First time owning a bass boat. When I shift from neutral to forward, no problem, but occasionally shifting back to neutral from forward, I do something wrong and it makes a clunky metallic noise. I am not sure what im doing wrong. I am slow to return to neutral, I don't yank anything.

when shifting to and from neutral with an outboard, it should be a delibrerate move.

slowly going in and out of gear will cause grinding and clunking of the gears.. 

Also the motor should be near idle speed when dropping it out of gear.

19 minutes ago, Russ E said:

when shifting to and from neutral with an outboard, it should be a delibrerate move.

slowly going in and out of gear will cause grinding and clunking of the gears.. 

Also the motor should be near idle speed when dropping it out of gear.

I usually slow to about 2 mph before shifting, then gently change gears. Should I be more forceful, like when I change gears in a car?

Just now, Quarry Man said:

I usually slow to about 2 mph before shifting, then gently change gears. Should I be more forceful, like when I change gears in a car?

Yes. You don't have to slam it in and out of gear, but if you slowly try to ease it in or out of gear it will clunk and grind.

Just now, Russ E said:

Yes. You don't have to slam it in and out of gear, but if you slowly try to ease it in or out of gear it will clunk and grind.

thanks thats exactly what I needed to hear. Im still cringing at the noise in my head hours after it happened

I hear guys easing them into gear all the time at tournaments etc. My old boat mechanic told me the day I met him that was the worst thing you can do to a lower unit. Something about a clutch "dog" that when grinding like that is wearing the ends off. He told me to put it into gear deliberately as the gentleman above said. Obviously a lot of people aren't aware of this...sounds like maybe we should all educate more people about it.