Prop recomendations???

[Rider99XX]

I have a 2000, 90 hp Mercury on a 2000, 17 foot Basstream HydraBass (rated for a 150 hp). At WOT, trimmed out with 2 people, 3/4 tank of fuel in a 17 gallon tank and a full complement of fishing gear, it will turn 5100 to 5500 rpms and run 41 to 44 mph via GPS. The motor is sitting about 1/4 inch above the transom, no jack plate. There is NO rooster tail at all, just an odd spray coming from around the motor out the sides either trimmed down or trimmed out. I got a measurement of the pad/prop shaft and the prop shaft is 7 3/8" below the pad. Seems too low to me . Pretty sure that's where the odd spray is coming from. The boat jumps up on plane in just a few seconds, (3 to 5, if that long) no problem there.

Not sure if the set up can be improved or what but it just seems like there is more speed to be had. It feels as if the motor is too low in the water or not propped right. I know it's only a 90hp but it feels like there is more to be had out of this boat/motor. It has the stock aluminum, 21 pitch, 3 blade prop on it and one blade was bent by the previous owner but there is no vibration in the motor that I can tell.

I posted this in the Mercury forum and Boat Set Up forums before thinking about putting it here.

Any ideas, tips, and or comments are greatly appreciated

[Rider99XX]

The prop on there now is a 21 pitch aluminum and it has one blade with a small bend right at the tip.

[Rider99XX]

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[Glenn_S]

Yes, WAY too low. Try and get prop to pad at 3.5" as a start. You should see an increase in performance. You may need to move it up or down 1/4" at a time from there to fine tune it.