Sac-a-lait and Outboard Motor Questions..please help!

OK..I'm sturggling with the sac-a-lait. I caught only 3 Sunday. I dont understand..I caught a very nice size one...continued to fish the area for over an hour with no bites. I was at Bayou Sorrel. I'm new to crappie so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I tried many different colored jigs. Now, the water was only about 5ft deep..so I was under a cork.
My motor. I have a 150 johnson 1998 model. Yesterday it just sound funny starting. It was like my starter was spinning a bit AFTER the motor started. It could be nothing but Ive been on the boat enough to know that it never made the sound before. The boat started fine all day..but it kept making that spinning noise for 2-3 secs after I started it. Any ideas?

starter bendix

On the sac-au-lait, did you take notice where you caught it, laydown, lillies, treetop. You needed to try to find other like spots.

On the motor, "G" is right. Sounds like the starter bendix is hanging up. Maybe it just needs a little squirt of oil or the spring may have weakened. By the way, the bendix it the little gear and spring on the end of the starter that jumps up and makes contact with the flywheel gear when you engage the switch.

"gene"

Ahh I see about that starter. I wonder if (the starter) will have to be replaced? I'm gonna bring the boat in the morning to simons outboard. I'm hoping it wont be to big of a repair...God knows i've put a bunch into this boat already. I'll know tomorrow how much this will cost me!! I just wanna catch CRAPPIE!!! LOL

I would try some oil and the starter shaft at the bendix and also take the spring off and stretch it a bit and reinstall. It may have weakened and compressed over time. Try that before you put it in the shop.

I also would put muffs/hose on motor, remove cover and start....you'll see what's happening

I second Gene's advice on the fish. Always pay attention when you catch one--depth, structure or open water, color/size of jig, and presentation (bite on the jig falling, or when it's stationary, etc.), and what size/color line if you're using more than one pole. Then try to do the same thing again. Of course, many times they are just not biting and nothing you do is going to make a difference.

Thanks for all the advice. I dropped my boat off this morning to the service place. I just dont know anything about boats so...im hoping for the best. Its frustrating to catch one fish in a canal area and get no other bites..drives me crazy...almost as crazy as service work on the boat!

Sounds like your key switch may be a little dirty. Try spraying a little electronics cleaner and work the key several times( after you let it sit for about 30 minutes so the spray will evaporate).

This time of year with the water low try finding structure in deeper water, laydowns, a stickup, a downed log going into the deeper water. Also try to locate deep stumps. I have been having a lot of success in Henderson lately doing this. I also fish the sourel area at times and it's pretty much the same there. Don't know about the motor.
Good Luck

I've been going to Bayou Sorrel and the water is only 4-6ft deep. Thinking maybe its not deep enough? I dont know.

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Originally Posted by scottyl44

I've been going to Bayou Sorrel and the water is only 4-6ft deep. Thinking maybe its not deep enough? I dont know.

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Concentrate on the larger waterways. They r usually deeper.

Im with Jigflinger on the key switch. Mine's sticky and if I dont manually turn it back counter clockwise a bit it will keep the starter running until I do. Or it eventually vibrates itself back after a few seconds.

As for the Crappie.. I wish I had an answer...:dono Sure is fun to keep tryin till you figure it out though.

Well Simon called me and said it was the starter! 160.00 for the starter and 80 to put it in...so..i guess it could have been worse. Glad it didnt go out 3 miles back in the bayou! I'm going to bayou long Sunday...

The fishing. If you are in the same spot for more than 10 minutes without catching you're waiting your time. Move around, mark where you catch and hit those spots. When I fish over a cork at spawn I may go to 10 different spots if they don't bite, just in the AM.

problem is....we don't have spots...we pick spots....

Don't give up on the sacalait. It takes a lot of time to figure out. Sometimes i hone right in on em and other days I pick up one or two and then squat. It's also important to remember that the bite can turn off and on in an instant. I am by no means good at catching them compared to others. I see people just waxing them and I get a dozen, but it's a small victory. One of the keys is to get around other fisherman. Watch them from a distance. See if they are fishing tight into the bank or on the edge of laydowns. You will find that about 75 percent of Sacalait fisherman are really friendly on the water. They will usually give you a lot of good tips right there on the spot about what the fish are doing that day. Don't be afraid to ask. I find the same to be true of only about 15 percent of bass fisherman. And last but not least, catching the first one should be a cue. I know it didn't work out for you that way on this trip, but pay close attention, and think about where the fish was positioned related to the structure, how your bait was presented, etc...If i notice that my first fish hit the bait on the way down, (i.e. my cork never moved to show the bait had reached it's desired depth) i will shallow up 6 or 8 inches, and if they hit it after it finished its fall and it had been sitting there for a minute I may deepen up a little. sometimes this makes all the difference in the world. Oh yeah and this time of year I like to at least see 8 feet of water near where I'm fishing. HTH....best of luck.