125 force dies when put in gear

[89capri]

My 89 125 HP L drive idles fine and runs at high speed fine, but, when I put it in gear to pull away from the dock, she dies. I have to rev it up then throw it into gear after that no problems until i put it back in neutral. Is this just a matter of adjusting the idle screw or air mixture screw? Thanks. NOTE: This is my first 2-cycle boat motor, so speak in layman's please.

[gregmsr]

Check and adjust the idle screw (not sure about L drive but may be around 700rpm at idle in forward gear)
Check/change spark plugs
Do a de-carb (search the threads for this)
These things helped me with this problem.