Bass Boat and 10HP Mercury Issue - Weight?

[Bassn7]

I bought an old Cee Bee 18 foot Fish-N-Ski because I wanted a big safe fishing vessel. I want to fish small lakes with only a 10 HP limit. The boat moves fine for fishing, I don't need speed. But...as soon as I top out the throttle the prop comes out of the water and I slow down. I'm guessing the bass boat was built for a 150HP so the weight of a large motor is taken into account when building the boat. I noticed the boat rides with the nose slightly down even with 2 people in the driver's seats. Would a jack plate for my small motor solve this? Ideas? (It is a long shaft I'm using.)

 

[Chinewalker]

Are you sure you don't have a short shaft motor on a long shaft boat? AV plate above the propeller should be even with, or a little below the bottom of the boat. Got a pick of the set-up?

 

[keninaz]

Wow. an 18' boat with only a 10 HP motor? I had a 9.9 Mercury on a Lowe 14' which is a heavy boat for it's size and it took a long time to plane with two people and would only do about 12-13 MPH planning around 9 MPH. I have since upgraded to a 20 HP.
I would guess that you are underpowered by quite a bit.

 

[airshot]

Doesn't make any difference whether over powered or underpowered, prop should not come out of the water unless you have an awfull lot of weight forward. If the shaft length is correct on the motor then you may need to add some weight in the rear to balance. As stated some pics would help us give you a better perspective.