Bit the bullet

[Milehibird]

First off, I want to thank EVERY BBC sponsor. I wasn't sure what way I wanted to go and the guys were all fantastic. Power poles or Talons? Sportsman, blade, 8 or 10' poles? 8, 10, 12' Talons, bluetooth or not? Trying to figure all that out was a mess, and these guys, K&K, Jones, Wacky Riggers, Russell Marine, Hydrilla gear are all top notch people to talk to. Not a single one had a problem with giving tips, advice or quotes.

That said, I've got a pair of 12' talons on the way that I can't wait to get installed hopefully in about a week or so. Thanks Justin @RMP!

[KandKKustomz]

First off, I want to thank EVERY BBC sponsor. I wasn't sure what way I wanted to go and the guys were all fantastic. Power poles or Talons? Sportsman, blade, 8 or 10' poles? 8, 10, 12' Talons, bluetooth or not? Trying to figure all that out was a mess, and these guys, K&K, Jones, Wacky Riggers, Russell Marine, Hydrilla gear are all top notch people to talk to. Not a single one had a problem with giving tips, advice or quotes.

That said, I've got a pair of 12' talons on the way that I can't wait to get installed hopefully in about a week or so. Thanks Justin @RMP!

[born to fish]

You are going to love them. Had my 12 footers for 2 years now. don't know how I ever fished without them.

[G3Ray]

Good Luck with them

[Milehibird]

So I got them installed and they look good. Still have to do some adjusting, lots of spray and a slow holeshot, but I knew that going in. My wife wanted to take it out 2 weekends ago right after I got them installed, so we did. And yeah, I couldn't resist taking pictures about 20 seconds after I got them installed so my workspace was a disaster.

[KandKKustomz]

look good.. red, white ,and blue very patriotic!

[Milehibird]

That was the plan.

[JR19]

Still have to do some adjusting, lots of spray and a slow holeshot, but I knew that going in.

Raising the Talons as high as you can on the bracket should eliminate the spray issue. In the picture it looks like you could raise them 5" or so.

As for holeshot there is multiple things you can do...raise the motor height if your not already at your max WOT rpm or minimum required water pressure. Raising the motor will allow the prop to spin up faster but if you go too high your prop will slip, gain rpm and actually lose performance. Too high can also cause weak water pressure. Even though I mentioned this first it would be my last option because it typically does not gain much but there is always exceptions where it could really help a lot, especially if you were way too deep to begin with. The Bravo 1 XS, Bravo 1 FS, Mark Croxton's Razor 4 and Mark Croxton's Razor 4 XL are known to be excellent hole shot props. A new prop will set you back a few $ so I have a less expensive alternative that gets instant results. Some won't like my next suggestion but for me it was the best thing I ever done to my boat for holeshot...add a hydrofoil. With a hydrofoil you can turn your same prop and lose 0 top end speed. When changing props most people go down a pitch so they lose a small amount of speed. With a foil you turn the same prop and lose 0 speed because the hydrofoil is out of water when full trim running wide open throttle. Plus it will also allow you to run a slower speed before dropping off plane.

Most people will say the plastic whale tail hydrofoil is an eyesore but I assure you that you will get instant results. Now there is a hydrofoil that actually looks cool to some people and some even say it is like adding bling. A cbailey foil is made of stainless steel and can be custom powder coated to multiple color choices. Plus he can do custom personalized engravings. It mounts the same way as the old style plastic foils by drilling holes in your lower unit but the wings are to the side so it gets it lift from the side rather than like the old style that stick out the back and get their lift from the back.

I will provide a link to look at them. Scroll through a few of the pages to see some custom foils that definitely work. The link is 4 years old so hopefully it works and you can see multiple pictures on various pages... http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread....316&highlight=

[JR19]

Also forgot on the spray issue make sure the side mount plate and the arms are also mounted as high as they can go as well as where I previously mentioned the talon itself should also be as high in the bracket as it can go.

[rolopayne]

Like stated, move the brackets as high as you can on your jack plate. (as seen in sideways image that i don't know how to rotate) Also make sure you have the 4" clearance. Had my 12's for a year and love them, no drag or spray.

20190322_193034[1].jpg

[kry29]

One thing that will help would be to turn those brackets a little closer to the hull. The closer they are the less the water will hit them

[Milehibird]

So I raised the Talons up about 4-5" on the bracket itself and there seems to be no spray on plane. Boat gets on plane better too. Didn't adjust the actual brackets at all yet, but they are only maybe 4" from the transom as it is. By myself holeshot is probably down from the 10-12 seconds when I first installed them to about 6-8 seconds if I had to guess. Still not as quick as it was without them, but manageable. I'll change props and probably add one of the bailey foils too sometime this summer.

[JR19]

No need to change the prop. Add the cbailey foil and your 6-8 second holeshot will be more like 4 second light and 5 seconds heavy.

[Milehibird]

Oh I need to change the prop. I could only turn a max of 4800rpm up here before the talons.