Between Idle And On Plane...

[ATRoberts]

I have a 1996 Nitro 170TF with a 115 Mercury. I don't have a lot of experience with boats but I have noticed that it runs along okay at idle or slightly above idle. it runs fine up on plane. Anywhere in between and it feels like it's pushing water. I suppose that's by design and is the norm with any bass boat. Is there anything that can be done to make it flatten out and run better at speeds in between idle and on plane?

[Glenn]

Trim up until it just begins to porpoise, then back down a bit.

[200racing]

try getting on plane then backing down. you might be able to go the speed you want but have it work better with a different hull angle 

[Fishing Rhino]

The "problem" with bass boats is they are notoriously stern heavy.  This is done by design.  It is also why they need more horsepower than other boats of similar size. 

 

You can move weight forward, and it will get on plane at lower speeds, but it will lose a lot of top end speed in the process.  It's all about "wetted surface".  The less wetted surface, the less drag.  If you've noticed, the really fast bass boats have the spray from the hull at the last three feet or so ahead of the stern.

 

Bass boats are not designed for cruising at much less than 20 - 25 mph.  "Regular" boats will stay up on plane at much lower speeds.

 

You can add a whale's tail to your motor, which will help some.  But when all is said and done, you are trying to make a boat do what it was not designed to do.

[J Francho]

It's driving technique, not a boat issue.  Get on plane, back off on the throttle, and trim out.  My boat planes around 18 mph.

[ATRoberts]

The reason I am asking....I want to start fishing the local rivers and creeks off the rivers.  I went with a buddy, up the Chickasawhey river and into a creek and did a little bass fishing.  I am tired of the over-fished lakes.  He had a flat-bottomed aluminum boat with a 40 hp engine.  The river gets shallow in places, especially during the summer.  It took us about 15 minutes or so to run up river to get to the creek.  I want to put my boat in the river and see if I can get up to the creek.  I can either idle all the way there or get on plane and chance running up in the sand in a shallow area.  How should I approach this situation?  I guess I should just ease up the river for the first time just to feel it out and see if I can make it.  I don't want to chance getting on plane and damaging the boat if I run into shallow water.  But it will take forever to get there just idling along.  

[james 14]

I don't have a ton of experience with a bass boat at this point but I do have a LOT of experience traveling at the speeds it takes to plane out a bass boat in the jon boats I've used. 20-25 is rather quick to be driving a boat through the size creek I'm picturing. Ultimately it comes down to experience in the water you're driving to know where the shallow areas are and how your boat fits through it all. Until you get enough experience to make you comfortable you'll either have to take it slow, take your friend's boat or risk running aground. One big problem you'll have is coming off plane the stern tends to dig down so if you come around the corner, see a shallow spot and drop out of the gas you could do damage to your lower end or transom with the motor digging bottom at 20mph.

 

My biggest fear would be logs or rocks, however, if it's just sand bars I'd be inclined to take a little more risk. A hydraulic jack plate and a low water pickup will help if you get into areas you know are shallow.

[200racing]

talk to your friend and get some info on the creek. let him know your intentions and ask for a trip with him explaining his route.

[200racing]

also you could reprop your boat with a high bite prop.

[ATRoberts]

Thanks for all the replies. I am not going to run the motor once I get in the creek. I was hoping to be able to run a little quicker than idle to get to the creek. Sounds like my best option is to just idle all the way the first time or two just to see if I can make it all the way down there. After a few trips I should pretty well know where the shallow spots are.

[Way2slow]

Small rivers with a lot of mines in the water are a dangerous combo for bass boats with large motors.  As mentioned, they are very stern heavy so they naturually run deep at slow speeds and the lower unit on a big motor sticks down a lot, making anything less than two foot from the surface a dangerous obsticle,   Runnning at low speed where the boat is plowing makes it even worse, that's when the motor is at it's deepest point.

 

Have your buddy sit in at the bow of the boat and put as much weight forward as you can.  When you start off, go full power, get on plane and then cut back to the minimum speed it will stay on plane.  This is also one time where a hydrofoil is worth it's weight in gold.  It's helps greatly in poping the boat up on plane. 

 

You will see the people running large boats with large motors that know the river running fairly fast.  This is so the minimum amount of motor is in the water and is actually the best way, but again, they know where they are running.

