That. It'll at least be the cheapest troubleshooting step.

Had this happen once. Boat didn't want to get on plane. A plug wire had come off in the rough water.

Would a 15HP mer 4 stoke have the same holes ?
Thanks

Have lower unit checked.. My opti had this problem 2000$ later found out it was lower unit... Never would have consided this... You would be surprised... While having reeds checked have them check it out...

New set of spark plugs. If your mid range and top end are as good as it's always been but the motor seems more sluggish coming out of the hole than it used to be then your plugs are probably fouled.

I just had the exact same problem, put new plugs in and it's running like new again.

My boat did the same thing. If this only seems to happen when the water gets above 84 or so degrees I bet it is the prop.

Humidity is a hole shot killer too from what I have been told.

i put reeds in it last weekend and its just like it was when i first bought it
boyesen reeds
cold starts awesome
idles awesome now
and very smooth
before at idle the motor would move around a lot and the boat would shake my dads boat does the same thing so i just assumed it was common
definitely not the case smooth as butter now

gets up on plane just like before which is all i can ask for with the 25p prop

only issue it has is every once in a while when i go to take off it will stall and die..
it has always done this and i was hoping the reeds would fix that too but guess not..
its as if it doesnt get enough fuel when i slam the throttle..
if i ease into it doesnt have any problems

have not seen if there is anymore top end because its been pretty windy the last week
but even if not i am very happy with the results
changing the reeds wasnt very hard either..
none of the old reeds were cracked or broken
but none of them had any tension on them about 25% had gaps were they were open at rest

Make sure your jets are squeaky clean free of debris...i had the same problem last season....wouldnt get on plane and it was the jets that were clogged

I guess nobody reads post before they respond. Every time someone has a problem like holeshot, half of the responses are the prop. But usually the op says he has had the boat at least a couple of years with no problem. If it ran last summer with that prop it should run this year with that prop. Now he says he fixed the problem and he is told to check his carbs.

he also stated that he is having issues when he slams the throttle forward.....i guess you didnt read that part

I know a guy on here named Hole Shot who has fished sluggish