Mercury trophy plus 4 blade

[pressure_welder]

i am running a stock black max 21 pitch right now, so my dealer is setting me up with a high five 21 pitch to try to begin with. He thinks it would be my best bet to keep me in my ideal RPM range, and not to sacrifice much top end versus going to the 19. I will be honest i am new to changing props, what could i encounter as an issue with the 21 pitch? he said power wont be an issue as i am running the 150 opti. He explained that its a good prop for rough water, tighter turning, and he said alot of his other clients running it say the handling alone is much smoother. Why is it that with 5 blades you have less control backing up? i dont for see having a big issue in that regard as all the backing up we do is getting away from the dock when were heading out. Nonetheless i really appreciate your guys information its very helpful!

[staylor]

..because you never know how it runs until you try it- and the price is right! You also have a good baseline with the performance from the stock Black Max. Post the results here and let us know your opinion of the High 5. As you can see from the posts, running a High 5 is not done too often on walleye boats.

As for backing with a High 5- try it and let us know what you think compared to the Black Max. The general opinion is that the 5 blades combined with the shape of the trailing edge on the High 5 tends to make the prop slip and even vent to the surface if you try to back quickly, thus killing the reverse thrust.

I have a friend with a 21 ft I/O ski boat- and he considers the High 5 the best prop ever made for waterskiing...but he doesn't fish and could care less about top end. I let him try my Turbo 2+2 OT 4 blade in 20 pitch and he picked up 4 mph on top end...but he hated the prop because it wouldn't pull 2 skiers up on single skiis.
Doug

[pressure_welder]

well phoned another dealer in town just for kicks and said he had one he would sell me in his glass display shelf for 150$ less than my usual dealer so it was a deal i just couldnt pass up. He too said if for whatever reason the 21P wouldnt work that we would just order another one. But he said theres no reason a 21P shouldnt work fine, anything MUCH lower would end up making the opti over rev. ill be installing it tomorrow evening and then saturday the wife and i are going to head out to fish so well be able to test it, ill let you guys know how she works!

[PAL]

I am running a High 5 21 pitch with my 150 Opti and Ranger 617. It is my third full season with it and I like it better than the tempest I started with originally. It just seems to fit my set up really well.

It pops up on plane quickly and holds really well at slower speeds and in turns as noted previously. I do pull my kids on the tube once a year while on vacation, and it is very good for that also. Just a nice ride even when I run into some chop.

No real concerns about backing up for me, thankfully I spend most of my time going forward.

[pressure_welder]

thanks for the update PAL, good to hear a positive experience from another 150 opti owner! what were you seeing for MPH on it? i believe my rig will be slightly heavier than your ranger maybe? with the 21 pitch where are your rpms at ?

[PAL]

I do not have alot of real chances to open her up, but last year I was hitting 48 MPH to my first fishing spot of the day a few days in a row during the summer. I seem to remember the RPMS right about 5500 so I had a bit to go before max RPM. I also have a kicker on the back if that makes any difference and my boat itself weighs about 1585 pounds.

I originally had a 19 pitch High 5 and it would over rev easily. With the 21 pitch, it is a better match for my boat.

I tend to cruise around 4800 - 5000 RPM when the wind/weather allows and this prop does a nice job for me in that range.

[Derwood]

No matter what you get, I would suggest having the prop worked. It's important to buy the correct prop(s) for your boat, no doubt. But if you are not getting them worked by a professional, you're just getting half the experiene or performance....of course this is only my worthless opinion lol....

That being said, I have two props. I think it's good to have a spare/second prop for different applications. I have a 23P hi five and a 23P tempest. Traded my Trophy Plus 24P for the tempest a couple of years ago. I had both props customized by DAH propellors (they let me test all my props before buying). If I'm running light, I use the tempest and my boat (Champion Fishunter 190 Elite) jumps out of the water quickly and stays hooked up and high speeds, fully trimmed,, quite well. If I'm heavier, I run the 5 blade... it only take s a few minutes to change out props. If you really want "the best for your particular rig" my advice is to seek the advice of an expert prop guy (this is not always your dealer) and whatever you do, get your props tweaked... night and day difference to put it lightly!!

Good luck!! While testing props can be fun, it can also be a pita.

[pressure_welder]

Pal -

Well our boats are just about identical in weight so it will be interesting to see what i get for MPH up top, Id also imagine ill be running close to the same RPM at 5500 like you mentioned, that seems comfortable for sure. Also how are you running the plugs in the prop?

Derwood - Our merc dealers around town are all fairly reputable its just a matter of who you prefer to deal with, both seemed knowledgable when it came to giving me information about the high five. They are going to let me try the 21P and if for some reason it dosent work then well try another pitch. But hes been putting 21P on 150-175 optis on walleye boats for ages and it seems to be the perfect fit. He said most even gain a few MPH up top from switching from the stock aluminium 3 blade to the high five.

[PAL]

Yes, I have the plugs in my High 5.

I do still have my Tempest Pro 19 as a back up. I found it tends to bounce easily especially when I get into some chop. I am no pro driver, so hard to say if that is my driving skill, or that my 32 gallon tank is in the front of my 2002 617.

In flat or calm conditions, the Tempest does a very nice job on the long runs with very good speed and RPM's. As I fish smaller lakes and the St Croix, I do not have see many long runs though, that is one of the reasons, the High 5 is better for me.

[pressure_welder]

PAL -

That makes sense, we generally only fish on one lake. Nice fresh clean water, its a decent size lake, takes about 10 minutes wide open to get to our desired fishing spot, it can get pretty darn rough in a hurray too. Plus shes deep, about 300 Ft at the deepest point so we dont ever run the risk of hitting a rock i know the water pretty well. How do you run your plugs in the high five? all out?