[derekxec]

sell the bass boat and get a tunnel hull flats boat then you can go anywhere on plane or idling lol

[ATRoberts]

I wish I had thought this through a little more befo

re buying the bass boat! I didn't know any better. I was used to dad's bass tracker.

[ATRoberts]

Well, I took my boat over to Leaf River today.  It's about 8 miles from my house.  The water level at the ramp is usually around 5' during the summertime according to the USGS.  It's been raining and the level was around 10' today.  I launched the boat and just rode around for a little while.  My boat will stay on plane at about 20 mph.  So at least I figured that out today.  Another thing I learned...a 12VDC 55# foot controlled trolling motor is not sufficient to pull a 17' fiberglass bass boat back up river very well.  The water was moving pretty swift and I hung up my crankbait.  I thought I would whip it around and go get it but that took a little.  I did get it back but a bigger trolling motor, say maybe a 24VDC 70-75# would probably do much better.  

The ramp kind of sucked.  It's a pretty new ramp but has fairly steep bluffs on each side and there's really nothing to tie the boat to once you launch.  Which wasn't really a problem when launching since I could tie it to the trailer but was more of a problem when getting the boat out of the water.  I had to push the boat out away from the ramp, climb the bluff and tie off the rope, back the truck down the ramp....I ended up having to wade out into the river to the end of the trailer to untangle the rope, then ease it up on the trailer.  There's a right and a wrong way to do anything and I probably did that wrong!  Not sure how else I could have done it.

[Fishing Rhino]

Well, I took my boat over to Leaf River today.  It's about 8 miles from my house.  The water level at the ramp is usually around 5' during the summertime according to the USGS.  It's been raining and the level was around 10' today.  I launched the boat and just rode around for a little while.  My boat will stay on plane at about 20 mph.  So at least I figured that out today.  Another thing I learned...a 12VDC 55# foot controlled trolling motor is not sufficient to pull a 17' fiberglass bass boat back up river very well.  The water was moving pretty swift and I hung up my crankbait.  I thought I would whip it around and go get it but that took a little.  I did get it back but a bigger trolling motor, say maybe a 24VDC 70-75# would probably do much better.  

The ramp kind of sucked.  It's a pretty new ramp but has fairly steep bluffs on each side and there's really nothing to tie the boat to once you launch.  Which wasn't really a problem when launching since I could tie it to the trailer but was more of a problem when getting the boat out of the water.  I had to push the boat out away from the ramp, climb the bluff and tie off the rope, back the truck down the ramp....I ended up having to wade out into the river to the end of the trailer to untangle the rope, then ease it up on the trailer.  There's a right and a wrong way to do anything and I probably did that wrong!  Not sure how else I could have done it.

 

Keep in mind, that a boat will draw more water when it is barely on plane than it will at full throttle.  I can get down to almost 17 mph with my Z-8, and still be "on plane".   I'll hazard a guess that wide open at 60+ mph the stern will be several inches higher when it's up on the pad.

[james 14]

You can never have too much trolling motor. My tourney partner runs a 55# 12v TM on his 14' jon boat and even that seems underpowered at times. I ran a 50# 12v on my 12' jon before I sold it. I don't ever remember feeling like I needed more TM in that boat and I was certainly glad for it on many occasions...just about everytime I used it.

Right now I have a 71lb 24v on my 21' bass boat. It gets me through most situations but when the wind kicks up I'm limited on what direction I can go...especially if there's also vegetation to deal with. It would probably be perfect for your boat. When the time comes I'll be going with a 109# Motorguide.

[ATRoberts]

James, I agree.  I have noticed before even on lakes that it seems underpowered.  It actually moves the boat around fine as long as the water is calm and the wind isn't blowing much.  Anything more than that though and you can really tell that it needs more power.  I tried using the trolling motor recommendation thing online and it recommends a 55# for my size boat....it ain't enough!  I also want one that is digital too.  I hate switching mine to "5" and hitting the pedal and it nearly slings you off the boat if you aren't paying attention and it's turned to one side or the other!  Almost got a bath a couple of times due to that!  I am looking at the Minn Kota Maxxis.

[Way2slow]

Loading the boat in swift water. 

 

Have you ever noticed all those boat trailers running around with side bars sticking up four or five feet in the air.  That was not to get the trailer lights out of the water, although they do that, those are to hold the back of the boat on the trailer and keep the current from pushing it sideways while you are trying to get it loaded.