1997 Champion 191 Setup

[wes2000]

Boat model & year
1997 Champion 191

Motor model, HP, year
1997 Johnson Venom 200hp

Exact prop information
Raker 14 1/2 x 24 - All 3 holes empty
No dings/chips

Exact current results at wide open throttle, full trim, fishing load
61GPS, close to full trim, 2 people/full fishing load/50% fuel/water in livewells

All characteristics, lift, roostertail height, how stiff is steering, any chine walk, time for holeshot
I am getting full lift off the water. Roostertail height seems normal compared to other bass boats. Steering starts to get stiff, more so in one direction than the other, but not unmanageable by any means. No chine walk. Hole shot seems really good to me.

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I recently purchased a new to me Champion 191 and have been doing a lot of work on it lately. I owned a nitro fish/ski before this, but this is my first bass boat. I have adjusted the jackplate to 3.5" prop to pad and its on a 5 1/2" set back. I got 60mph yesterday consistantly with two people and a full fishing load/livewells topping out at a best 61mph gps. Water temps 55 degrees. RPMs at about 5600. Ideal RPM for this motor WOT are 5000-6000. I don't have a lot to compare it to, but my hole shot seems good. It gets to 50mph easy then just keeps slowly creeping up to 60mph, but I think that could have a lot to do with me needing more wheel time with the hot foot and blinker trim to where I can get it perfect faster.

My question is on the water pressure. The original gauge would just max out, so I assumed it could be bad and replaced it with a new gauge. Also, when I got the motor it was so low I literally couldn't trim it up above 1/2 without hitting the transom top cap with my steering cables. I'm going to guess it was at 7 1/2"+. I moved it to 5 1/2" initially then up 1/2" per trip (manual plate) till I got to 3 1/2" while watching for any water pressure losses. I am now at 3 1/2" but am still getting about 25psi WOT. My RPMs seem to be in a great range for this motor, but is this water pressure too high? I was reading where you want to keep it above 15psi, but I am quite a bit above that. Does it mean I still need to keep going up? I feel like I am getting good performance at this setting.

Thanks for the help.

Sorry about the rambling, I just wanted to provide as much info as possible.

[pmgoffjr]

Only way to find just right is to take it too far and then bring it back.
No two anythings are exactly identical.
So keep coming up 1/4” at a time until you lose speed lift or pressure. Then back down a click.

[Rip Bass]

25 psi is fine for that engine, I had one that would hit 40 psi if the gauge was right.

[beck125]

high pressure on that motor, mine is slinging a 26p raker just shy of 30psi. it will run mid to high 60mph mark 5800rpm roughly. My venom doesn't like to be high 3+" Prop to pad at all. Not positive where i am currently at

[wes2000]

Thank you for the reply's. I finally hit that 3 1/2" mark that's always thrown around and wanted to get some input before I kept going.