thickness that blocks up the carb and stops it working properly. The other thing that will really upset the engine is if you have water in the fuel. This can get in in several ways – most likely is using your boat in the torrential rain! But water can even be present in fuel from the pump, so it’s important to get your fuel from a reputable place, which has a good turnover, and actually cleans their fuel tanks.

I had an issue a couple of weeks ago, where, coming back from a night session, I couldn’t get the engine to idle. I would start on max revs or with the choke out, but would backfire and cut out once they were reduced. This is a typical carb / fuel issue. Luckily I managed to get back, albeit at full whack most of the way, as I couldn’t slow down without it cutting out. Obviously not wanting to annoy every bank angler and other boat user, every time I passed them I had to slow down and cut out to drift by, which was quite frustrating!

So what was going on? It was working at full revs, or with the choke out, so which indicates that there was a problem with fuel starvation – as at this setting it was sucking in a lot more fuel for it to work. Now I am very careful about looking after the fuel, making sure I don’t use old fuel, and I had filled up my tank the day before, so the fuel should have been ok, but it clearly wasn’t.

On getting back home I went through the arduous process of checking the fuel, and cleaning out the whole fuel tank. When draining the fuel tank I put it into a clear container to see what the fuel was like. In this instance full of water and wax! This was new fuel bought the day before!
Running this though the carb can cause it to fur up and require cleaning, luckily I caught it in time!

Cleaning the fuel tank is a pain, first you need to empty it completely, then rinse it out with paraffin a couple of times, then rinse it out with petrol a couple of times again. Then refill, then you have to pump the fuel line clean, in my experience this always splashes petrol everywhere.

To empty the carburettor most engines have a drain screw, undo this and the petrol in there will drain into the cowling. Next is to connect everything: fuel tank, fuel line, engine – leave the carb screw out and prime the bulb, flushing nice clean petrol though the carb to wash out all the rubbish that was in there beforehand. This time I had to really flush the carb to make sure it was clean. Then tighten up the carb drain screw, re-prime and start.

Obviously you need to run your engine in a bucket of water so it cools and don’t burst into flames! In my experience the running the engine for the first time will still take a while to run clean, but once it’s running, I give it a few good revs – to pull the fresh fuel through for a through clean out.

If you are lucky this will work, if not it is a case of taking your engine to a dealer to get the carb sonically cleaned, which can be expensive.

Fishing from a boat obviously means using a rod of some form. This is not usually an issue if you are lure fishing, other than putting the extra rods in racks while not using them. On my boat I have vertical rod holders for unused rods, which is fine in most instances. For the bait fisherman it gets a bit trickier, as in most instances you want to use more than one rod, and for the majority of the time they will be cast out fishing.

Most anglers use some type of boat rod holder, these usually fix to the gunwales of the boat. They are a reasonable source especially for hire boats, and lake fishing. I don’t particularly like these type of rod rests, but I know lots of anglers do. For me I don’t like the rod on the outside of the boat, yes it does free up boat space, but it also brings in its own set of problems, especially if you are fishing a water with a lot of swell, or a river. Also, when zander fishing, it’s difficult to get the rod out of the holder in time to hit finicky bites.
Most of the time I fish with my rods inside the boat, albeit resting on the gunwales, and it works quite well. I only use two rods most of the time so it’s not an issue really, and I have been doing it this way for a number of years.

However it’s not the best way to look after your rods, and you do get the odd scratches from where they rest on the gunwales. So, I have been looking for some time for something suitable, without really having to drill into the side of my boat.

What I came up with was, well what I usually use for my bank fishing is the Guru Reaper rod rest, I like these multi-type rests as you can move your rod to whatever position you want to keep more tension on the line when ledgering. For float fishing it doesn’t really matter that much, but it’s nice to keep the rods in position.

Now to fix it to the boat, for this I used Railblaza side mount. This was fixed on a separate piece of aluminium, and to fix it inside the track of the gunwale I used two smaller pieces of aluminium which are bolted together, and these sandwich into the track and hold the mount in place.

To fix the rod rest in place I drilled out a Railblaza attachment adapter and then tapped a screw thread into it with a tapping tool (which is 3/8 inch for standard bank stick adapter). Once fixed in to the hard plastic adapter it can then be put in the Railblaza mount as and when needed.

So far I am quite happy with this set up and have mounted a couple of them around the boat, the Railblaza attachments can be used for other things as well, the next project I am going to mount camera light panels on them for photos at night. So as you can see they are quite versatile.

