72 Islander Project

elkhunter338

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 27, 2009
Messages
818
Re: 72 Islander Project

I have the 1986 version Cheiftain with the merc. 140. The previous owner put a 1971 merc 140 in the boat. I did not realize this until after I got it home and started changing the fuel lines.
Where to you coho fish?
I just slammed the coho's this year off the Oregon coast, it was a great season. Ran my boat 100+ hours this summer and finaly went a whole summer with no major break downs.
Couple of suggestions.
Make sure you have a new waterpump in the outdrive.
Make sure you check engine alignment and look at your driveline splines for wear. I lost a engine coupler 8 miles out in the ocean. The driveline was greased, but the splines had some wear on them. The engine coupler in mine was alum coupler (female splines), steel splines on the male. Spun the alum engine coupler.
A kicker motor is a good idea for ocean fishing especially if something happens to your main engine crossing the bar.
The 4 banger is pretty good on fuel, but no speed boat. Mine runs 28 mph @ 3800 rpms, but I like to run it at 2800 rpms and 20mph.
 

LilAnxious

Cadet
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Messages
7
Re: 72 Islander Project

Nice lookin boat there LA, but your garage really sux:) :)

HUH, the pole barn pics indoors is when I first looked at it from the previous owner.

Elkhunter, Coho on Lake Michiagan. This year was great for Coho in the spring, the rest of the year wan't so hot. A few good days on the Kings, mostly bad weather. One of the main reasons trying to get into a bigger boat. We fish a 17' polarkraft now, 4-6 is pushin it.

Im going to open up the outdrive this winter and replace the water pump, and whatever else it needs. Got a buddy who works his off days at the marina going to help me with all that, never worked on an outdrive before.

What size kicker are you running, I do want to add one for emergencies. Im hoping it will troll on the main about 2.2 without having to mess with bags
 

elkhunter338

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 27, 2009
Messages
818
Re: 72 Islander Project

I had a 2 stroke 15hp johnson with 4 blade solar prop, turns 4500 rpms wot and gave me 5 mph in the ocean.
I now have a 25 hp 2 stroke johnson with a 4 blad prop, prop is too big engine doesnot sound like it revs fast enough, I get 7 mph in the ocean. I think with a better prop I could squezze 8 mph maybe.
Both motors are long-shafts and with bigger waves/swells you need the extra length to keep the prop in the water and engine housing from getting swamped.
My grandpa used to have a shortshaft on a boat for kicker and the prop would come out of the water at times and the engine housing would almost get swamped.

I troll with my main engine at about 3-3.5 mph which is great for ocean coho.
If we ever get chinook season open again (closed this year) I will need to slow down or use heavier downrigger weights to get alittle deeper.
The main engine does good on fuel trolling. I had about a 9 hr coho trip this summer and burn't about 9 gallons of fuel never shut the engine down for 9 hrs. I had about a 7-8 mile run each way.
I have had mine in some pretty rough weather and it does ok. I got caught out in some bad weather a few years ago and I was taking signifiant amounts of water on the top windsheild and could only go 800-1200 rpms all the way in. That size boat should serve you well for the great lakes.
Not sure if I mentioned this but I would check your outdrive splines where they go into the engine coupler. Check alignment and wear, get new grease on them, you can also feel the bearing in the transom to make sure it feels good. Changing the water pump is a good idea.
I am not expert but if you have any question ask, I have been through most of my boat from engine/outdrive/replaced most all the wood.
 

Huron Angler

Admiral
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
6,025
Re: 72 Islander Project

Lil anxious we use a 8hp Yamaha kicker on a 24' fiberglass rig and it's perfect. Saves a ton of $$ on gas for long fishing trips. Longshaft is helpful like Elkhunter stated to keep the prop wet.

Glad to hear you're catching some Coho up there, I grew up in Petoskey and we used to troll quite a bit for all types of salmon:D Hopefully they return to northern Lake Huron as well, pretty quiet on that side lately.
 
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