champlain-champ

the RPMS at *** are usually right around 5,200 but its actually not *** because i cant even get 3/4 throttle before it over revs because the pitch is so small.

FIRST. i know how to trim my ******* motor once the boat is on plane. and i know when i over trim it and it chops water. this isnt my first rodeo. the motor does not over heat. and the prop is the one that the motor calls for except the pitch size is smaller than i think it needs be. however. i believe that wether its a 17 pitch or a 21 the only variance would be top end speed the bow still does not have sufficient lift. its not horrible but its deffinately not where i want it. the spray from the hull should start from where I disagree sits in the boat and from there back should be the only part of the boat in the water when running. mine starts from 4 feet back on the bow. i know thats not right. can someone please tell me if those fins above the prop (the ones that you can attach hydrofoils too) if those are supposed to line up with the bottom of the hull. thats what i was told and i was told thats why my boat doesnt lift properly it seems that when i trim my motor up i should be able to trim it a tad bit more before it chops water. and i believe the reason for that is because the hull is forcing the water down and the prop cant "grab" enough of it. i really honestly thing that my motor is between 2-3 inches too high. im not an expert and nor do i need a d**n pressure guage etc.. ive had boats and been in boats my whole life so i know how to run one and its not user error. im pretty sure its height. and other than the pitch being off thats basically the only solution. and i have a feeling that the pitch would not affect the bow that drastically.

im thinking it has something to do with the prop. i have a 17 pitch and im only getting about 5/8's throttle and then it starts to over rev. the prop just cant give me all that my engine has to give. i was thinking that the motor is too high because shouldnt the fins above the prop be in line with the bottom of the hull?

all i have to say is.. melon pepper on an 1/8 ounce tube head in 12-18 feet of water fishing for smallies. sometimes when a drop shot is the ticket i cast the tube out the back of the boat and just drag it around if im drop shotting a flat. you would be suprised how many times my little buddy has legally caught fish for me while i was catching them on a drop shot.

i was really hoping there would be some kind of redneck out here that has a camaro on cinder blocks in their front yard that has tried this and had success lol

well i know i have the right hardware. and i know the boat specs support a jack plate. its been on there for 8 11 years. i was more worried about lowering the motor if it would cause stress to the transom. im not really worried about it falling off. im more worried about hitting a rough wave and cracking the transom or something along those lines. obviously the weight will still be the same but im wondering if lowering the motor those 3 inches would put the angle of pressure a little different and possibly mess it up. i also have to take a look if it will even work or if the motor would hit the top of the transom when i trim it all the way up. i think i looked at it last year and it wasnt a problem.

i have a rather large problem.... last year i purchased a new motor it was a 2004 115 merc with a 20 inch shaft... i put it on my 1987 stratos 179v. when i purchased the motor i wasnt sure what shaft length i needed. the guy at the local marina said all bass boats have a 20 inch shaft.. well after putting it on my boat and taking it out a bunch i realized that the shaft is too short i lowered the jack plate as low as i could and it planes out really fast ive tried different props etc.. and the boat never seems to run on plane right... im always pushing water and the nose is always close to the water so when its a little windy and i got 2 foot waves i spear them and lets just say it makes for a wet ride.. even when the waves arent that big...the nose sprays so much water that it blows on me and soaks me... i should have got a 25 inch shaft but i didnt know any better and i dont really have the 6 grand to buy another motor. i got a steal on this one... i tried putting hydrafoils on it to keep the nose up but all that did was slow my boat down even more... i get about 36mph with a 17 pitch.. i had a 19 and got about 38 but i chipped that and got a 17 from a friend dirt cheap. next year i plan on running a 21 for the extra speed. but my question is this... "is it possible to take the jack plate off of my boat and bolt it back on upside down so that instead of jacking the motor it lowers it? i only need to go about 3 inches... i was wondering if anybody on this forum has any input on this and knew if it would be bad on the transom or the jack plate or anything i really think this could work and it could save me alot of money. i have no other option but to try this... or get wet on every tournament day there is... its def worth a try as long as im not looking at ruining the structural integrity of the boat or having the motor fall off i dont see exactly what it could hurt it would almost be the same as if it was upright. you dont know how many times i get beat by boats with 75 horses on them... its embarassing... lol i really miss my evinrude xp150 it was bored etc... and it did 67mph.. probably the fastest 150hp ive ever seen however it was the most unreliable. it got to the point where it took 10 minutes to get the thing started wether it was warmed up or cold. and the prop shaft had a serious wobble. i didnt feel like spending 3 grand to rebuild the power head and then another 2 grand on a new lower unit. anyway if anyone has any input on this crazy idea please feel free to share. even if you dont have any idea about it.. let me know what you think COULD happen

