Eno River Report, Sunday 26th

[CrappieKrazy]

Decided saturday that I was going fishing sunday hell or high water. Told the misses and she said she would like to go. So I was up with the sun ready to hit the water. She finished getting ready about 10:30 and we headed for the river with 3 yr. old Tanner in the car seat. Launch the boat and tie up to the brand new dock.:D If you have ever launched the river you will love this new feature. Boat fires up and I put it in reverse but the wheel won't turn. I guess it sat so long the cable rusted up. Trolled to the entrance of the flat river and started putting out rods. Don't get them all out when I get a light bite and put a nice 3/4 pounder in the boat. Pick at them through out the day and end up bringing home 25 for dinner and threw back 15 or so for seed. It was a slow day but I have had worse days on the Eno. Nice weather brought plenty of boats and I think in 2 or 3 more weeks it will be on fire. No big fish, lots of small ones but we had a great time. She took some good pictures, I will see if she can post them tonight. Oh, and in case you are wondering I'm supposed to tell you she caught just as many or more than I did.

[FishCrazy]

Nice report. Sorry to hear about the cable but it didnt stop the fun and thats good. Keep at it and you will soon be as good as the wife. lol

[Whompus Cat]

great report, glad yall had a good time! Were you catching the fish on minners or jigs, or both? The steering is more than likely in the actual cylinder where the rod slides in and out to turn the motor. Both my cousins' boat and stepfathers' boat does this, no matter how much or what kind of grease they use. Sometimes it only takes 2 weeks for it to seize up. What we always do to get it to break free is, first try to turn the motor your hands while working the steering wheel in the same direction, but don't force it too much if this wont work. Where the cylinder attaches to an "arm" that then connects to the motor should be a bolt. Remove that bolt, freeing the cylinder. With some good penetrating oil and a pair of channel locks or vise grips you should be able to work that rod loose, letting the penetrating oil do its thing of course. Working it back and forth, twisting it and spraying, it should eventually break free. Fill it up with good grease and work the steering wheel back and forth about twice a week to keep it from seizing up again. If this doesn't work then it's probably the cable, or something else. Hope this helps.

[CrappieKrazy]

THANKS Whompus, I worked on it here on my lunch break and it was exactly as you explaned. Took it apart and sanded the rod and greased her up and she works fine, It took 30 minutes tops. Glad I didn't wait any longer or it would have been worse. I washed her down with high pressure after my last beach trip and the salt plus forcing the water up inside there was enough to make it stick. Anyway we used jigs tipped with minnows in about 16 ft of water and as close to the bottom as we could get without getting hung. Pink/white and black/chart. seemed to catch more fish but all colors worked. Hope to make it back next sunday if you guys can make it look me up. Oh, I had to call Nat for a refresher coarse on how to crappie fish. I bet it has been early spring since I had been. :D CK

[jack]

good deal boyce.how much did nat charge you for the refresher??

[ncnat]

good deal boyce.how much did nat charge you for the refresher??

It was free, he's kinda family.:D

[turkeyfootnc]

CK are you trolling or tightlining? Is the Eno good to fish in mid-December? I plan to take most of December off and after deer season I may make a trip up there.

[Whompus Cat]

glad you got the problem fixed! I hate to say it but it's probably going to seize up a lot more often now that it's started its corrosion process inside the cylinder. Keep it greased good and work the steering as much as you can to keep it from locking up. My buddy just called and said he discovered the same problem yesterday. It's pretty common, especially with the steering hardware that Yamaha uses. Although, my cousin owns an Evinrude and his does it too. I've been fishing jordan pretty hard lately, I may take a break from there and try the Eno soon. Thanks for the report!

[ncnat]

CK are you trolling or tightlining? Is the Eno good to fish in mid-December? I plan to take most of December off and after deer season I may make a trip up there.

The colder and nastier the weather the better, almost like duck hunting.

[FishCrazy]

I cant wait till I gotta pick the ice off the eyes of the rod. lol I was just up in northern Michigan for a week and got a refresher coarse on doing just that so Im READY!