I keep having to take out mangled fish from the cleanout ports

[redcod59]

Hi all, it looks like catfish find the jet pumps of my Yamaha to be safe havens to hang out and deposit eggs. Little do they know that their safe room becomes a chamber of horrors when I turn on the engine. Sometimes I can see fish chunks come out of the back, sometimes the only symptom is that the cooling water does not start flowing. Then I have to take out the mangled chunks. Kids are grossed out and so am I. And the cleanout ports are not easy to open and close.

The boat is docked on the Potomac in about 8 foot of water, near the shore.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to discourage catfish or maybe also other fish from liking the area?

Thank you

 

[Babin Farms]

Can you put the boat in reverse to close the buckets down and prevent them from entering the jet nozzle? Not sure if it’s possible with your year boat or not.

 

[redcod59]

The fish enter from the intake I believe. They are in the space around the shaft, forward of the prop.

 

[2kwik4u]

What about putting a rubber snake down the clean out port after each outing? Still sucks to have to get in there each time, but it's better than fish guts.

 

[Babin Farms]

Not sure if there’s anything more you can do. Maybe rock the boat or smack the hull with your hand to startle them??

 

[WiskyDan]

Remove the clean out plug and drop a fishing line down the tube??

 

[Bottom Bracket]

Boat lift.

 

[Daren and Heather]

That's awful, I feel for you. Fish are spooked easily by noise and movement. What if you leave your cleanout plugs loose when you're docked (which you're supposed to anyway), and then each time you're about to take the boat out, loudly kind of put each of them in? Then when you close the hatch that will also make a noise, and then finally, right before you start the first engine, move the throttle all the way forward and all the way into reverse... Start the first engine, wait 30 seconds, then start the second. I just think if you go through that simple routine, that's a lot of noise and movement you're generating before you turn on the engine and I think surely it would spook any fish?

 

[Ohio]

I don't have a jet boat...... aren't their grates/screens over the intake ports?

 

[TeenGee]

I read a post where the kids do the "catfish dance" before starting the engines. The jumping on the deck scares the catfish out of the inlets and saves a lot of grief for all involved.

 

[Stefanoar210]

Happened to me a lot last summer. I would just poke whatever pole I had around the port holes before sticking them back in. But the jumping on the back of the boat will also work before starting. I had a few that died and got stuck while starting. Takes a while to pull it out

 

[Bluewater272]

Just an aside, but your cleanout ports should be very easy to remove and replace. You may need to pickup a rebuild kit, it'll take you about 10 minutes per plug with a screwdriver.

 

[Ed255fsh]

Hi all, it looks like catfish find the jet pumps of my Yamaha to be safe havens to hang out and deposit eggs. Little do they know that their safe room becomes a chamber of horrors when I turn on the engine. Sometimes I can see fish chunks come out of the back, sometimes the only symptom is that the cooling water does not start flowing. Then I have to take out the mangled chunks. Kids are grossed out and so am I. And the cleanout ports are not easy to open and close.

The boat is docked on the Potomac in about 8 foot of water, near the shore.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to discourage catfish or maybe also other fish from liking the area?

Thank you

I think that's called chum.
How can I do this when out on the ocean?

 

[AZMark]

Does your boat have keys to start? You could just barely turn it over without starting to scare them off.