Whatever you get, budget for an autopilot. It's very difficult to explain to others how helpful they are and how much they increase your fishing efficiency. I'd go for a less powerful engine, so that your idle speed is 3MPH or less, which will allow you to troll without a kicker. My setup is simple, a single main with the autopilot. I can clear the harbor and set the autopilot to a waypoint 50 miles offshore. My AP and chartplotter beep when I arrive, then I throttle down to trolling speed and set lines. Having a kicker would mandate a tiebar, both of which increase complexity. I can and have run fives lines trolling for tuna solo, nearly 60 miles offshore. I'm virtually always on AP after leaving the marina.
Whenever these threads come up, one or more posters always recommends maxing out your hull's HP rating. Happy to see somebody did above, the thread wouldn't be complete without them. But being able to run and troll with a single engine has distinct advatages.
Shane said a kicker keeps hours off your main, which is true. But I don't think that matters at all. I put about 100 hours per year on mine, and my trade-in value wasn't affected at all when I repowered in 2015.
Think I'll don my flameproof suit now.
Whenever these threads come up, one or more posters always recommends maxing out your hull's HP rating. Happy to see somebody did above, the thread wouldn't be complete without them. But being able to run and troll with a single engine has distinct advatages.
Shane said a kicker keeps hours off your main, which is true. But I don't think that matters at all. I put about 100 hours per year on mine, and my trade-in value wasn't affected at all when I repowered in 2015.
Think I'll don my flameproof suit now.
Single main, no kicker.