Fishing Line On The Prop Shaft Again

[Traveler2586]

When was the last time you checked your main engine and trolling motor prop shafts for fishing line?  And, how often do you check for line?

 

Just got my TM back from the shop and it has fishing line on the prop shaft again; so far this year I've had line on my TM's shaft three times, early March, late May and now late August; and I'm talking about lots of line with each event.

 

Last year I lost a lower unit seal to fishing line too.

 

Do you guys have this problem in your waters?

 

 

[Under the Radar]

Not uncommon down here in central Florida, but mostly I get the tendrils from the Eel grass that will clog things up. I pull tne prop on theTM at least every other trip sometimes every trip if I've been in heavy vegitation.

 

Never hurts to check.

[papajoe222]

We have a lot of shore bound anglers on my favorite waters and with all the snags around the shoreline, it's inevitable.  I take the prop off my TM before covering my boat and I can tell you that at least 50% of the time when I do, there is line around the shaft.  When I do find it, I always check the prop shaft on the big motor even though my home lake is electric motors only.  That prop spins as you're moving around and will pick up line and weeds even when it isn't running. 

This rarely occurs on the other lakes that I fish as shore fishing is very limited on them.

[mudkart]

I check the TM prop maybe 2X a year, and there is always line on it.  Never found it on the OB prop. 

[slonezp]

I check the TM periodically. The big motor only after I idle by the shore guys and they start screaming at me while holding onto their rods for dear life. 

[J Francho]

I'm constantly switching between props on my big motor, so I guess I check it every week or so. 

[Traveler2586]

We have a lot of shore bound anglers on my favorite waters and with all the snags around the shoreline, it's inevitable.  I take the prop off my TM before covering my boat and I can tell you that at least 50% of the time when I do, there is line around the shaft.  When I do find it, I always check the prop shaft on the big motor even though my home lake is electric motors only.  That prop spins as you're moving around and will pick up line and weeds even when it isn't running. 

This rarely occurs on the other lakes that I fish as shore fishing is very limited on them.

 

We have a lot of shore anglers on the Mattawoman Creek as well; I know I picked up one of their rigs one day because the hook and sinker were still attached.

 

Tip: When you stop your big motor, keep it in gear so the prop won't rotate.

 

EDIT 08/27/13 21:29L

My tip is misleading when I said "keep it in gear"   After you stop your engine place it in gear to keep the prop from free spinning; OR, raise the lower unit out of the water so it won't snag on anything.

[J Francho]

I would not turn the motor off while in gear. The manual will tell you it's a no-no, and IIRC, you can run into low compression issues. There shouldn't be any problem putting into gear after the motor has stopped. I'd pull the kill switch though....

[MarkH024]

Had my TM serviced just this month. Had line wrapped in it and actually cut into the seal and was allowing a tiny bit of water to get inside. No real harm done but I will be checking more so now. Haven't looked at my big motor prop but this thread is just another reminder to do so.

[MichBassMan]

Not only trolling motor shaft and big engine prop shaft. This year when checking my wheel bearings I had about 15yds of line all twisted around an axel and an inner wheel bearing seal. I noticed it because there was grease everywhere.

[Dave P]

Twice on the TM and once it was braid. That was our fault because we ran over my line while it was over the side. Once on the outboard. Seems to have just picked it up somewhere. Didn't get the seals in any case, thank goodness.  I've lost count of the yards of line that I've "caught" this year. Gotta be close to a hundred yards and recovered a shakey head with worm, a spoon, a spinnerbait, two hooks, three swivels, and a bobber.

[Traveler2586]

I would not turn the motor off while in gear. The manual will tell you it's a no-no, and IIRC, you can run into low compression issues. There shouldn't be any problem putting into gear after the motor has stopped. I'd pull the kill switch though....

 

J, I don't kill the big engine while it's in gear either.  When I pull into an area I'll idle in neutral while I get my act together before getting out of my seat, when I kill the engine I'll then shift into gear or raise the lower unit out of the water.  Problem is, as hard as I try, from time to time I'll forget to do both; I just jump up to get on deck and that's bad in an area used by shore anglers.

 

I don't need to pull the kill switch, the engine won't start in gear.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I've put quite a few miles on my motor this year from Pickwick to St Clair. I decided to check for line the other day.  Oddly enough there was non.  I do still need to check the TM prop.  That probably has some.

[BuckMaxx]

I just checked my big motor and yesI had some line. I do it about 1 time per summer. My trolling motor gets it a lot. I can hear it out of balance when I get into some. It happens here a lot as we have a ton of bank fisherman.

[Traveler2586]

I just discovered the purpose of the white nylon disk on the prop shaft of my MotorGuide is to protect the seals from fishing line; now why can't they do something like that for the big motors??