I'm pretty paranoid about grounding out myself, but I've heard about others running their boats through water so shallow their brushing the bottom all the time. Right now if I get to about 3.5 to 4 feet of water I get a little uptight.

Anyone got any tips, tricks, or advice for running shallow waters? (naturally I don't mean running your outboard, just fishing). I'm in a 21X2 Triton and I "think" it's got about a 1.5 to 2 ft draft on it.

We run usally as shallow as 2ft. here Florida ,just dont let off the gas. Fishing wise trim motor out of the water and bring a push pole ,and trolling motor jacked up as high as it can go without alarming fish in the area.

I will run until the trolling motor is kicking up mud.

I do the same. If I really need to get somewhere I will get out and push in necessary. Your boat is probably a lot newer than mine.

Are you talking about the big motor or the trolling motor? The big motor I usually shut down or slow way down if it is under 10ft. Unless I know the area very well. The trolling motor I will go as shallow as I can.

as shallow as I can.

One creek that I fish on EM in the spring usually requires that you go in under full throttle, trim up and hope the boat does not come to a stop before it gets over the silted in part.

about 3 feet.

otherwise, trim up you motor to where the prop is just below the surface.

Well, i have no paint on the skeg on my main motor & no skeg at all on my trolling motor
That tell you anything

It just depends if I know the area of the lake I'm in. There are some places that I'll run through wide open and they are only 1.5 -2 feet deep. But I know there arent any obstructions in there, (unless someone sunk something recently) Other times, I have no problem running fast in 4 foot water of I need to. If on Toledo Bend, for instance, you can be in 18 feet of water and hit a tree that's just below the surface if the lake is up. You just have to know where you are and stay in the boat lanes on lakes like Toledo. Trial and error....eh?

It also depends upon your hull design. I wouldnt worry much about 4 feet of water in a bass boat. I dont worry about grounding, I worry about stumps and sucker rods, etc.

haha maybe I'm still just babying mine too much since I've only had it a couple months. I know I've had people tell me that bass boats are a lot tougher then you would think, but then again when you throw down a check for 5 digits it's hard to imagine ever even getting close to scraping it. Maybe it's like motorcycles, I've heard the thought process of "go ahead and lay it down and scratch it, get it over with so your not afraid to do it in the future" lol!

I rub the trolling motor so about a foot and a few inches.