Just wondering what different kind of speeds you guys get? How important is speed?

The way may Gambler is set up right now I get  75mph on gps. I am running a 26 pitch 4 blade trophy. I can go to a 27 3 blade and be over 80 but my boat is way to slow out of the hole with that set up. Speed is important on big lakes, you can make up a bad starting # sometimes if you have a long run. A tournament loaded boat can be very heavy considering full livewells, full tank of gas, gear for 2 people and the weight of the 2 fishermen.If I ran a 27 on my boat during a tournament I would be working my motor to death to get out of the hole. The 26 with 4 blade is the best combination for my boat. The 27 3 blade is a blast when i'm fishing alone though!!!

with my nitro with 150 i get 65 on gps. Most of the time on my home lake the waves are so big you cant go full speed anyway.

'95 461vs Ranger w/a '98 175hp Merc EFI 25 Tempest Prop no jack plate full tourny load 65.2 mph gps.

12 foot aluminium converted bass boat.

fully loaded. 10 hp evinrude=29.8 mph

It is a fast boat, it's AWESOME

my first boat was a basstender 11ft with a 9.9 it went almost same exact speed as that with only me in the boat

we've got a basstender 10.2 we only use a trolling motor, so not terribly fast, I don't see how important speed is anyway I don't need to fly 75 mph across the lake, guys who do that nearly swamp me and my dad in our boat. > Unless you are water-skiing I don't see why you need to go that fast on the lake.  :

Man, I'd hate to water-ski at 75 mph.  That fall would HAVE to hurt!!  ;D

Seriously,

I'm with you.  I think anything over 60 MPH is pretty extreme.  Then, again, I just fish for recreation and not cash$$.  I might have a different perspective if I had to condense my day into 8 hours to make or break it.

in tourneys on big water some extra time saved by a faster boat could mean alot of money 1 extra fish could be the differance. Just think how much time it take to move from place to place with that basstender, you could be fishing much longer if you get to your spots quickly.

I'm not a tourney guy, I'd rather enjoy nature, and I get plenty of fishing in, we find lots of little spots the guys in the fast boats don't even go near because they spend all their time zipping to all the already known spots

most good fishermen dont overlook good spots . But I agree,the nature part is great + when i had a smaller boat i fished much slower and may have caught fish that now i wouldnt have.