First Stroker question post

[kylkkyle]

Didn’t take long to have a question haha. So I have never owned a boat with a hydraulic jackplate, both of my bullets were manuals. I know that with the plate all the way down it is 1” below the pad... so start there and get her up and once I get up I need to trim up and get it running and start moving the jackplate up in small bumps as I go? I am trying to learn slowly and get back comfortable driving a pad boat. I’m not trying to run a crazy number as I don’t have enough setback for that anyways. Just a 10” plate running a 30 bravo. I want to be able to fish mid 80’s for sure once I get a handle on driving her. Just curious if anybody has the time to type out the correct way to utilize he hydraulic plate. Thanks in advance guys

[Stroker250xs]

I start off at 1 inch above pad and don’t touch the jackplate till I pack air under the hull. Get a paint marker to mark your jackplate and don’t over think it. Naturally from owning other boats you will want to over trim it. That was my issue when I got mine

[Strokerdean]

I marked my plate at even with the pad and 1.5" above pad. Use it as a quick ref point. I came out of a non performance boat and had never driven a perf pad bass boat so I spent a ton of time learning how to drive. When I go out now I start at 1.5" above and adjust from there. If the water is rough I will usually drop it down until it feels right. The lower I go the easier it is to steer. If the water is good and the motor is lowered the rig is much more difficult to drive at any kind of speed.

[Stroker250xs]

I marked my plate at even with the pad and 1.5" above pad. Use it as a quick ref point. I came out of a non performance boat and had never driven a perf pad bass boat so I spent a ton of time learning how to drive. When I go out now I start at 1.5" above and adjust from there. If the water is rough I will usually drop it down until it feels right. The lower I go the easier it is to steer. If the water is good and the motor is lowered the rig is much more difficult to drive at any kind of speed.

dean is a wealth of knowledge! Every time I’ve seen him he has ran till he was low on fuel before he stopped. When I say he was running he was 100 plus the hole time! If you can come to the white river rally come bud

[kylkkyle]

Thanks for the info guys, if I am home from work I will try to make it. For sure will try to make it to the rally in Clifton, Tn that’s just right down the road from me. I will go out do some marking today Mr. Dean. I will start around even and work my way up, surely I can’t run quite as high will the 10” plate. It may get a bigger plate in the future but I’m just going to enjoy it for now.

[Strokerdean]

I am by far not one of the guru's on the Stroker, there are many more that have more experience than I do. That being said I have made a lot of changes over the years with my set up to hit my goals. My 07 Stroker came with 12" set back. That's what I learned with, it didn't seem to have much effect on running the motor up high. When you run the motor up the water pressure/temp need to be watched. Talking with Kurt decided to try my 2.5" spacers which moved it back to 14'5. Did this because of the elevation I run at. Seemed to help so I left it there for a long time. There was no ill effect of the additional set back. Keep in mind that the air is thinner at elevation so the hull reacts a little different than at low elevation. Back then 12-14" seemed to be the standard for the Stroker set up, that has changed to 14-16" based on what most have said.
What motor does your rig have and do you have a WP and WT gage?

[kylkkyle]

It has a 300xs on it, and as for right now I have a water pressure gauge but no temp gauge, I have a smartcraft on the way for it though.

[Strokerdean]

I have the smartcraft merc monitor as well as a smartcraft WT gage, I replaced the smartcraft WP gage with a manual gage as it reacts faster. Gives more time to react before going into guardian.

[kylkkyle]

I just have the manual WP gage right now as far as that goes. To be honest if I can just get comfortable running mid 80’s with it I will be more than happy, I don’t know if I will ever push to run a really big number. I’m sure many people have said that before though lol

[kylkkyle]

After coming out of a skeeter I know i will have to learn how to drive a pad boat again since it has been about 6 years since I had my bullet 300xs combo. I mainly just don’t EVER want to be passed by another cookie cutter again lol. I am really impressed with how the boat handles and rides and how responsive it is. I haven’t been able to do a lot of fishing out of it yet, but I really like how big the front deck is.

[Strokerdean]

As far as I am concerned the manual WP gage is the way to go. I took the smart craft WP gage out and replaced it with a manual. I found with the smart craft gage water pres would go from 20psi 0 psi and then to guardian before I had a chance to react. Problem solved with the new gage. I know you only want to fish at 80 but that will change once you get the hang of the rig. Good luck with it and be safe.

[Stroker3.2XS]

On the holeshot, I found the higher the plate the more the prop will break loose and surge when the bow breaks over. Just have to find a height that works best for your setup / load. I adjust the trim first then come up on the plate. It won't take long to figure out typical trim value. Water conditions dictate the jackplate height --- for me. Everyone has a different style. Manual water pressure gauge will respond faster than Smartcraft. Have the Merc monitor that displays 3 gauges on the same screen. Trim - top center, water pressure-lower left and temp - lower right. The manual water pressure gauge is directly below the monitor. All critical measurements in one location. Fishing in the mid 80's will be your normal "cruising" speed

[gcross]

Might be good to find out where the next rally will be. I know theres one coming up on pick wick in september and one before that in arkansas. Lot of stroker owners will be at both and they can help you out.

[kylkkyle]

When is the one in September?

[NixaMan]

Sept. 12-16,2018 is the Sept. Rally at Pickwick Lake in Mississippi. J. P. Coleman State Park is the location and they have Cabins and a small Motel. Good people and good food for all.

[kylkkyle]

I only live about an hour away from there, I work on the river 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off. I am scheduled to go back the 13th so I may be able to slip down for the day on the 12th. 1 day is better than none lol

[Strokerdean]

Kylk, does you new rig have the third knee brace that is glassed into the transom for additional support?

[kylkkyle]

Yes sir, the boat went back to Kevin last year, jimmy hit a log and it did a little damage to the front port side that kevin fixedly. He said Kevin looked it over really good for him, It has the 3rd knee brace and he gave it a clean bill of health.

[Strokerdean]

If your not working and can swing it you ought to try to make the White River Rally, Aug 9 thru 12. There should be a ton of guys/gals with perf boats and who knows how many props.

[kylkkyle]

I would love to, unfortunately I go back to work the 2nd through the 23rd. Love my job and love being home for 3 weeks at a time, but the 3 weeks gone can suck sometimes too lol