I have a 16' boat with a 90 hp 4 stroke motor. At around 3000 rpm's the bow rides so high I can't see over it and lose steering. When it gets up on plane its fine but if I drop down to that 3000 rpm range the bow goes up and I have no steering. Is this normal, can I never run the boat at in that 3000 rpm range?

My suggestion to you would be to get one of the Hydrofoil Stabilizers and put it on your motor. The StingRay III is a good product and works well. I put one on my Merc 90 and the difference is amazing!!!!!!!  this allows me to run at a much lower RPM without the nose being up .Very easy install and no drilling. Hope this helps Ya.

Thanks for the info, I'll check it out.

Stabilizers arent the cure all to your problem. You might have the wrong pitch on your prop. Also, when your underway, you can raise or lower your outboard to adjust the plane. If those suggestions dont work, try to evenly distibute the weight in your boat.

Thanks Barresi,  I have played with the trim, it helped but the problem is still there. When I get the boat out of the water this week, I'll check what the pitch is on the prop and go from there.
Thanks for the info.

There's one more thing to consider...your boat might be too light for that engine. 90 hp 4 stroke is kinda big for a 16ft boat. I have a 1997 Parker 17ft CC with a 80hp Yamaha and sometimes at around 4500 rpm the bow gets up if I dont raise the outboard, and Parkers are solid fishing boats, very heavy, plus I have a hard top with rocket launchers. So you might want to take that into consideration. Also, whats the max hp your boat is rated for?

I've got a Ranger 617VS with 115 2 stroke and I think around 3000 rpm is also where it bows up high.   I rarely need to go fast and river is kind of shallow no wake so not much need for me to ever go fast.

That's the first thing I thought of that was the motor was too big for the boat. I called Mercury and the Smokercraft people and was assured by both that the 90 was not too big for the boat. The boat's a 2004, rated for a 90 horse. They said it was designed for a possible 4 stroke and it was like carrying an extra person in back.
I'll try the hints in the spring and see what happens.
Thanks for the input.