Ellesar

If you look on your prop, somewhere you will see some numbers. Look for something with a P after it. Should be in the 23 range. Mine has something like 23P 9842483493. The numbers before the P are the pitch. If you aren't getting enough RPM's once you've broken her in, getting a prop with less pitch will generally give you more RPM's. Do you have a jackplate?

My boat is red so I went with Red all the way around and so far its great. I've done the rod lockers and can open them and there is plenty of light to see and it doesn't destroy my night vision. Waiting on the kit for the rest of the boat. Here is a pic of my lockers at night to give you an idea.

You would need the manual to see what the correct torque should be. You shouldn't be able to turn it by hand though, I would think that is too loose.

The whole rig was $31,095.00 with a LMS-520C added to the console and the X-135 moved to the bow. You should be turning more RPM's than that at WOT once its out of the break-in period. I think the regular opti's hit the limiter at 5800. What pitch is your prop?

You shouldnt be trying to shift it into gear without the motor running for one thing. O/B are designed to shift in gear under power. That's why it feels "rough" to you. You can damage the gears and the shift linkages by shifting into gear with the motor off.

Mine came with a Tempest+, but its an XS motor so I don't know if they put the same on the regular Opti. When you look at your prop, you should see some holes in it. These allow exhaust gases to vent when you are getting on plane. Once you get going the water flow across the prop prevents the exhaust gas from coming out the holes. You can put different size plugs in there to control the amount of gas thats allowed to escape. If too much escapes your prop will cavitate, basically a void of air surrounds the prop and it won't bite the water and can damage your prop. If not enough gas is venting it can cause problems getting on plane like you described. So if you have these plugs in your prop, the first thing to do is try removing some plugs or using inserts with larger holes to allow more exhaust to escape. This may fix your problem. You may also be able to have some added to your prop, depending on what prop you have. If your RPMS are good at WOT I wouldn't change the pitch that you are using. I included a picture showing a prop with PVS holes in it. If the PVS thing doesn't work out you can have your prop "worked". You can have cupping added to the blades. This produces more lift and will help you get on plane faster. If your prop doesn't have those holes I'd suggest talking to your dealer about exchanging your prop for a different one. Your boat should plane fairly quickly loaded down, I don't think that is an unreasonable expectation.

My 08X2 launches fine with full live wells. Its going to be a tad slower, thats expected. But I don't think it takes more than 2 more seconds fully loaded than it does when I'm running light. You might want to get your prop blueprinted and have some cup added to increase your lift if changing the PVS plugs doesn't help.

Thanks Catt, that is what I thought but I was not sure. I sure don't want to run my start battery down by adding led lights. I was thinking of also adding led lights to my boat deck for night fishing but I would be mad if I went to start and my battery was dead. :'( You would have to leave them on for a really long time to have that happen. You are pulling much juice with LED lights.

No I used Tim Chandler. He is a friend of a friend and came highly recommended. Plus I read the Guntersville fishing reports all the time and notice that while the SPinnerbait Kid does catch some large fish, he is usually the one holding them in the pictures. Tim is the guy that many of the "old timers" around there ask what's working. I was extremely impressed with Tim's knowledge of Lake Guntersville.

Went out with a guide to learn the secrets of Lake Guntersville and learn more about developing patterns and had a great trip. This fish are biting like wild right now. My oldest son went with me and had a great time as well. We were out for 8 hours and caught 82 bass. Largest went just shy of 7 lbs. Best 5 went 23-24 lbs.

They were easy because I already have existing lighting in the compartments attached to a switch at the console. So all I had to do was splice into the existing wire. The deck lights will be on a different switch so I will have to fish some wires for that install. I ordered their installation dvd with the lights and it helped me see how to approach installing the lights in various places.

I installed my new Bluewater LED's in my rod locker. They are red to match the boat. Must say that I am impressed with the result. Makes it a lot easier to get things in and out. I'm now ready for the rest of the compartment lighting to get in!

If you are going to look at Triton's look at an X2 hull, 20 X2 or 21 X2. The X2 is the Triton hull that is designed to ride the best in rough water. Its not as fast as some of the other Triton hulls, but what you lose in speed you gain in ride.

Driving it will be different than your Champion. I'd make sure the engine is checked out, including a leakdown test, by someone other than the dealer you are buying it from to make sure that the engine is in good working order. Most tritons like the engine high and a lot of trim, so the setup can be a little time consuming trying to get the right balance between water pressure and trim.

When you starting testing props, since you have a Merc you can find a dealer that participates in their try before you buy program. You can try out some different props to see what works with your setup without having to buy one. Good way to find the right prop!

2008 Triton 18 X2 175 hp Mercury Pro XS Motor Guide Digital 70 lb thrust TM Lowrance 520c in Dash, X-135 (soon to be HDS-5) in bow 66.9 mpg GPS

My experience has been that you really only need to worry about matching the hatch when in very clear water with little or no wind. In those cases bass can see the bait more clearly so your bait needs to resemble the real thing more closely. This doesn't apply to reaction strikes however. In stained or muddy water, or with wind, I think differences in the bait aren't as noticeable.

I would think it had more to do with slack in the lline when they jump

Usually you have to download the update to an SD card and then put that card in your unit. It will pull the update from the card. Don't use your navionics card though to do the update. Writing to those cards tends to make them stop working.

How deep? Should I be looking out more in the main "channel" where its anywhere from 15-45' deep? There are lots of humps and ridges out there. Or should I be closer to the shore line where the water is usually about 1-3' deep for the first 10-15 feet, then drops off to 15-20' rapidly? I've been focusing on the shore line and fishing obvious cover, but like I said I usually only catch largemouth. I had wondered if I might find more in the middle of the river fishing ridges/humps/holes/etc. Thanks!

I know the Tennessee River has them, but I'm not sure how to find them. I never catch smallies, just largemouth. What type of environment and cover do they usually populate in a river? What should I look for as ideal cover? Thanks!

Welcome mike, I'm just south of you a bit. If you want some fun lake fishing, find some time to make your way to Lake Guntersville, there are a few nice bass in that lake!

Proper setup helps a bit, but mostly its learning to drive it, or drive to prevent it from starting. Seat time is the best cure. I'd heard that Tritons are "drivers boats" and required some driving to get them to perform at their peak without chine walking all over the place. It just took some time driving the boat to get used to it and learn what steering the corrections that the boat needed to prevent it from starting the chine walk.

yeah I love it. Handles rough water really well and fishes great. Really stable and lots of deck space. I finally got my "clue ticket" punched in regards to driving so that it doesn't chine walk and got her up to 67.4 gps. I'd like to see pics of yours as well!

by the time I count loading and unloading time, extra gas to tow it.. outboard oil and gas and just all around time... not to say being able to get places I wont take my glass boat.. I say 15k is a value.. If I was doing it because I couldnt afford the gas to run the big rig I surely wouldnt be buying another boat nor would I have a 760.00 a month bass boat payment for the next 2 years.. I really wasnt asking for comments telling me why I shouldnt I have a wife for that... I've never been in a ALUM rig and wanted advice of people who have fished them or own one...and one more thing it cost me about 40.00 a day to take it out for my little mid week play days not 40 a week. total fuel+oil is more like 200ish a week. 4 miles a gallon adds up REAL fast. So your not doing it because you can't afford it, but the costs add up to $200.00 a week "REAL fast" and that's an issue? I don't think anyone said you should or shouldn't be doing anything. Funny thing about asking for opinions, someone might just express their opinion.