Chris I'm running a trophy+ on my P2 and I have no issues with it bogging down when loading. I have the 4-stroke and am running it with all holes closed up and an exhaust ring installed. I have no experience with the Bravo. I would love to try a 23 Bravo on my boat but I'm not going to purchase one to do it.
I see a lot of guys running the bravo. Why give up 2-3 mph and more when you can run a Tempest and get better performance and better fuel efficiency?? Run the Tempest you won’t go back ..
Over years we have found a very few boats the Tempest performs well on. Overall there are generally other better performing propellers than a Tempest.
2021 BassCatt Pantera II
200 Pro XS(3B056653)
Motorguide Tour Pro
You never know what prop might run best on your rig. Load, driver ability, motor HP, and set up differ from boat to boat. Bass Cat as a good a job as any it seems with its hulls being pretty consistent boat to boat. That said, run every prop you can get your hands on, you never know when you will find a unicorn.
it is not an issue with the 4 strokes or the older Yamaha 2 strokes: it is an issue with Mercury optimax/2 stroke motors. Trophy’s were my favorite on my Pantera and I ran them for years. As I’ve gotten older I just don’t have the patience for continually having to adjust my trailer depth when loading with a trophy or as it seems his Bravo as well.
I do like the overall handling and performance of the Bravo. If it loaded like my Fury I would probably run it all the time.
Chris Coupel
Paulina, La.
I know it's hard to cut up a prop being they so darn expensive these days. Back in the day, I experienced the same thing with Trophy and even TXPs. Granted this was with Mercury promax and 260s but I would cut the recessed part off the front the barrel. This is the part that goes inside the LU housing. This would allow exhaust to travel around the outside the entire prop and let it vent/spin up. I even had a couple that after cutting the recessed part off, I would slot it the width of the pvs holes from the front to the pvs hole. Made huge difference in holeshot and ability to load onto the trailer. Also, I agree with Jason. Run them all. Back when I had my 202 Blazer, I ran over 75 props before finding 2-3 of them that I really liked and used. But, that was when people would send each other props to try and you didn't have buy them all. Different world today.
Last edited by chad202; 05-12-2023 at 10:27 AM.
Yep, my Blazer 625 was a great example. I had a Yamaha 29 T-1 that I had used for a fishing prop on a previous 202 with a Phase 2 300 HPDI. I sent it Mark to have it worked and pitched down to a 28 and by luck, I found a unicorn. We even duplicated my results on 3 other 625's with the SHOs.
PS......still looking for a 24 or 25 TXP 3 blade.
75 mph all day long on my P2 with the Tempest..big difference from 70 mph with the Bravo..
Last edited by Knndy104@; 05-14-2023 at 08:13 PM.
Different rig then an Eyra.
2016 PII, 200 Merc 2 stroke.+
Hole shot:
24 Fury 3, Quickest.
24 Fury 4 / 25 Trophy Plus, Near identical Hole shot, with the Fury having more bow rise.
Loading boat on trailer:
24 Fury 3 and Fury 4 are nearly equal.
25 Trophy Plus doesn't have the loading power of the Fury's, but will still put it in back the truck!
I use the 25 Trophy Plus as my prop. Hole shot is still quick, mid range acceleration is impressive, handling is incredible (Prop doesnt loose bite in hard turns) , and top speed is still 70-72 depending on outside temps.
24 Fury 4 is my back up prop.
Sold the Fury 3.
Don
2016 BassCat Pantera II
Mercury 200 ProXs
My favorite prop on my Pantera Classic was a 25" Trophy with my 2.5 liter EFI merc. 27" Trophy with my 3.0 liter EFI Merc. I ran a 25" temptest for a while when I first bought the boat but quickly learned that the 4 blades were the way to go with that rig. They just seemed to do everything better on that rig. The EFI's didn't have quite as much as a problem with the loading issue and the Trophy's as both of my 250 Optimax's have.
A 27" Trophy performs very well on my current Eyra as well as the Bravo but none the less, they make loading a bit of a pain in the rear and I fish by myself most of the time. It's only an issue on Steep ramps but one I don't feel like dealing with. To each his own and That is why they make so many different props. We all value different factors as being the most important. I have yet to find one that is as fast as I want with the hole shot I want that handles like I want and loads like I want all in one package.
When i want to go fast I run my 26" Fury 3 blade as it is an 80 mph prop when I'm fishing alone almost all of the time. When i need a better hole shot for running the marshes down here I stick to my 24" Fury 3 blade and still run mid 70's. The Bravo I just bought seems to fit in the middle of those 2 for hole shot and speed but it handles SOOOOO much better. It's only downfall is the loading on the trailer so far.
I still want to get my hands on a Powertech VMX as I've heard of a couple of guys getting some really good performance out of those props on the Eyra Combo's.
Chris Coupel
Paulina, La.
shapfromla, The 4 rear holes (closes to the prop nut) in the Bravo XS props have significantly more impact that the standard 4 holes closer to the lower unit. So before you give up on the Bravo try (2) solid plugs, and (2) partial plugs in the rear holes and all the rest wide open. You're shooting for a stall speed between 3500 and 4500 RPM when you punch it from a dead stop (or when loading on the trailer for that matter).
- Heath
Chris Coupel
Paulina, La.