9.9 hp bassboat

[bigfruits]

Hello,

 

I am looking into buying a bass boat for the 9.9hp restricted lakes I fish. I'd like to purchase a light weight bass boat rather than a jon.

 

Besides the Tracker 170 pro (878lbs) is there anything else that i should look at? the 160 pro is a bit too small. Also, can you recommend a prop for a Mercury 9.9 to give me a little more speed?

 

Thanks,

-Z

 

 

[fishnkamp]

I had a 15 foot stick steer Polar Kraft for several years.  It came with a 9.9 hp 4 stroke Merc. I later upgraded it to  25 hp (decaled as a 20), also for a hp restricted lake.  I will suggest going with that style boat, it fished well and you controlled both the gas engine and trolling motor from the front seat.  Be aware you will sit to fish so things like flipping are out of the question, but I loved the boat.

 

If you build or outfit a boat, consider the trim tilt plate, PT35,  from T & H Marine. It is not cheap, but having tilt and trim on an undersized outboard is a very helpful addition to make the boat perform well.   Most of your engines below 35 hp have only the manual pin that adjusts the running angle of the engine.

 

If you are interested in more info let me know I can send you some pics

[Wayne P.]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 7:55 PM, bigfruits said:

Hello,

 

I am looking into buying a bass boat for the 9.9hp restricted lakes I fish. I'd like to purchase a light weight bass boat rather than a jon.

 

Besides the Tracker 170 pro (878lbs) is there anything else that i should look at? the 160 pro is a bit too small. Also, can you recommend a prop for a Mercury 9.9 to give me a little more speed?

 

Thanks,

-Z

 

 

I have a Tracker PT 170 TX with a regular four stroke 9.9.

Should have gotten the BigFoot version.

 

Had to change the prop to a 6.5 pitch to get the proper rpm range. Max mph is 7.4

I have 5 batteries so that slows it down some.

 

Bottom line is you won't get on plane with a 9.9 in any configuration. Lots of setups where I fish with aluminum bassboats using 9.9's

[bigfruits]

thanks, Wayne. how many batteries were you able to fit in the rear compartment? looking to get a 80# TM.

[Wayne P.]

1 hour ago, bigfruits said:

thanks, Wayne. how many batteries were you able to fit in the rear compartment? looking to get a 80# TM.

I was using 5 group 27 deep cycles when I had a 36V bow trolling motor. I got that room by removing the built-in gas tank. I changed the portable gas tank for the 5th battery when fishing electric-only waters.

 

I have since had my two bow 36V motors rebuilt to 24V, (have a spare) so now I have a group 29 and three group 27's and leave the portable gas tank in.

[bigfruits]

good stuff, Wayne. I don't think id need 11.4 gallons for a 9.9.

[Maggiesmaster]

I'be got an Alumicraft 1648 with a 9.9 hp Tohatsu. It's really stable & my 40 lb trolling motor does well. It's a lot lighter than conventional bass boats & does really well. 

[Deleted account]

The mirror mirror on the wall says no happy ending here...

[bigfruits]

not sure why. its either an unstable 14-16"ft jon, which i am used to, or a more stable and equipped "bass" boat where it will take a while to get there. getting there is less than a couple of miles, 90% of the time. id say 80% of the lakes in my area are electric only anyway. i also never fish tournaments as its not how id want to spend a precious free day on the water but i think theyre great for the sport.

 

looking at a bigger boat for the potomac

[fishnkamp]

Have you thought about building a reservoir only electric rig powered by either a Torqueedo ( their biggest remote model is equal to a 9.9 Hp outboard or  an electric engine from Parsun or Ray electric.

If you are interested in looking into it contact a company here in MD that specializes in them called Reservoir Boat Works. I am sure Chris can help you get some good ideas.

 

Also make a post on Baybass Outdoors, there are a bunch of anglers there that have setup boats to fish those NOVA lakes.

Here in MD we have 5 big reservoirs that are electric only so lots of guys have gone this way. There are even some reservoir only tournament clubs.

[BrianSnat]

A 9.9 on a bass boat, especially if it is glass, will be very slow.  I have a 9.9 on my 14'aluminum v hull and can hit 20 mph with the wind at my back if I'm alone.  With a partner I still hit 16 mph.  My buddy has a 16' glass bass boat with a 9.9 and he is lucky to break 10 mph alone. With a partner he tops off at about 8 mph. If you're OK with that then go for it.

I suggest looking for used bass boats that have a 9.9 and a more powerful motor.   Right now I'm looking at a used Smoker Craft with a 9.9 and a 40 HP on the back along with an 80 lb thrust electic in the bow.  The owner wants  3k for it.  If he takes $2,500 it will be in my driveway this week.

[Further North]

On 5/31/2017 at 9:32 PM, fishnkamp said:

I had a 15 foot stick steer Polar Kraft for several years.  It came with a 9.9 hp 4 stroke Merc. I later upgraded it to  25 hp (decaled as a 20), also for a hp restricted lake.  I will suggest going with that style boat, it fished well and you controlled both the gas engine and trolling motor from the front seat.  Be aware you will sit to fish so things like flipping are out of the question, but I loved the boat.

Why would you have to sit to fish?

[fishnkamp]

The boat was designed to fish sitting down. There were no raised decks because the boat was long and not real wide. It was equipped with up front stick steering. The boat measured 15 1/2 long,. I believe it was only 54" on the bottom. That  size boat combined with the stick steering and a 40 horse max would make a raised deck sorta dangerous.  The safest place to be when operating the outboard is sitting down in the boat, not up on it,  I never had a motor on it larger than 25 HP and that is all I ever wanted to have on a boat like this. The hull was a Mod V design and the inside floor was not totally flat so fishing standing up was not a real good safe thing to do

Dispite the smaller engine, the boat ran close to 18 mph and it fished really well.  I rigged it as a multi species boat with rod holders  storage, marker buoys, an anchor and winch, etc. I could deploy everything from my front seat.  By the way this is a really good style of fishing machine if you are getting older, or if you fish with an older angler since you both are "inside" the boat.  I miss that rig, it was fun and easy to operate.  The picture number 3 shows the outboard that I removed from the Polar Kraft when i turned it into a reservoir electric only rig. I fished it as a gas engine powered boat for 4 years at first. 

  

[WRB]

9.9 hp Mercury is de tuned 15 hp and easy to upgrade to a 15 hp.

We had 10 hp Max OB restrictions on San Diego city lakes for decades and everyone re decaled their 15 hp and 20 hp engines back in the day.

If you can get you boat to plane it should run between 15-20 mph with a  supped up 9.9 to 15 hp. Very difficult to plane a small bass boat with TM and battery, 5 gallons of gas and gear with a 9.9.

Tom

 

[Johnbt]

I don't think that works anymore.

 

The current Merc 9.9 Fourstroke is 208 cubic inches.

 

The current Merc 15 Fourstroke is 351 cubic inches. So is the 20.

 

www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/engines/outboard/fourstroke/15-20-hp/