Most boats are set up with white cabin lights, as this is the colour of light that “most” feel comfortable with, and it suits in most instances. However, for fishing it’s not really that good. Firstly, in the summer months, a white light will attract all kind of bugs and creepy crawlies at night. Secondly, a white light ruins your natural night vision, which usually takes 30 mins or more to acclimatise with once it gets dark. It is far better to use a red light which doesn’t disrupt it as much, and also doesn’t attract all the insects.

When choosing the lighting option it can be easy to “over light” which means putting too much light in the boat, so that it will ruin your night vision anyway. It is surprising how little light you actually need when out at night, as once your eyes get used to the dark you become hyper-sensitive to light, so a very low level glow is really all you need.
This is why I installed two low-power LED strips, which for a 16ft boat doesn’t sound very much, but in effect is more than adequate. LED strips are very power-efficient and last forever, also they are small enough to fit under the gunwales, and provide a downward light so they don’t sit in the immediate eye line.

LED strips are also what I use for my navigation lights, two strips on either side is fine for this purpose. You also need an all-round white light at the stern of the boat, this is mounted on a pole and fixed on dark so it’s out the way.

All the wiring for the lights goes into a waterproof junction box which is situated at the front of the boat, and the outputs then go into a switch panel, which was then fixed to another aluminium plate. The ally plate is large enough to cover the access hole I cut previously, which seals everything up nicely.

To make sure it sealed tightly over the tread plate, rather than grinding down the tread plate grips, I put a layer of foam around the edges before riveting it to place.

There are various waterproof switches you can get for marine uses, the most important thing to do when wiring them is to make sure all the connections are also waterproofed, which means lots of shrink-tubing on the connections, and fixing it in an area where there is going to be little water ingress – which is why I mounted it at the bow of the boat, which, apart from the gaping hole I previously cut, is more or less sealed.

It is also good to have the switches at the front of the boat, for me, as when I am fishing I am usually at the front or middle of the boat so can easily reach them to turn them on and off when needed, additionally the switch panel covers the access hole I cut previously. One of the things I wanted was a lighted switch so I can tell at a glance what is on and what isn’t.

The battery is in a waterproof box at the stern of the boat, which means the cabling needed to run from the stern to the bow of the boat, not an issue with a Seastrike, as you can run it along the recesses of the gunwales. To make sure it doesn’t slip around, however, I held it in place with some strong double-sided tape.

My ally boat has been carpeted, not all boats are, and in the past I have had ally boats that weren’t. I suppose there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Certainly un-carpeted are far easier to clean, however they are a colder boat and certainly louder, when, if like me, you drop and bang things around onto pure ally plate. Personally, I like the carpeted feel – more so in the summer when it’s dry and less likely to get mud ground into it, which leads me on to the reason for this blog – cleaning the damn stuff.
The best way to keep a carpet clean is to wash it down after every trip – really, as if?
Secondly keep a good cover on your boat – mine ripped and blew off over winter.
Park it in the sun so it can dry out – mine was under a tree in the shade!
Add to this the fact that we have had one of the wettest winters on record last year, meant that I had the perfect storm for moss and lichen to gain hold in the carpet, and turn what was a nice feature of the boat in to a miniature rain forest canopy!

When you have an infestation like this, it can be difficult to get rid of. I certainly wished I’d replaced the broken cover! You can get rid of a lot of it mechanically, either by jet washing or soaking it, and then scrubbing it with a stiff brush, but both can take some time.

I find it’s far better to move the boat to a sunny location for a couple of days, as UV light damages the moss, either killing it outright or making it less adherent to the carpet. Then the best thing I have found to get rid of it is a pet hair remover attachment that fits on a vacuum cleaner!

It really does work well, and it will get rid of the all but the most stubborn areas.
The bits that are really ingrained, or are at the edges where the vacuum can’t get to, need to be treated in a different way, and for this I mix up a spray using a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water, and completely soak the area with this vinegary goodness.

The acid in the mix kills off the moss and lichen, you need to leave it for about 10 – 20 mins then jet wash it off.
If you follow these steps, then it only takes about half hour to make your boat carpet look new again!

While in this period of lock down, I have finally got around to doing a couple of jobs on the boat that I have been putting off for a while, just due to the fact that I haven’t had the time, and have made do with some bodges. The first was fixing the bow mount engine quick release plate. I had put this off, as actually it was quite a big job on this boat, involving cutting a hole on at the bow casting deck, which you really don’t want to do unless you have to. So the bodge I was using over the last couple of years was simply mounting the quick release on two bits of wood that was ratchet- strapped to the handles at the bow of the boat. It worked ok, the engine was a bit high, and it did obscure vision a bit while using the main engine, but it was acceptable for a short term fix.

