makeing boat upgrades

Hey guys I am wanting to make some upgrades on our boat and I want your guys opinions on what to do and get. We have a 2006 18.5 foot sportfish with a 150 evinrude e tec motor. We have 4 rod holders on the transom and 2 on the bow. Its equiped with a 12 volt trolling motor. It has a cheap eagle fish finder on the bow. It has a lowrance x125 fish finder on the console. I am wanting to buy a better depth finder to put on the bow. I want to put a gps on the bow and on the console and then network the two of them together. I don’t want gps/sonar combos. I want just straight gps. I would like to put a 24 or 36 volt trolling motor on it. I wanna put a kicker motor on. I would also like to install a marine band radio. I would like your guys opinions on what one of these upgrades to buy and also feel free to add any other add ons you would want on your boat. Thanks for the help guys

Wade @ Jolly Ann Marine can answer all your networking / GPS questions and options.

If you fish tournaments or big water you should have a marine band radio.

I have found a 24 volt Minnkota will do everything I need for a trolling motor.

My suggestions, buy a fishfinder gps for the bow, that way you have a backup, just incase last I looked you could get one without a transducer and share the gps module, for something like $50 more, IMHO money well spent. I’m also a big fan of the biggest trolling motor you can get minimum 80# and the 101 if it works for you (MinnKotas only for me) I also really like the Universal sonar option they work really nice and it’s a clean and easy setup.

Rails IMHO are one of the best ways to manage rod holders.

kicker and a huge t/m thats a lot of weight and space used up. isnt the kicker used to replace t/m”s. because of weight and space issues ????? i guess my question is more what is the function of the kicker? is it a means to charge up the batts with out the main engine???? t/m”s are more for being silent. i suppose a kicker could be used when the body of water has a hp limit or as a emergency engine. any way what am i missing here????

Think of your bow mount as a postitioning motor and the kicker as a way to troll for long periods of time. You need both if you intend to troll for long periods and also verticle jig in a river. think of the positioning motor for speeds below 1 mph.

I think that having both a kicker and TM are idea and important in being flexable. Sure I have gone without both for a while, but wasn’t by magic that I was able to fish more presentations successfully, and catch more fish, one I had both. I use my kicker almost as much as my TM throughout the year. Granted, I do a lot of trolling. I would certainly suggest having both.

FDR

What exactly is universal sonar?

it is in reference to some Minnkota trolling motors that have built in transducers. That adapter cables for MOST, not all, of the major sonar units. By having this option you can avoid having to run a cable down the outside of the TM shaft. Hope this clears things up for you.

I also think that it is only an option on Bowmount motors. I don’t think that there is a reason for them to have them on the transom motors, because that is where almost everybody mounts the primary transducer anyway.

FDR