Took the boat out the first time idled away from the dock and gave here throttle and a loud back fire then pick up and ran OK for the rest of the day. Next time out same thing. Back fired when first going out and then ran fine. 3rd time as I was coming in the motor just died while running at 3500 rpms. Started back up and ran fine to the launch. Went out yesterday and ran out to fishing spot.. tried to idle down and she would die. Started up and give her a little gas and engine would bog and die. Let sit for quite a while and tried to start up and had to give her 2-3000 rpms to keep her running out of gear. Tried to put her in gear and she would die. After playing w/ her for 5 min finally got her in gear and ran back to the launch at 3500 rpms. about a mile from the launch she dies. Start her back up again and make it back to the launch. I suspect a fuel filter or something in the lines but the back fire has me confused. Will a clogged filter cause and engine to back fire when cold?