Gambler 209 Prop Question

[WalkerWeeks]

Hoping to find someone who has a similar set up as me to try and figure out what prop i should be running on my boat. Or at least someone that can give me a idea of something that would be close. I got a 1995 Gambler 209 with a 2005 Evinrude Etec 225 HO. Has gambler plate and Atlas jack plate. Tempest, Trophy, Bravo, Raker??

[yupitsme]

Depends... I have a 225 ProXS so there's that. For speed 27p Trophy. For every day fishing with excellent rough water abilities 26p Fury4. The Fury will carry a load way much better than the Trophy. But moderately loaded a 27p Trophy does fine. If you have a ton of electronics w/FFS your best bet may indeed be the Fury. For decades I ran a 26p Trophy with great success. As I added more rods/reels to the rod lockers and more electronics to the bow the 26p Trophy would no longer carry the bow and struggled mightily to even get outta the hole.

[WalkerWeeks]

I appreciate the info. I’ll have to give the trophy and fury a try. Have you ran any 3 blades on your boat as well or just 4 blades?

[yupitsme]

Yes, I tried a 3 blade fury(25p best I recall) when they came out. Best prop ever for putting a boat on the trailer. But... It was like hitting a wall at 72-73mph. Took forever to get to 75mph from there. Best speed with the 27p Trophy was 81.3mph solo and 79.9mph with co-angler. Oh... and... You absolutely must use a blow-out ring or the proper name, anti-cavitation ring, on the Trophy. And that is true regardless of what pitch Trophy you run. Without the ring the set-up becomes excessively load sensitive making it near impossible to set-up from full tank of fuel to 1/4 tank of fuel. It's been so long now that I've run a Trophy I don't recall the PVS configuration I used but you'll need to experiment with it until you get it dialed in. I went to the Fury because I fish Toledo Bend A LOT. The 4 blade Fury lifts the bow extremely well and because it's a big barrel prop with a flare on the end it does a good job of lifting the stern as well. Back before I added a FFS turret and a 12" HDS live to the bow the 27p Trophy would regularly hit 78-79 mph. The 26P Fury 4 would be in the 76-77mph range. But the Fury 4 excels as a rough water prop where the Trophy does not. So that's why I went with the Fury 4. Since those days as noted I added quite a bit of weight to the bow. Additionally I added a Grp31 electronics only battery in the rigging compartment. Plus I carry a lot more rods/reels and tackle than I used to. That said... Now, with the 26p Fury 4 max speed on good days is 75mph, maybe 76 going downhill.