Thread: Bought a new bass boat, any boaters out there...it's been a long time

I had a nice one once when I was married. Miss that boat. It ruined me for all fishing after. Once spoiled I found the excitement of going fishing gone.
As for the lights mine had light poles you could plug in when you wanted to use them and just a flat rubber cap when not in use. I think it is mandatory to have 1 on the bow. ( red-green ) and A tall white plug in on the back worked very well for me. I am sure you can find them and worth the cost. As for the prop...pitch is the key here. Stainless is a little more durable if your going to be cruising the shallows much. I had 2 props for mine. 5 blade 21 pitch for top end that I used on the big lakes. Top speed. 75 mph hole shot> wouldn't pull up a skier unless the skier was very experienced. Then a 4 blade elephant ear prop 18 pitch. Would pull 8 skiers out of the water top speed 40 mph. I pulled a beached houseboat out of mud with that on once. Tip ** never let a drunk woman park a houseboat :<0)




Links are cool but a fish hanging in one hand and your other on the controls is better :<0)

Yes the Fin helps, quite a bit actually

I personally like the Hull mounted lighting myself and plan on adding some to the front end on mine soon


This Style




I added 6 small waterproof LED's along each side of the boat in addition to the legal Red/Green and the rear stanchion light, to make us a bit more visible to other boaters when we are out at night..

Those Docking Lights in the pic however are the bees knees for coming in at night

I do quite a bit of boating both at work and in my time off. I think it has a lot to do with living on an island. I think you can't go wrong with fishing and boating as an activity. Be safe, boat smart.

Your Tracker is a package (?). If that's the case, the prop should be closely matched.
I had a G3 with a 50hp and would get up on plane in a few seconds.
Are you bringing the tilt all the way down?

we rock a 1994 24' pontoon all summer long. Love going out and anchoring it in a cove on the lake, cooking some lunch/dinner, swimming, and drinking beers!

Theres a Bass Pro Shops right next to my work now and i've been drooling over one of their new pontoons. something smaller with way more stuff. costs about $25k more than i spent on mine though

Originally Posted by Neckbone

Your Tracker is a package (?). If that's the case, the prop should be closely matched.
I had a G3 with a 50hp and would get up on plane in a few seconds.
Are you bringing the tilt all the way down?

Yes, titrim all way down and not trimming until bow comes down.

I like those bow lights, know where I can find them?

Other than another motor (hull is only rated at 75hp), I am wondering if a 4 blade prop would help with the same pitch or if I would need to back off a bit on pitch to get the holeshot & rpm's up. I just wouldn't want to back off much as my top speed is about 38-40 right now.

Hydrofoil should be in today and I have to go and run/pull up my trotlines (caught a 14.2lb blue catfish a couple days ago). I will take my tools with me to install it before I put the boat in.

Test it with the hydrofoil and you may have what you want. Your prop should match your motor in relation to the rpms. To many or to few(lugging) is not good for your motor. I found this advice, hope it helps :<0)

Adding 1 inch of propeller pitch will reduce full-throttle RPM by 150 to 200.
Subtracting 1 inch of propeller pitch will increase full-throttle RPM by 150 to 200.
If you're moving from a 3-blade to a 4-blade propeller, a 4-blade generally turns 50 to 100 RPM less than a 3-blade propeller with the same pitch.

Notice the pitch change to rpm differences ? You could fine tune it more by going to a 4 blade if you only need a 50 to 100 rpm adjustment. 4 blade would be better for hole shots and they are said to be smoother while at cruising speed.


A lot can be done by weight distribution also. 3 cases of beer in the nose is going to keep your nose down :<0)

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I like those bow lights, know where I can find them?

Everywhere, and of course they are all pretty much made in China so shop the price... Google search "Hull Mounted Docking Lights" e-bay has some good prices too