Inside Elite Boats: Steve Kennedy

Elite Series pro Steve Kennedy is known across the industry as the angler with the tiger wrapped boat because of his love for Auburn University. Check out his 2005 Stratos 200 ProXL that he used for the 2016 season.

And look for Kennedy’s new BassCat boat on the 2017 Bassmaster Elite Series. The company recently signed Kennedy to its pro staff for 2017.

With a variety of fisheries on the schedule to end Kennedy’s 2016 season, he had plenty of tackle in his boat so he could be prepared for any situation.

Kennedy roughly guessed that he had 24 rods in that locker, but from the looks of it he probably had even more. With that many rods stored closely together, a rod protector and organizer is most definitely a must.

One of the first baits he reached for was a discontinued Bass Pro Shops swimbait that he, Takahiro Omori and Fred Roumbanis raved about in multiple stories over the last year.

He also had a pack of smaller Keitech swimbaits handy. They seem to work on any kind of bass from Florida to Minnesota, so it’s no surprise that a swimbait guru like Steve Kennedy would have them handy.

He also had a variety of baits laying in the floor, including a jig.

Kennedy keeps the majority of his plastic boxes in the two middle compartments of his Stratos.

This one was loaded down with soft plastic packages that he was using while drop shotting at Mille Lacs for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship.

Among those packs were Jackall Cross Tail Shads…

And Yamamoto Shad Shape worms, which are heavily used smallmouth baits.

Another look at his rod locker shows his spinning rods laying on top and ready for use at the famed smallmouth fishery of Mille Lacs.

His driver-side rod locker was also filled to the brim with plastic boxes, Ziploc bags and loose spools of line. More than enough tackle for every possible situation he may face.

Kennedy digs in the locker and pulls out a bruised and battered plastic box…

His box was busting from the seams with skirt material.

He has enough skirt material and colors for any spinnerbait, jig, chatterbait or buzz bait he wanted to make.

He also wielded a box of blades for spinnerbaits and buzz baits.

He didn’t stop there as he showed his hard-bait accessory box, which was filled with trebled hooks, split rings and various accessories. With the travel schedule that Bassmaster Elite Series pros experience, it is best to be prepared for every situation than to leave something behind that may be needed.

Kennedy pulls an oldie, but a goodie out of his swimbait box. The Sebile Magic Swimmer helped him finish second in 2008 on South Carolina’s Lake Murray.

Even without sponsor logos on the side of his boat, he has one of the most recognizable rigs due in part to the white tiger vinyl wrap.

Kennedy showed his versatility in 2016 as he managed eight Top 38 finishes out of the possible 10 events.

With two small bungee cords, Kennedy attaches a push-pole to his boat to help when he gets in ultra shallow water.

Steve Kennedy’s push-pole is also used as a shallow water anchor at the rear of his boat.

He has a tube attached to his hydraulic jack plate where his push pole goes to transform into an anchor.

This keeps Kennedy in position when he wants to slow down and pick apart an area.

He then secures it to the side of his boat.

Kennedy reaches in a rod locker and pulls out another interesting addition to his boat.

After connecting it together it turns into a slightly smaller anchor, but this time for the front of his boat so the bow doesn’t move.

A little innovation and a two-piece spear turns into an anchor system.

Kennedy’s 2016 season was his 11th Bassmaster Elite Series season.

At the rear of his boat he has 4 AGM batteries to give him enough power for his time on the water.

Kennedy comes prepared for every situation so he brings his own battery chargers in case the campground he stays at isn’t sufficient.

Having these external battery chargers can also come in handy if the on-board charger suddenly goes bad while on the road.

Kennedy stores a variety of things at the back of his boat, including snacks for while on the water.

One of his boxes is littered with snacks, rope, a spare prop and even spools of braided line.

Kennedy’s cockpit is as simple as they come.

But don’t let it fool you, he brings out a big mount for his Lowrance HDS 12 so he can efficiently graph in those deeper fisheries and navigate in the shallow backwater events.

Kennedy’s panel of switches control every electrical function he needs on tournament day.

He has touch of family on his boat as stickers from his kids littered the console.

The front of his boat is all business as he has a Minn Kota Fortrex to do the heavy lifting when propelling his boat while fishing.

He doesn’t have a recessed foot pedal, but instead positioned it as far forward and out of the way as possible.

He also has his front graph positioned as far forward and to the left side as possible.

He keeps a spare trailer tire under the bow of his boat.

Kennedy has a couple of important tools that he thinks every angler should have. One of them is a multimeter, which measures voltage so he can check the source of any possible electrical problem.