Eventually I wanted to fix it to the boat correctly, so last week during my “enforced” spare time, I got cracking.
The first thing I had to do is cut the starboard side handle off, as this was right where the engine needed to go. This was fairly simple with to do with an angle grinder. The next thing was the cleat at the front of the boat it was slightly in the way so I needed to move it. As it was bolted on I needed to get inside the front deck to get to the bolts. I needed to get in any way to bolt the engine mounting plate on anyway so I had to cut a hole in the deck – not something that you look forward to, but again it was fairly simple. First I marked it out then drilled the corner points and cut the rest out with angle grinder. Alas I had to make a bigger hole then I wanted which is the benefit of having big arms that need to fit in to get at the bolts!

The bow of the boat is one of the areas that holds the flotation, in this case sheets of polystyrene, I had to move a couple out the way to get in, but it is important not to get rid of them and they will be replaced afterwards so the buoyancy remains the same.

The front cleat was a pain in the ass, even getting inside I couldn’t get the bolts off as they had seized on, so, then as a last results I cut through it with the angle grinder to remove the bolts!

Now the mounting plate on the engine also needed to be adjusted so the engine fitted correctly in the down position, and didn’t clip the side strip of the boat. Luckily the mounting plate has an option to offset it so it hangs slightly more over the side, so that’s how I fixed it to the engine.

The next problem was fixing the second part of the quick release mounting plate on to the boat. As it turns out the front of my boat where I wanted it fitting was slightly wonky! Only by a couple of mm but it meant that the plate wouldn’t sit flush. Not an issue as I had a spare bit of aluminium plate kicking around in the garage and I put this where the quick release plate was going and put a couple of aluminium washers under one side to level it on the tread plate.
Then it was simply a case of drilling the holes for the plate and bolting it on.

As usual with these mounting plates, the engine side holes needed a slight enlarging to fit in, but its on, and sits just nicely within the boat when stowed, and deploys easily without clipping the side.

I then replaced the cleat at the front at a slightly different angle, as I still need this should I wish to anchor. The final job is sealing the hole in the deck up, which I am going to do by riveting an aluminium plate over it, however while the bow is open I am going to take advantage of doing the electrics of the boat and putting a switching panel in here first. Which I will write about later.

Boat Basics
If you are seriously into pike fishing then at some point, probably sooner rather than later, you are likely to be in the situation of going afloat. Most pike anglers first experience boat fishing on trout waters with hire boats, and though it can be a bit daunting on your first trip out, the chance of exploring new waters and fishing for massive pike is what usually drives budding boat anglers. With more and more waters now opening up to pike fishing it is important to know what to be prepared for, if you have decided to go down this route.
Before rushing headlong into buying your own boat, and running with all the pitfalls that go along with it, I recommend cutting your teeth on the hire boats that are readily available on trout waters.

Kit;
For the one-off trip, there is no reason not to use the same rods and gear as you would for bank fishing. The more you go you will realise that shorter rods offer better performance from a boat, giving you more leverage close in, and less clutter in the boat.
An unhooking mat is an essential, there is no soft grass to lay your fish on in a fibreglass hull! Unhooking mats work ok, but to stop the fish sliding around and slipping off or banging around I prefer to use a Sladle, which cradles the fish off the floor and takes out all these risks.
Other kit that you may look into getting is a basic echo-sounder – to help with fish location and depth ranges. You don’t need anything fancy for the first couple of trips, and they don’t replace watercraft, but it is really handy knowing whether you’re over 20 ft of water or 80 ft.

Anchors;
Unless you are going to be chucking lures all day, you will want to anchor up at some point, and put some baits out. Now, you would think that in this day and age, and the fact you are paying good money for the “use” of the boat, that they would come as standard, front and back. But this is unlikely – most trout water boats do come with a front anchor, some are better than others, and, unfortunately, on some waters they are often woefully inadequate, and often don’t have the correct length of rope or chain to allow you to anchor in the right locations. I know of no trout waters that provide a rear anchor, so at the very least you will need to bring your own. If I plan to do any amount of static fishing I bring both front and rear anchors, as, if you are slipping around all day and dragging, you are not going to be presenting your baits correctly.

Comfort;
The sad fact is most boat newbies, go out for the first time and get cold and wet and don’t go again – simply because they don’t have the correct outdoor clothing. A good rule of thumb for boat work is to dress for 10 degrees colder than it is on the bank – this is because you are exposed on the boat, so wrap up warm. Always have some good waterproofs, and some good boots, as, no matter what, you always get wet on a boat. Even on dry days, there is likely to be water in the boat at some point – it could be wave splash, bringing a fish in, or even just the residual water at the bottom of the boat that soaks into everything. The worst thing to wear is jeans and trainers, they soak up the water and you will get cold.

