Inside Elite Boats

Inside Elite Boats: Kyle Welcher

Take an inside look at reigning Progressive Angler of the Year Kyle Welcher's 2024 tournament rig.

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Photography by
Kyle Jessie
As the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series season passes the halfway mark, all eyes are on defending Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year Kyle Welcher. Welcher joined team Ikon and is running an Ikon LX20 powered by a 250 horsepower Mercury Outboard for the 2024 season.
Just past the midway point of the 2024 season, Welcher finds himself in 57th place in Angler of the year points.
Let’s take a look inside Welcher’s 2024 rig.
Like many Elites, Welcher’s front deck features multiple graphs and a forward-facing sonar transducer.
Graph wise, Welcher opts for a Humminbord Apex 13 used for mapping and MEGA 360, and a 12-inch Garmin used for LiveScope.
New for this year, the Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST will be pulling Welcher around while he fishes. The QUEST will carry his MEGA 360 and LiveScope transducers.
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Along with his electronics, the bow of Welcher’s Ikon holds his Power-Pole stomp switches. Welcher is meticulous about where his stomp switches are placed so he doesn’t step on them while fishing.
An overhead view of Welcher’s Ikon LX20.
His port side rod locker is where Welcher keeps his 13 Fishing baitcasting rods.
During a typical practice day, Welcher will carry 35 or so rods. By the start of the tournament he narrows it down to 20.
Some of his favorite rods he uses when fishing around the house.
The center compartment is where Welcher stores all of his tackle. He utilizes Gamakatsu’s G-Boxes for nearly all of his storage, even soft plastics.
The LX20 could fit more boxes than Welcher would ever need, but he typically keeps 20 to 25 boxes in the boat.
Welcher pulls out a couple of his favorite boxes — swim jigs and casting jigs.
To start the year, Welcher will have every box filled with a few of each bait.
His jig box never leaves the boat.
One of his favorite boxes holds an assortment of Untamed Tackle Apex Swim Jigs.
Welcher anticipates that these two boxes will be heavy players at Toledo Bend and Lake Fork.
A box full of shallow-running Rapala Crankbaits is a sure player this time of year almost anywhere in the country.
The Rapala BX Brat 3 is a favorite of Welcher, especially this time of year. “This Brat 3 can be fished in super shallow water like a trap, but a lot of people don’t think to throw it in the same places,” said Welcher. “I’m really hoping I can get it to play on Toledo Bend Reservoir.”
Another favorite of Welcher’s is his box of Rapala PXR Mavrik Jerkbaits.
“A jerkbait will probably be the biggest player throughout the whole year,” according to Welcher. “This box of Mavriks won’t leave the boat all season.”
Unlike some pros, Welcher keeps his spinning and casting rods separate. The starboard side locker of his Ikon houses his spinning rods.
Welcher shows one of the rods he used to wrangle big smallmouth on the St. Lawrence River last year. That event locked up his AOY victory.
The LX20 has plentiful storage, including this day box. Welcher plans to use this box for his Rapala scale and cull system.
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Welcher’s boat houses a giant cooler that he keeps filled with food and drinks during the season.
On either side of the cooler are tool slits for pliers and scissors. “I typically keep a pair of pliers and two pairs of scissors on each side of the cooler,” said Welcher. “I don’t know what it is but they always seem to go missing, so I like to have multiple of each.”
Moving to the cockpit, we get a good look at Welcher’s electronics set up at the console.
Two Humminbird Apex 13s handle the load while Welcher is driving his Ikon. He keeps his right side unit on mapping, and his left unit on constant side imaging.
The Ikon LX20 has a unique 7-inch touch screen that acts as gauges. On this, Welcher monitors his Mercury Outboard, trim, jackplate and also runs his livewells and lights from it.
Welcher keeps a Power-Pole switch at the console for easy access when he catches a fish and anytime he isn’t on the front deck.
The middle box ends up being a catch-all compartment for Welcher. “This box has a mesh net in the back that I put my wallet and keys in so I can find them quickly in the dark.”
“The coolest feature on Ikons is their patent pending livewell system,” according to Welcher. “Everything is automated, I can press one button, and it will regulate the water level, water temperature and add T-H Marine G Juice.”
These livewells feature a chiller plate that can adjust the water temperature and help keep fish alive in hot summer months.
Welcher is especially excited to put these livewells to work in New York catching big smallmouth out of deep water.
The seats of the LX20 feature a suspension system making them comfortable even in rough water. Welcher is fond of how easily he can get in and out of the seats and how easily he can see over his graphs.
The compartment behind the driver’s seat is where Welcher stores his tools, rainsuit, life jacket and a small rope. He keeps the tools in the bottom of the box to help give the boat more bow-lift.
He typically leaves the other side empty for whoever is riding with him. Whether it is a friend, Marshal or camera guy, they will have an open compartment in his boat.
Moving to the back of the boat, the unique lids on the battery compartment make for easy access to Welcher’s batteries and pumps.
Welcher relies on Power-Pole Charge to keep his Relion Batteries charged. He runs two 36-volt Relion Lithium batteries hooked in parallel to run his trolling motor, and two 12-volt Relion Lithiums hooked in parallel for his cranking battery and to run his graphs.
Two pumps for his 10-foot Power-Pole Blades sit amongst his Relion Batteries.
Welcher relies on a 250 horsepower, 4-stroke Mercury Pro XS Outboard to get him where he needs to go.
Two 10-foot Power-Pole Blades are Welcher’s choice for shallow water anchors. Welcher mentioned that the schedule this season set up better for 10-foot Power-Poles rather than 8-foot Power-Poles.
A T-H Marine Atlas Hydraulic Jackplate is Welcher’s choice for a jackplate.
A closer look at the wheels and tires on Welcher’s Ikon. Thanks for the tour, Kyle!

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