I have a 88 Ranger Bass Boat 18 foot with a 140 H.P motor and when I go to full throttle the bow will come up and the boat will start to plain out then the front of the bow will start to hope it will move 3to5 feet if you stay at full throttle it will plain out if you donot jump out frist a men said that it may be a J hook what is a J hook and how do you fix it are is this
cause by something eles.

When you say "start to hope it will move 3-5 foot" I think you mean the bow goes up and down. This is called "porposing" and the cure is to trim down SLIGHTLY or adjust the load in your boat more evenly(ie; add weight to the front end). A "J hook" forms on the bottom of your boat. When your boat sets on the trailer and is not properly supported, its weight can cause the a deformation in the hull itself. Once this happens, boat preformance will suffer as there is no cure.

Thank you for the information on my boat if i have a j hook is there any way to see it

you can put a straight edge on the bottom and see it. The ones I have seen are boats that do not sit all the way up on the bunks. All those were boats over 15 years old and the hull hung over the bunks just a few inches. Once the boat was in the water you could feel it.

Hope for the best, the hook as he says is
caused by the transom with the weight of
motor sitting back too far on the trailer
causing the tail of the boat to settle being
lower than the line of the rest of the hull
if this is the case you are in trouble. you
may have the motor trimmed too far back or
a stabilizer wing on the cavitation plate may help. A hook is rare if the boat and
trailer are set up right.


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Catch you later
Dennis (slabshad)

Champion recommends that when you are storing your boat to slack off the winch strap just enough to take the pressure off. This will take the pressure off the hull and help prevent the hook.

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mikecat,
From what you've said, it sounds like a hydrafoil may help your porpoising problem a lot. Just get one rated for your size motor...they are not hard to install at all and you can do it yourself.

Good fishing,
Ken