The Fun Part
The best part of a custom boat is the custom part. In this post, we will walk through all of the build options and customizations we chose for the Atlas Boatworks 23F 2024 demo boat. If you have no idea how we got here, check out our last post which summarizes everything. For the sake of some sort of organization, I think we will start at the back of the boat and move forward.
Engine
We chose the Tohatsu MFS 140 as our option for this build. All of the previous boats built have had a 150hp or a 200hp. What intrigued us about the Tohatsu 140hp is that it weighs almost 100lbs less than any of the 150’s. It is also a very economical option from a great, if lesser known, manufacturer. We will do a full post on the performance once we get the engine through the break-in process.
Porta Bracket
We mounted the engine on a porta bracket. The porta bracket is like a jackplate on steroids. With 17″ of setback and 12″ of vertical travel, it is perfect for a shallow-water fishing machine.
The bracket moves the engine straight up and down without changing the angle of thrust, allowing the boat to operate in very shallow water.
Power Poles
Power Poles are shallow water anchors that, when deployed, pin you to the bottom. You can choose a single or dual. The only issue with the single option is that you can sometimes spin or sway back and forth if there is wind or current. With dual poles you are held at a specific heading, which can be helpful if you are fishing a specific location and want to keep the boat pointed that way. We went with dual 10′ poles, which means they can reach up to 10′ down into the water.
Chartplotter / Fishfinder
There are a million options out there for fishfinders. We’re not going to dive into the differences between all of them here. We went with the Garmin Echomap 126SV. It has a 12″ screen and functions as a MFD (multi-function device), which means we can run all the engine gauges and other items through it.
Trolling Motor
We went with the Minn Kota Riptide Terrova 36v 112lb trolling motor. It is gps-enabled and remote controlled and has all the features you need for total control of your boat while fishing.
We installed it on a Power Pux mount. These things are amazing! They eliminate the need for a plug and are a quick-release mount as well. We will do a full blog post on them once we get a little time under our belt.
Wrap it up
There are ten thousand other parts that go into building a boat like this. We will dive more in-depth on some of them in later posts, but this hits the big items. Stick with us as we cover getting it on the water, the performance numbers, and features we love in future posts.