Safety;
On all waters there will be a safety cut-off limit for wind speed – as when it’s windy the fetch (wave height) will be significant, and this makes it dangerous to be in a boat unless you know what you are doing. I would say that the cut-off point is quite generous on most waters, and if you are new to boat fishing and don’t feel comfortable – don’t go out, even if it’s within the limits – you are there to enjoy yourself not worry about capsizing.

Life jackets:
Always, always, wear a life jacket, far too many anglers have died due to complacency on this matter. Most waters provide them free of charge, however I prefer to use my own, simply for peace of mind, as I know my PFD (personal flotation device) is fully serviced and working every time I go out. There have been some horror stories with loaned life jackets not working, or even being cut so they don’t inflate. Why anyone would do this I don’t know, but it happens.

Lastly always let someone know when you are coming back, on a lot of waters there is a cut off time anyway. But its good practice, and reassuring to know someone else
knows where you are likely to be should the worst happen and at the end of the say we all want to come back safe!

If you were to list the all the things that take up valuable fishing time when you want to get your boat afloat, boat strapping would probably be quite low on the list, certainly time- wise. However I find having to ratchet strap my boat on to the trailer a pain in the bum, especially with cold hands, add to that straps that jam, or have salted up, and it becomes a chore.
I have two ratchet straps on my boat, one goes right over the boat and ratchets down to the trailer, and the other goes over the motor leg and again goes “lightly” to the trailer, to prevent engine bounce.

With the fitting of submersible trailer lights I was still looking at ways to make my boat more “user friendly” to launch – (not that it was un-user friendly anyway, but I am lazy!) So when I saw some boat buckles at a trade show I was instantly drawn to them, and got myself a pair.

Boat buckles are basically a retractable ratchet strap which is mounted to your trailer, they are fully submersible, and with a click of a button they loosen and retract like a seatbelt. So taking them off takes seconds, as does putting them back on.

The pair I got were designed to grip gunwale rather than the aft of the boat, and so needed to be fitted on the side of the trailer. This wasn’t a problem but I didn’t want to drill holes in my trailer so I got some square section 5mm aluminium and mounted them on this, and then held these to the trailer frame with standard U-bolts.

As you would expect with something that is designed to hold a boat on, they are quite substantial things, and have a rating of holding up to 1500 kg – which should be enough for most trailered boats in the UK. On the down side they are not cheap things. I got mine for £150 for the pair. They do however make launching and recovering the boat a bit less of a hassle, and, accompanied by the submersible trailer lights I simply winch in and go!

Submersible lights

One of the things I have been meaning to do for ages is put some submersible lights on my boat trailer. Having seen them in use on some of my friends boats I had already made the decision to put them on, but the hassle of fitting and making some brackets for them have meant that I kept putting it off. Then at the end of last season I kept having trouble with my light board, even though it was an LED one! For no discernible reason occasionally one of the lights would stop working, usually first thing in the morning when I was itching to go out! The third time it happened as I was scrambling around on my hands and knees in the cold morning air I had an epiphany and I decided to bite the bullet and order some submersible ones and all the auxiliary kit that that entailed with the intention of fitting them in the summer when it was warmer.

The kit I got was part of the G2 system which is from LED Autolamps. It is basically a push fit waterproof cabling for your trailer which terminates in two waterproof LED light sets.

There are three cables that you need; the first is the cable with the 5 pin plug on it to connect to your vehicle:

This then plugs into what is called a “goose neck cable”, which connects the first cable from the car to the first light set:

The third cable is a light to light connecter which – as the name suggests – connects both lights units together.

The cables come with a silicone type gel inside them and a the connectors have a water tight lock on them and you basically push them together to form a watertight seal, to make sure it was doubly water tight I put some heat shrink tubing over it as well.

One of the light unit I purchased came with a number plate light, the connectors for this attach to the back of the light unit to power it.

With all the parts for the lights and cables in hand, I then had to fit them to the trailer. In order to fit them on to the trailer I made a couple of brackets with some 3mm aluminium sheet and some 40mm square section to mount them on to. I then fixed the required lights and reflectors on these before fixing them to the trailer using U-bolts.

The brackets with the lights fitted were secured at the back of the trailer and slightly to the side so the boat can come off and on easily without clipping them so no more need to keep disconnecting a light board every time I wish to launch.

I have since launched a couple of times with the set up and have had no issues, what did surprise me was how quickly I could launch with this set up. Now I know it takes very little time to unhook a trailer board, but it’s a pain in the bum and it’s something I don’t miss doing one little bit.