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Coming into the 2025 season, I had always run standard lead-acid trolling motor batteries and an AGM for cranking. This season, I’m running Pro-Guide Batteries and have played around with multiple different setups to learn the ins and outs of each.

Throughout different points of this season, I have used a lithium cranking battery, an AGM cranking battery, run my graphs off my lithium cranking battery, used a dedicated 16V electronics battery, used two 36V 50 AH trolling batteries in parallel, and have used three 12V 100AH trolling batteries wired in series. The point is, I’ve had a lot of opportunity to learn about battery setups, and I want to share that with you. One of my setups is described in detail here.

Jumping right to the meat and potatoes, my favorite setup is running a Pro-Guide Group 31 AGM starting battery to handle the engine and all house accessories, a dedicated Pro-Guide 16V battery for electronics, and two Pro-Guide 36V batteries for the trolling motor. I like this setup for three primary reasons: reliability, redundancy, and performance.

For reliability, I’ll start by saying that I haven’t had any issues with this setup at all. One of the reasons I was hesitant to switch to lithium batteries was the horror stories you used to hear about charging, sleep mode, etc. I can’t speak for other brands, but my experience this season has been very straightforward.

Reliability and redundancy go hand in hand with this setup. Every piece of equipment has a backup here. If my 16V electronics battery were to have issues, I can disconnect two main leads and connect to my AGM starting battery and have my electronics up and running in minutes. If one of my 36V batteries were to fail, I still have another 36V to power the trolling motor for the day. Regarding performance, what I share might surprise you. Running an AGM cranking battery, I’m able to see a noticeable increase in boat speed and handling.

Taking weight out of the boat is a benefit of lithium batteries, but you can easily take too much out and leave yourself with less-than-ideal bow lift. With a single AGM in the back instead of a lithium, I have seen increases in speed in my 2025 Bass Cat Puma STS. I also have a lot of faith in AGM technology. I’ve run these batteries for multiple years with no issues. They handle the tough, vibrating environment of a bass boat extremely well.

Another area where I have seen performance improvements is with my 16V electronics setup. I am not an expert in the science of voltage capabilities of our graphs, but I believe that using a 16V battery eliminates the potential negative effects of voltage drop and also reduces amperage draw.

Let’s dive into some of the other setups I’ve run this year and the things I liked about each. Running a lithium cranking battery was most impressive in regard to charging. Even a short run down the lake would make noticeable impacts on the state of charge through the alternator and it was common to have nearly a full charge after a day of fishing. A lot of people will tell you that isolated batteries are best for your electronics to reduce interference. I have seen this make an impact occasionally, but typically I find that running everything on one system provides the clearest output. I liked running my graphs on my lithium starting battery for that reason also.

What I didn’t love about the setup was the thought of “if this battery fails, I have no starting battery or electronics battery.” I prefer keeping these two batteries separate so that I can manage the draw and have redundancy if one dies. Running the 12V trolling motor batteries in series versus the 36V battery setup also had unique advantages. I liked the idea of being able to swap a single battery if there was an issue or swap charging leads if a bank on the charger went out. I never had any issues with 14-hour days draining these 12V 100ah batteries that I was using. I only prefer the 36V system due to having a backup that can carry the entire day if one battery fails.

All in all, I’ve learned that battery technology has came a long way in recent years. I will never go back to the days of running lead-acid trolling batteries and will likely be running Pro-Guide batteries for years to come. Battery issues have plagued my college anglers numerous times throughout the years, and I’m confident that the setup I described here will limit (if not eliminate) those wasted days on the water due to battery issues.

Hunter Sales – Angler Profile