Mercury 45hp fuel economy question

[k5blazerboy]

So, I have a 1988 45hp 4cylinder on a 16' Starcraft Mariner boat. I run it for trolling for walleyes on the lake. Problem is, I am going through about 9 gallons of gas for 3 hours of fishing. The other day for example, I took a 5 gallon can, filled my 6 gallon tank. Ran 4 miles out to our spot. 3 of us at WOT at about 700lbs at about 25mph. We got out there, trolled for a little over 2 hours, came back when it started getting rough at 3/4-WOT. We had to refill the tank during fishing, got back to the launch and we were down to less than a 1/4 tank again. I estimate we went through about 9 gallons. This seems a bit nuts to me, but maybe I am wrong. I love trolling, but at about $75 a trip between everything for 3-4 hours of fishing, it is too expensive to do. HELP!

 

[bruce1967]

Re: Mercury 45hp fuel economy question

So, I have a 1988 45hp 4cylinder on a 16' Starcraft Mariner boat. I run it for trolling for walleyes on the lake. Problem is, I am going through about 9 gallons of gas for 3 hours of fishing. The other day for example, I took a 5 gallon can, filled my 6 gallon tank. Ran 4 miles out to our spot. 3 of us at WOT at about 700lbs at about 25mph. We got out there, trolled for a little over 2 hours, came back when it started getting rough at 3/4-WOT. We had to refill the tank during fishing, got back to the launch and we were down to less than a 1/4 tank again. I estimate we went through about 9 gallons. This seems a bit nuts to me, but maybe I am wrong. I love trolling, but at about $75 a trip between everything for 3-4 hours of fishing, it is too expensive to do. HELP!

Have you tried an electric trolling motor? My favorite fishing hole is on a lake at a camp ground, I use my motor to get where I need to get and then the trolling motor to fish. Just a thought.