Hi all,

My family will be at Leech Lake starting Oct 10th for 10 days. I have never stayed at place this late in the year where I could leave the boat in the water overnight. The weather forecast is for below freezing temps for a few of the nights we are there. Is it okay to leave the boat in the water when it gets this cold? Can anything freeze even though the water temps will still be quite a bit above freezing? Or should I take it out at night?

Thanks!

FishingPops

If the water isn't frozen then neither is your motor. When I had a dock I always left the boat in until ice up. Make sure to leave your lower unit in the water over night.

If the boat is in the water its fine. Its when air temps get below freezing that coming out of the water is a issue. Drain all of boat as well as you can and turn the motor on for a split second in the down position to get all water out of lines. Thats all I do and it works fine.
Before I store for the year I find a nice steep hill and park up it and then pull the drain plug and get all the water out.

Thanks for the replies! Sounds like I will be okay in the water.

Nice tips Northlander!

Also, if your water line freezes overnight. Just startup your motor for 15-20 secs and then shut it off. This should warm the block enough to melt whatever is in there. Repeat if necessary if the first time doesn't work.

Had to do this while duck hunting. would start the motor ever hour or so to keep the pump working.

We keep our big boats in the water until mid november and many nights the temps get below freezing, as northlander said you will be fine.
If the water line is froze, let the motor run for a bit, then shut it off. Restart it a few minutes later and it should be unthawed. Don't start it and just run it down the lake if it is froze.

One other thing you need to do when you are done is to run the bilge and areator pump when the boat is on the trailer, just to make sure the water is out of those two pumps.

Good Luck fishing.