i just want to thank everyone for not helping me lol it lead to one of the greatest discoveries i have ever made on lake champlain... while looking at a map one day trying to find some new ground i could cover i was idling in about 21 feet of water staring at the map and my partner said "HEY WHATS THAT!?" looking at the graph.... i peaked up from the map to see this giant object on the graph and it stuck up off the lake floor about 7 feet.... i hit reverse on the motor shut it off dumped the trolling motor dropped a line and caught a 3 1/2 pound largemouth within 30 seconds... shortly after that a 4lbs smallie and several other big largemouths followed... what was it that i found? A SUNKEN BOAT! not far from the plattsburgh area about 150 yards from shore. i dont know why no one else has ever found this but i havnt seen anyone on it yet! i have a tournament coming up this weekend but so far everytime i have fished it i have produced over 16-17 lbs in just a matter of minutes fishing a football jig.... its absolutely amazing. and all i can say is thank you everyone for not wasting my time looking at your spots cuz now i got one thats all to myself lol

need some new spots on lake champlain to broaden my tournament days when my spots arent holding up. i fish the northern part of the lake and if you are willing to show me some new spots ill take you out in my 18 foot stratos and ill trade some of my spots with you as well. feel free to bring a handheld GPS ill pay for the gas. im looking for spots between ausable and the canadian border. im from plattsburgh new york and usually launch from wilcox dock. the same place the flw etc... launches from. give me a shout i have some really good spots but the only problem i have is that everyone in my league knows most of my spots and theres nothing worse than making a 20 minute run to see someone already sitting on it.

all my spots produce through the mid summer - late fall. however this time of year during my tournaments i come up short of a big bag limit. i had a tournament today and i have the second part tomorrow and i had only a hair over 10 pounds with my 5 fish. dont get me wrong i can absolutely pound smallies but they have little to no weight. where am i going to find hog smallies and where am i going to find largemouths.. im looking for something with size. PM me and let me know where you like to go during this time of year i launch in the north next to the bridge to vermont by the border

for some reason i find that at this specific time of the year when the fish are done bedding and are not yet in my summer spots that it is better to fish later in the evening in the shallow spots that they once were bedding. i usually have a tough time finding a morning/mid afternoon bite on the lakes near my house at this specific time of year (dont get me wrong there is an occasional day where you can really pound them this time of year) but 90% of time its a tough slow bite all day that can really make your confidence level drop before your first tournament. but like i said if i go fishing when i get done work i seem to have more success just before and right after night fall. during the day the fish scatter from the shallows and seem to move a little deeper but not yet concentrated on deep structure such as ledges and submerged brush/rocks. however when the sun goes down they seem to move back up to the shallows where the sun beat down on the rocks and brush at night and wherever there is something holding the heat that seems to be where you can catch 5 fish very quickly. is there a tree you think should have a bass on it but you cant seem to catch her? try fishing it right at dusk and she will probably be there this time of the year. good luck and i hope the advice pays off.

update. fixed it!!!! yay lol i was ticked off taking it off the boat stepped on the cord that goes to the plug and vrrooooooom it took off. so i sliced the cord and the negative wire had a slice in it it must have been from the manufacture plant because the rubber sleeve had not been tampered with but the ground wire only had about 2 strands holding it together spliced it together crimped it and now it works like brand new. saved me 70 bucks in shipping. i find it wierd that during the manufacturing process something so stupid could happen. dont they test them before they package them up?

i just bought a brand new motorguide 70lbs thrust trolling motor hooked it up. its not the first trolling motor ive hooked up so i know that the battery cables are wired right and so is the plug in the boat etc... however the trolling motor only turns for about 2 seconds and then dies completely and it sounds as if there is a sizzling sound in the lower unit any ideas? i have a tournament in 2 weeks and im afraid if i send it back then it will take to long to get the new one back to me. i have a feeling it cant be fixed and it is just a defective product that motorguide produced however if anyone has encountered a problem like this and was able to shed some light on my situation so i dont have to bring it back that would be appreciated.

im curious if anyone has ever created a fishing spot im thinking about trying this in a small lake near my house for local tournaments. i was thinking of using pallets making cubes out of them putting a cinder block in the center and dropping about 4-5 cubes in about 12- 15 ft of water. either that or making spikes out of pvc i can get 20ft sticks threw a hardware store for around 3 bucks and i was going to wire 6 pieces together to make a 4 foot spike kind of thing if i spent around 100 bucks i could make a whole artificial reef in 15 feet of water any ideas? i know you shouldnt pollute the water and just keep it natural but why do they have the bill dance spikes then? and pvc doesnt rot so it shouldnt harm the water correct? a friend of mine told me that they dragged about 14 spruce tree's out in champlain near point au rouche and created a hedge row in 13 feet of water and he seems to win most tournaments in mid summer by flipping those tree's ( i wish i could find them lol )

hey id def be out there this weekend but my trolling motor died so i got to wait a few weeks before the ol bass boat hits champlain again.