For many of us that fish the Bassmaster Elite Series, January is a busy month as we prepare for a new fishing season. In addition to booking places to stay, packing up tackle, ordering new tackle and taking care of things around home before I head out for a couple of months, I have a new boat to rig up.
For the 2022 season I’m running a Lund 2075 Pro-V Bass XS, which is the dream fishing machine for me. With the help of a few friends at home, we pretty much rig everything except the Atlas jackplate, which I sweet talk Lund into installing for me when they hang the Mercury 250 ProXS on the back.
It’s a big job that takes us about a week, working a few hours here and there on multiple days. The good side of it is I can decide where I want to place everything – where I mount my Humminbird units and my Aqua-Vu screen to be most comfortable for me. I also know where to find the wires for all of my electronics and where the connections are, which could be the weak spots if any problems arise throughout the season.
I run five X2 group 31 deep cycle batteries in my boat, which are a high-end AGM batteries. Three of these are dedicated to my 36-volt Minn Kota Ultrex trolling motor, while two of them are rigged in parallel to start my motor and power my Talons, electronics and accessories. I can run everything in my boat and never have to worry about having a dead battery. If you have the room in your boat, this is the way to go for sure.
Staying on the battery topic, having good batteries is so important for all of the equipment on your boat to operate properly. I noticed an immediate difference last year when I got on the water after rigging two X2 batteries in parallel. My Humminbird screens just looked better and worked as well as they ever have. My electronics last year were top-notch, which is important when competing against the Elite Series field.
T-H Marine makes a lot of great products to help trick out your boat and make it more angler friendly. I can burn up a bunch of time when I get on their site looking at all of the different products that they offer. I have used their KVD Kong Mounts for years and have always been impressed with them. They are heavy-duty, and they never move. I have a Helix 12 dedicated to the Mega Live on the bow of my boat installed on one of these Kong mounts. I use a Mini-Kong Mount at the console for my Aqua-Vu underwater camera that I use for pre-fishing at many bodies of water throughout the season.
Other T-H products that I have on my boat this year include some of their Bluewater LED strip lights in the compartments of my boat and the FingerFlex Blinker Trim switches on my steering wheel to operate the jackplate and the motor trim. The G-Force Eliminator Prop Nut is on my trolling motor to help make it quieter as well as make it easy to take the prop on and off from time to time to check it for debris, like fishing line that could cause damage.
I use the 4-inch Steer Stop Hydraulic Steering Lock on my motor when it’s on the trailer to keep it from moving around, and I always carry a Propmaster Prop Wrench and Prop Stop with me in case I have to change a prop on the water. They have so many good products to add to your boat, and much of it is very affordable.
My boat is my office, so I want it to be rigged up and working to its full potential, making it easy and comfortable to fish out of. Make sure the batteries are good, the connections are strong and every screw is tight and you’ll have no excuses not to catch a bunch of big bass this season.
