Clogged Water Intake - What do you do when you're on the water? 2005 250HP

[Tonyc]

Hello to all,
What does everyone do when they pull crap into the water intake on their outboard? How do you clean it when you're out on the water fishing a tournament?

My high temp alarm went off waiting for tournament to start, I wasn't watching water pressure. Launch site had low water and alot of crap floating in water. I shut down and finally got intake area cleaned up. I had to restart engine and put engine in reverse several times to clear crap. Could doing this damage engine? It ran fine after clearing alarm and temp came down and water pressure was back to normal.

Thanks to all that reply,

TC

[JOHN202]

I keep i stiff brush ( not a wire brush ) on a long stick for when that happens. Trim the motor out the water and brush the debris off the intake.

[Tonyc]

Thanks for your reply, I will try that, great idea.

How about engine damage? I didn't run it too long when alarm went off.

Thanks,

Tony

[Neilslure]

I remember one of the pro saying he keeps a toilet brush for cleaning grass from his intake.