For years I fished out of a 17’6 boat with a 150 horsepower Mercury and now that size boat is where most of the major boat manufacturers start with fiberglass bass boats. My 2006 boat is a Triton TR20X2 Series powered by a Mercury 250 Pro XS. I chose the 20” foot model boat for several reasons. The 20” length will run the roughest water you will find anywhere safely and yet it is still small enough to fish shallow backwater areas. The length of this boat will still fit in most garages and with the swing tongue on the trailer you won’t have to find a buyer with a 30” deep garage when it comes time to for resale.

There are several options when it comes to motors to power your boat. First and foremost you want to rig your boat with the maximum horsepower for that model, you may save a couple hundred dollars by running a smaller motor than your boat is rated for however it will cost you in performance and resale if you make that choice. I chose the 250 Pro XS for performance, fuel economy  and warranty. Although this motor comes from the Mercury Racing division it carries the same warranty as a standard Optimax. The Pro XS has carbon fiber reeds that increase hole shot, mid-range and full throttle performance. This motor also has a higher RPM range allowing me to run a smaller prop for better hole shot and maintain maximum RPM performance when running wide open.

It is now time to give you the equipment rundown you will find not only on my boat but most of the pros boats you see at major events. When it comes to trolling motors bigger is always better and the standard motor you will find varies from 101 to 109 pounds of thrust and runs on three deep cycle batteries. I run the 109 Digital Motor Guide and keep a couple the new Hydrilla Hacker propellers in the boat for the Delta and Clear Lake.  All of these motors will push a boat faster than you can fish but this extra power comes in handy when the Delta tide is ripping or Clear Lake is a little windy. When running these 36 volt motors we rig our boats with four deep cycle batteries (3 for the trolling motor and 1 to power your outboard and accessories). Most of the new boats come equipped with on-board battery chargers and these are a great improvement over carrying multiple chargers and cords like we used to. I recommend upgrading the charger on the boats to make sure each battery on board has a charger, even though the new outboards have larger alternators they won’t keep the cranking battery fully charged. My personal boat has a four bank Dual Pro charger and four Dual Pro Deep Cycle batteries.

Depth Finders are the next accessory that keeps us all wondering if we have the latest and greatest. It seems that before we know how to run our new depth finders the company has changed to a new model. For starters I recommend using the same brand on the console and on the front deck. With most of the companies like Lowrance you can get the transducer for your bow mounted fish finder built in to your trolling motor. I still mount my transducers separate on my trolling motor in case I need to swap out a motor during a tournament.  I also recommend at least one of the units on your boat hooked up to a GPS system, I have mine hooked up to my console unit and many of my friends have it on both. GPS is a great tool to get you back to a hot fishing spot but it can also save your life if your ever stranded and you need to tell someone where you are. Lowrance even has a model that will give you the Delta tides right on the screen. My personal choice on my 07 boat will be the Lowrance 26HD color units.

Getting a new boat is exciting and we all like to think that it will help us catch more fish but if a new boat is in your future plans do some research, take a test drive in the brands your are interested in owning and make a list of everything you want on this boat before you visit your local dealer. Extended warranties are well worth the money and will give you years of worry free boating and fishing.