School me on prop guards

[headduck]

Looking for protection in skinny water... 20 hp Yamaha.

[headduck]

There are those plastic yellow deals with all sorts of claims of improved performance but seems counter intuitive.

Any personal experience?

http://propguard.net/how.html

[DARice]

BiteMeToo, maker of kicker brackets, also makes prop guards, but they seem more for keeping fishing line out of the prop than protecting it from impact.

[headduck]

The more I read the more convinced I am that I'll create more problems... Just gotta be careful.

[Hunter]

IMHO....you can spend a lot of time and effort to DYI....or just bite the bullet and buy this perfect solution that's simple to install. 

https://www.propsavers.com/

[Yachter Yat]

    As Hunter linked, those propsavers seem to make sense.   There are others, but here's one short YouTube testimonial:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxRD8idyat4:


Yat

[First Light]

I have had a Macs Prop Saver on my 8 HP Honda since day one.

 Zero problems, complete confidence, no worries about down rigger lines crossing in a windy tailspin!

I've never run the kicker in shallow water so no experience there.

FWIW buy one and don't worry  about it ever!

[headduck]

I like the river runner... Mostly worried about shallow strike rather than line snags .

[davidsea]

    If used for a kicker (low speeds), would work well, but if it's for your Yamaha 20
 on the Alaskan it's going to affect your performance at planing speeds, if that's important.

[headduck]

It is important and seems like no matter you do down there... You shouldn't do it... 

[christianbrat]

I see people taking pitchforks and mounting them as a skidplate for the guys running in the south on lots of creeks...

[headduck]

Lots of cool solutions, but most for under planning speed.

There are a handful of pretty cool drift bait options...

[davidsea]

It is important and seems like no matter you do down there... You shouldn't do it... 

    Manufacturers spend lots of time and money reducing lower-unit drag to a minimum.  Any add-ons - hydrofoils, propguards, whatever - will increase drag and reduce efficiency and speed, so it's always a trade-off getting protection or lift on the bottom end.  The obvious and really expensive solution is a jet-pump lower unit and raised transom.  No damage, but also a 20-30% power loss through the pump...

  Maybe ultimate solution :    clamp-on airboat motor and prop kits........https://www.lonestarhovercraft.com     ( Bandit airdrives )

[Yachter Yat]

  CB's post remined me of a song.  Goes like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwzaxUF0k18

Yat

[Hunter]

For me, the primary reason for a prop guard is to keep my fishing and downrigger lines out of the kicker prop.  The secondary reason is when I am approaching a shore landing. In that scenario, I ALLWAYS bring up the main and use my kicker for the approach... At full slow idle I can approach the shore bow first and keep my kicker tilted up so that it's just enough to submerge the raw water intake and almost no chance of hitting bottom or rocks. 

[headduck]

I'm trying to fish a shallow coho infested bay and wanted a little protection/piece of mind on my main for my little boat.

No problems with lines in the kicker