After you verify gear ratio and accuracy of tach, I would suggest trying a 26 Bravo one prop.. just watch your rpm's.

I talked to Fountain and the 29's they sent out with the 496 normally went out with the 1.65 ratio outdrive and four bladed 28 pitch prop like a Bravo 1. My boat originally was equipped with the 525 and a XR drive. Somewhere along they way someone replaced the engine with a 496 and the outdrive with a bravo 1. I confirmed the outdrive I have does have a 1.50 ratio so this week sometime I plan on heading out to the lake with a few different props to see what's what. I'm planning on trying a 24, 26 and a labbed 28.

By the way anyone have an opinion on which prop company makes a better prop? I'm currently looking at Hyromotive and Mercury.

You will probably find the Merc prop for best all-around and the Hydromotive for better mid/top-end speed. Those are the only two brands I see regularly and are what I use.

During mid 90's Fountain used Mach 4 blade props. Early 90's I believe (but not 100% sure) they used 3 blade Mirage props. Later 90's they used Hydromotive Q-IV 4 blade props. Then, after the Brunswick deal, they used B1 props. During all of that time, the X dimension kept getting higher. On later 90's boats, the Hydro's seem to get the best top end at a mid range efficiency sacrifice. As the X dimension continued to go up, the Hydro Q-IV's started blowing out when cornering, and eventually, with the even higher X dimension, they Q-IV's would blow out just trying to get on plane. Hydro came out with a more "round ear" prop that held its bite better (not sure whether they were the "X" series or "P" series), and the semi-cleaver Q-IV's sort of faded away. For a 2003 and up, Fever, the B1 prop seems to be a good choice.

Give Greg Hittner a call at Cutting Edge props. He built me a nice set of 30s that have outperformed anything else I have tried out there yet. I am going to have him make me some 5 blades this winter. His number is (949) 701-0900.
here is the weblink http://cuttingedgepropellers.com/