Idle and slow speed problems 81 Evinrude E25CIM

Took the boat out to the lake today to fire up the motor for the first time this year. When the motor fired up I had to be quick to get on the throttle or else it would die. Figuring it was just from being cold I held the throttle about halfway for about 5 minutes. Once it was warm I tried to throttle down and it just died. The motor starts with a few pulls, but it just seems like its choking out. I've never worked on a boat motor before so I'm not even sure where to start looking

- Plugs and wires are new
- there is a steady stream of water being release (peeing)
- there is water spraying out the back (two little holes)
- Fuel is 87 octane (no ethanol) with a 50:1 oil mix.
- Sounds good at higher rev (no missing from what I can tell).
- Shifts in and out of gear fine, but had to do it at a higher rev.

There was blue-ish white smoke coming out of the two small holes (same ones that were spurting water)....not sure if that is helpful in figuring out whats wrong, but I figured I'd throw that out there.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

What happens if you quickly squeeze the fuel primer bulb? If it continues to run when squeezing it then it may be the fuel pump. Is the fuel tank vent open? Fuel filter clogged?

The vent was open. Thank you for responding. I'll update when I get a chance to try your suggestion

I checked the filter screen and it was clean. Dumped a can of sea foam in the tank and took it back out the lake. Ran the motor for an hour. There was brief moment when the motor really bogged down (seemed like it was running on one cylinder), but then it made a popping sound and went to full power (must have been some crud somewhere). Made some adjustments to the carb and now it idles great. Took the boat back out yesterday and its still running good. Thank you for the assistance.