I just bought a new boat with Yamaha 4 stroke and I've been babying it. I fish Palestine alot and my last boat was a beat up duck boat with an old evinrude that I didn't mind beating up in the timber. Just wondering how you guys with nice rigs avoid beating up your prop and lower unit. Do you trim way up when idling? I don't have a jackplate just standard trim

I fish Palestine and Fork quite a bit along with a lot of northeast Texas lakes trim up and roll over is the only way to go. Flat creek 20-25 minuets to get to the back. I know Fork pretty good and still idle if uncertain.

take some pictures so you can remember what it looks like when it was new then go enjoy what you bought the boat for...

First, its a bass boat!
Be careful, go slow and enjoy fishing.

There was a guy on here awhile back said he saw a guy run from the bridge in Flat Creek all the way to the back on pad........in the dark.

Just tilt it up and idle. If you bump a stump, it won�t hurt it or your prop. I have to really be certain of my trail before I risk the expense of a lower unit. The older I get the less of a hurry I find myself in.

While a new boat is a beautiful thing it is still a tool scratches and scuffs are part of it just fish like u always have

Tilt the motor up until the prop is above the bottom of the boat but still in the water enough that you have adequate reverse power if you need to suddenly slow the boat to avoid getting High centered on a big stump or a cluster of small ones.

Go ahead at idle speed only and you will be fine. Bumping off stumps will not do any major damage at this speed. Even if you hit a stump with the prop hard enough to kill the engine it shouldn�t hurt a good SS prop.

When in doubt trim high and idle. When u know let her eat. I have spots on Caddo I run and people look at me crazy. I�ve marked every stump in some areas when water is far enough down to see them. Rest is from side scan

If you can't see them you can't hit them. Go for it.

If you do then you are supporting the economy by taking it to a repair shop.

key here is having Stainless Steel prop...

Gig em I saw a guy run from the bridge to the back at daybreak. I was doing my usual idle to the back. When I got back there I had a chance to speak with him and he told me that he had a old Jeep trail marked, bigger brass ones then I got.

I've been about 3/4 the way back and probably hit a minimum 100 stumps, but of course I was idling and took a couple of hours. Not doubting there is a jeep trail but at full pool or above those trails can disappear. I've run from Deep End Marina all the way to Kickapoo back in the day but I was dumber than a 2 pound hog back then. I'd like to think I'm smarter now. I even idle in Highsaw and Ledbetter now. I be scared, lol.

Cade�s and Kickapoo are not as bad as flat but I will run to the island and idle around then run again to the mouth then idle in, just way to many hazards back there. By the way I love your signature, read it to my wife and she damn near fell out of her chair.

Ha on the signature, pretty much the truth. Yeah Kickapoo and Cade are not even in the same category as Flat, I don't even consider Flat anymore when I go to Palestine.

I did $9k worth of damage to glass boat on the north end of Palestine a few years back while just fishing, came off one stump while on the trolling motor and came down on another that was shaped like a spike. OUCH!!! Palestine is one of the hardest lakes on glass boats there there is anywhere.

Just don't crawl under your boat after you've had it a few months or you'll be like WTF!!!!!

No scratches...no fish.

Tilt the motor up and go sloooooow. Embrace the bumps and bruises...

No truer words have ever been spoken.

Get an older xpress. Problem solved. Best money ever spent if you fish the Palestine type lakes. It's not a matter of if but when you will damage a glass boat

Just fish , my Beater Skeeter takes me where the fish should be . Course you might be the one who is wiping the boat down instead of walking with a bag of fish to the weigh in .

Harsh but Funny!

Word.

The boat is an 18 foot g3 with a F50 yammi

Why I like my Xpress tin boat. It's like a Timex

No worries then, tin boats are made for stumps!

If you don't have a hot foot you can kneel on the seat to get your head high enough to where you can spot the stumps. For me this is tough from a sitting position.

I rode over one years ago in Flat Creek that when I came over it and the boat sat back down it came up between the transom and motor. It was about 5" in diameter and must have pushed over a little while going over it. I could not lift the boat or power off of it. Had to flag someone down (before cell phones) and get them to bring me a saw to get in the water and cut it off.

When Fork was 7' low I took my HDS 12 and marked waypoint through the timber and stayed in the middle of any trees that I saw. I can run from long branch straight across to bell or rogers, main lake to back end of ray branch without getting off pad and of course down little caney to quail hollow. That run still makes me pucker.

Duct tape your throttle button so that you CAN pull it out of gear instantly....

Doing this on fork made the difference between my boat idling up on a stump to just under my seat and making all kinds of cracking noises. To stopping 2-3 feet in front of my seat and no more crunching sounds.....

You would be amazed how much faster it is, at the slightest rise of my boat I pull it to neutral.

?? I only have to push safety button to get out of neutral not out of gear .
if you tape it, it will go the way to reverse (maybe you want to maybe you don't )

I'm not reading all the responses but you either idle or floor it , end of story

I usually reach and grab a beer ,and let the designated driver make the call. Usually they run the jack plate up, trim up and idle. I always fish solo and never plan ahead to bring duct tape

At idle speed you are not gonna hurt your lower unit or a SS prop

^^^^^this. The only thing on my Mercury lower unit is getting wood or debris in my Speedo hole

Ooooooooo! Oh, you meant speedometer! Never mind........

If you try this approach in Kickapoo or especially in Flat please post pics of what is left of your boat afterwords.

This reminds me how my kids think it hilarious when I say "I used to be young and stupid. But now I'm not as young."

How can I figure out how high I can trim my motor without running it "dry?"

Wisdom.

You can watch the water stream from the motor. If the motor is not shooting a stream like normal then you are too high. This is a pretty high angle. You will hear the exhaust very loudly and the prop will no longer be in the water.

A good way to gauge how high to tilt your motor thru the stumps is this. With the boat on the trailer, stand at the back of the boat and eyeball the bottom of the boat.

Now trim the motor until the skeg (fin below the prop) on the lower unit is just about even with the pad. Now get in the driver's seat and see how it looks. Next time you are idling thru the stumps tilt the motor to that angle.

Leave the motor tilted at this angle as you fish and troll thru the stumps on the TM. It acts as a rudder and helps keep the back end of the boat from swinging around in the wind. I see someone every time I go to Fork with their motor tilted all the way out of the water while fishing. I am sure they are wondering why the back end of the boat blows around so much.

Over thinking the entire deal. You are going to bump stumps, just accept that fact. Just ease back on the throttle and try to not drive on top of one. You just want to tilt the motor enough that when it does hit one, it is just a glancing blow not a solid hit.

You will need to worry more about how are you going to free it if you drive up on one. My boat slides off left or right instead of hanging. If you have a flatter bottom it will probably stay on top and you'll have to rock it, use trolling motor or main motor.

Striking one will do no damage even with motor down as long as you are going idle speed.