I got a new boat last year and ended up with the Merc 150xl (not verado). I was reasonably satisfied they had all the bugs worked out before I bought as it was into the second year of production. I would say I am really happy so far, pushes my 1775 pro v 2 mph at 500 rpm and up to about 50 with a light load and flat water at 5800 rpm. I stayed away from the verado for 2 main reasons; fuel economy and weight. I don’t remember the specifics but I looked thru performance bulletins on the mercury site for both versions of the 150 and noticed the regular 150 gets better fuel economy. I have about 75 hours on my motor now and have used about 130 gallons of gas across all of my fishing, from spot hopping across large lakes at WOT, to full days of trolling. And if I remember right, the verado is 50-60 lbs heavier than the regular 150. I considered getting a kicker, but have not yet as my 150 trolls down better than expected and terrova cover speeds below 2 mph well, and a kicker runs approximately 90 lbs. so getting the lighter. 150 was going to help with keeping weight down in general. These two items made my decision for me.
As a side note I went with the full smart craft/Merc monitor gauge package that gives me the troll control function and this has been a part of the reason that I am able to troll down to 2 mph at 500 rpm with the 150. I can even get down to 1 mph with a small drift sock put out. No having to pony up another $4k (ballpark) for a pro kicker was a big plus. I actually was closer to getting a Yamaha 150 than the verado, but they did not offer the rpm adjustment feature on the 150 and I thought I was going to need a kicker.
So you have several options to choose from just do your research and keep in mind what you think will work best for the way that you fish. I do recommend looking up the performance bulletins on motor manufactures websites for a boat the same or comparable to what you are looking for. Also dig into customer reviews on the web and dealers thoughts.
