Big water driving a Pantera

[RMabus]

All. Hope everyone is well. I have a question. I am boat captain for my sons bass team. We are using his partners 2006 Basscat Pantera with a 225 E'rude. We have been fishing some big water and in a windy spring it was sketchy if you ask me. I find this boat to drive a little bit odd from time to time as the transition from pad to keel feels pretty abrupt. From time to time we will be running pretty hard up on pad and I will hit side rollers. When I come off throttle some the boat tends to want to pitch hard left or right. My Blazer doesn't really do that. Also my son argues that on plane in 3 foot waves I need to get the nose a lot higher to skip across them. Seams to me that this is only slamming us around. So in higher waves on rougher water what do you all recommend as the best way to handle a Basscat. This boat is nice I just gotta figure it out.

Thanks.

[Bill2e]

3 foot waves.............

Slow is your friend.

I have had my old PII in a bunch of nasty stuff and never felt like I needed more boat, however with the PII and my current PUMA, if the water gets rough I slow down.

[willwork4fish]

I had a P2 and now have a P4, have had them both out on the great lakes a lot and they both handle bigger water great IMO. Basscats don't want a lot of trim, you might be trimmed to high.

Also not sure if it's a liability (especially in a HS tournament) but 225 is over a Pantera's rating. I'm sure the hull can handle the extra 25hp but I wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of that in a legal setting.

[ditchdiggerjcfII]

Seems to be a lot of overpowered panteras around.

[Redngoo]

Never ever just let out of the throttle. This can and will cause a hook. Try to plan ahead and trim down. When you just let out of the throttle. The bow drops hard

[RMabus]

All good info. My son seams to think that this thing needs to ride super high in rougher water. I felt that having the V of the hull plowing waves was better. And thanks for the heads up on coming out of it more gently. We were on a long and narrow lake at a tournament last weekend and side rollers were all over. Not a lot of fun.

[mike464]

If it's a sponsored tournament by BASS or TBF you're likely to get DQ'd due to the 225 being over the coast guard plate max. You'll have to sign you tournament entry saying you're not, this is just an FYI, I am not the HP police and don't think the boat is unsafe.

[RMabus]

And for clarification. I was wrong. This boat we are using is a Puma, not a Panterra. And yes. I have been picked for the random lie detector test TWICE this year, so I am not planning on breaking rules regardless. The first time was not so random if you asked me. They pulled a crappy rule on the kids and I questioned the intent the night before.

[Dennis S.]

And for clarification. I was wrong. This boat we are using is a Puma, not a Panterra. And yes. I have been picked for the random lie detector test TWICE this year, so I am not planning on breaking rules regardless. The first time was not so random if you asked me. They pulled a crappy rule on the kids and I questioned the intent the night before.

Puma is rated for a 250, so you are good. Side rollers can be a problem in any boat. A Puma can handle most rough water, but you have to use good judgement.

[mactlman]

get a 4 blade prop if you don't already a bravo1 type 3 bodies, fuel and gear is a lot

[kls2020]

I remember drawing a couple of local guys on Lake Mead who were both running 20' Champions . It was windy both days and these guys were navigating 3' waves rolling from North to South and we were going East . They both drove in the troughs between waves like it was a slalom course and zig zagging back and forth to stay in the trough as much as possible .
and backing off the throttle slightly when we had to transition from one trough to the next .They were not running full speed at full trim but they weren't going slow either but they obviously knew what they were doing . I got a little wet from spray but in all was a fun ride . There is no shame in slowing down when faced with rough water conditions as it's hard on Bodies and equipment alike .

[RMabus]

Alrighty. So some new challenges with this boat, and would love a little feedback. My son and his buddy decided they needed to raise the manual jack plate and prop, cause it did not haul enough ass. We were fishing a tournament and we beat up our prop pretty good. Came out of a cove and the boat would not get on plane. Thought we had spun a prop. Well turns out the dings in the prop were all we did. Well, this past weekend when we try to get on plane the boat would start to brake over and then the prop would blow out like a spun prop. I noticed if I would feather the throttle when it was starting to brake over it would eventually get on plane and run. THEN, I noticed with three of us setting across the seats the boat teams to lean to the pass side (left) when running wide open. I do not think we have that much of a weight discrepancy between left and right. Any thoughts on this. Is our prop now to high?

Thanks in advance.

[Bass Cat Boats]

We think the motor is too high and we have never recommended higher engine settings. That engine needs to be in the 23.5" to 24.25" range from the pad, vertically at a maximum. BCB

[RMabus]

Thank you.

[FeFanatic]

Can you clarify? 23.5" to 24.25" from pad to where on the motor? I seem to recall it was the bottom of the engine pivot but have been told differently.

[Bass Cat Boats]

It is inside the J hook that would sit on the transom, if it were mounted flat. There is a drawing of this on the Owners Board we believe.

[06 SB]

Can you clarify? 23.5" to 24.25" from pad to where on the motor? I seem to recall it was the bottom of the engine pivot but have been told differently.

Here is an explanation: https://basscat.com/forum/groups/bas...gine-height-2/

[06 SB]

We think the motor is too high and we have never recommended higher engine settings. That engine needs to be in the 23.5" to 24.25" range from the pad, vertically at a maximum. BCB

What should it be on a Caracal with a Fury 4?

[Bass Cat Boats]

We aren’t fans of the Fury 4 on most of our boats and we would go down as far as a 22 Fury for some applications.

[06 SB]

We aren’t fans of the Fury 4 on most of our boats and we would go down as far as a 22 Fury for some applications.

If I were to drop down to a 22 Fury 3, what would be the recommended engine height range?