Q-jet fuel filter

[Mertz]

I was reading some posts here about tuning a Q-jet and found someone that had taken the fuel filter out of the carb and the truck ran "like a raped ape". I tried that last night and my idle speed increased above what I should be running. I haven't had a chance to try to turn it down but I believe it is off the stop so there is no room to adjust. Is this an indication of something wrong with the carb? I am running a stock mechanical fuel pump with an inline filter. I am trying to convert from a Edelbrock to the Q-jet to improve gas mileage and still have towing performance. I change the intake from an EPS to a stock EGR aluminum unit.